We said it after the first cyclist was killed this year and we'll say it again today as we mourn Jose Alzorriz, the Park Slope resident who yesterday became the 19th dead cyclist this year: Enough is enough.
We don't think car drivers are any more reckless than the rest of us — but they are piloting 3,000-pound steel boxes at speeds so fast that just a split-second mistake becomes a catastrophe that destroys lives and communities.
And it's not some random occurrence. Last year in New York City, car drivers caused more than 225,000 crashes, resulting in injuries to more than 60,000 people — and the deaths of 10 cyclists, 120 pedestrians and 96 motorists. Yes, cars are convenient for their users, but when a mode of transportation causes roughly 616 crashes per day (and those are just the reported ones) in just one American city, we need to have a far more serious conversation about reducing — and eventually, eliminating — their space on our public roadways.
For now, let's fix Coney Island. Unfortunately, the mayor's Green Wave plan [PDF] doesn't even mention the horrific crash zone, which means there are dozens of other murderstrips that aren't mentioned either.
The Daily News coverage had the most telling quote from a witness to Sunday's crash: "“Why is the guy flying on Coney Island Avenue through a red light? It’s not a highway.” The problem is: It's designed like a highway.
Until then, here's the news from the weekend:
- This doesn't sound fare: 86 percent of people arrested for fare evasion are people of color. Does anyone truly believe that 86 percent of fare evaders are black or Hispanic? Come on. (amNY)
- Motor carnage kills a beloved basketball coach in the Bronx (NYDN) and two in Manhattan (NYDN).
- The Post had a fun feature about a barber who cuts hair while his clients sit on a Citi Bike — except the story left out one detail: Who picks up the hair? Gross! (NY Post)
- Commuters in New Jersey say this is their worst Summer of Hell in three years. (NJ.com)
- Prices are going up for bike share as Uber and Lyft need to turn a profit. (Time)
And a few from the "in case you missed it" file:
- The Times published a whole long story about how dangerous Revel scooters probably might apparently be — yet didn't print a single word about the 200-plus people killed, and the 60,000 people injured last year by drivers of a far-more dangerous and far-more common vehicle: cars.
- That said, we did like the Paper of Record's overview of how randy subway ads are getting.
- Here’s the latest example from CBS2 news that no problem that’s entirely unrelated to bikes won’t still be blamed on bikes. Sorry, Maurice DuBois, but you need to check yourself before you (and cars) wreck yourself: “Bikes are now being allowed to use the path”? Get us rewrite! That sentence could easily have been rewritten, “Cars are taking up too much room in a city that will literally be under water in 50 years if we don’t do something now, so yes, please build more bike infrastructure.”
- We don’t really appreciate Council Member Bob Holder’s positions on street safety — but we also like the look of mayoral appointees driving their cars around haphazardly into his staffers. (NYDN)
- The world's four most fab pedestrians are still causing a traffic jam in London 50 years later. (City Lab)
- Even the bond rating agency Moody's says growing income inequality will make future transit fare hikes in New York City — and presumably elsewhere — untenable, and suggests spending more tax dollars on transit instead. (Crain's)
