Let me be clear because some people are confused: No one at Streetsblog supports "unregulated motorized bikes." In fact, we led the charge a few years ago to create today's existing well-defined regulations for electric bikes and mopeds.
And no one at Streetsblog supports "risky" behavior on bikes, motorized or otherwise. That's why we have been fighting for lower speed limits so that no vehicle can exceed 20 miles per hour.
And no one at Streetsblog has such "stupendous insularity" from the fact that some operators of motorized vehicles represent "a quantum leap" in danger vs. ordinary bicycles. That's why we have long opposed illegal mopeds and car drivers who hide from enforcement — and indeed why I, personally, have done so much enforcing against them. It's also why we believe the motor bike operator should be charged (though the NYPD has not yet done so).
And let me be clearest: When I wrote yesterday that there had been "a horrible crash on the Flushing Avenue bike lane," I wasn't "whitewashing" anything. Preliminary information was inconclusive and, unlike some, I declined to speculate beyond saying that the crash would be used by opponents of sustainable micro-mobility to remove bike lanes, to fight street redesigns, and to call on the NYPD for yet another half-hearted, arbitrary and temporary crackdown that would solve nothing.
The facts of the crash are, as I said, horrible: 60-year-old Theresa Valenti, who had just gotten off a bus was run down by the operator of an illegal motor bike — not an "e-bike," as the newspapers initially reported, but an illegal Movcan V30, which has a top speed of 32 miles per hour. To repeat: There is no one in the livable streets movement who supports the use of these motor bikes; and, in fact, they are not unregulated (though, as with the drivers of 3,000-pound cars that can exceed 100 miles per hour like that one in Midtown last month, some owners of motor bikes that top out at 32 miles per hour ignore those regulations).
And also left out of some (but not all, as Gothamist showed) of the second-day coverage was a key fact about this crash: The bus stop and the protected bike lane on Flushing Avenue are not separate pieces of infrastructure. In fact, they occupy the exact same space — a design that many cyclists and bus riders have criticized. So when Valenti got off the bus, the city's design put her in harm's way. I don't say that because I have an "aversion to criticizing any act by a two-wheeler"; I say that because the best road design is one that even a heinous act by a motor vehicle operator can't result in a fatal crash or allow vehicles of any kind to get up to fatal speeds.
That's our North Star: roads that are safe for all users and reducing reliance on the car, which remains the single greatest threat to pedestrians. Lest we forget, city stats show that two pedestrians have been killed in crashes involving e-bikes this year compared to more than 75 in crashes involving cars. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable of road users, but they will ultimately be safer when there are fewer cars — and car reduction relies on a multi-pronged strategy that Streetsblog boosts: better transit, congestion pricing, and, yes, expansion of regulated sustainable micro-mobility.
And, of course, we agree with DOT's statement, sent over by spokesman Vin Barone last night: "Our thoughts are with Theresa and her loved ones. As with every fatal crash, we are reviewing the location for safety improvements." Review and improve. That's Streetsblog's mantra.
We at Streetsblog take seriously what it means to be news outlet that's "worth its salt," so we also urge our readers to contribute to the GoFundMe page created by Valenti's grieving family. No one should go through what that family is going through.
In other news from a slower-than-normal day:
- It's official: Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop is the new head of the Partnership for New York City. Here's hoping Fulop, who has been amazing on livable streets issues, supports inevitable Mayor Mamdani on one key business interest: massive pedestrianization of Lower Manhattan. Mamdani discussed pedestrianizing streets at least nine times in a Streetsblog mayoral questionnaire earlier this year. (NY Times, amNY)
- The transit union is going to the mattresses on behalf of the horse carriage industry. (NYDN)
- The always-excellent FAQ podcast checked in with "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz. (The City)
- And, finally, remember how we smoked a doobie in front of the Drug Enforcement Administration's 10th Avenue office last week to protest the jackbooted thugs' seizure of the bike lane? Well, now we're high on the fact that we may have gotten the feds to ease up a bit. But let's wait and see — if the DEA doesn't fully free the bike lane, we're doing coke there next week:
