After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes • Hacker News Board

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#81

Post by gameswithgo » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:47 PM UTC

wefarrell wrote: post #59

pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

I commute on my bike in NYC daily and I am far more terrified of pedestrians and other cyclists than I am of cars. Cars for the most part pay attention and obey traffic rules. Cyclists less so and pedestrians ignore rules entirely and frequently aren't even aware of cyclists.

been a cyclist for a long time, know hundreds of cyclists, you are the first person I've heard say this. If you collide with a pedestrian or cyclist the likely result is an injury, with a car death becomes very likely. Statistics certainly back this up as the vast majority of cyclist deaths are due to vehicle collisons not bike-bike or bike-pedestrian collisions.

Are you literally "far more terrified" of pedestrians than cars, or are you looking for a way to appear clever and different than everyone?

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#82

Post by WD-42 » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:47 PM UTC

wefarrell wrote: post #59

pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

I commute on my bike in NYC daily and I am far more terrified of pedestrians and other cyclists than I am of cars. Cars for the most part pay attention and obey traffic rules. Cyclists less so and pedestrians ignore rules entirely and frequently aren't even aware of cyclists.

Wait until you get hit by your first car. I guarantee the object of your fear will change to the car. It's not a pleasant experience.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#83

Post by quartz » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:47 PM UTC

product50 wrote: post #37

joegahona wrote: post #31

> The dangers came into focus this year after 25 cyclists were killed on city streets — the highest toll in two decades. The "highest toll in two decades" gives some context, but I wish writers would share ratio metrics rather than absolute numbers in cases like this. I.e. the number of active cyclists on the road might be outpacing the deaths, but we don't know when you just say "25 cyclists were killed in 2019." Al…

And I wish they also tell us how many accidents do bikers cause themselves as they are notorious for not following any traffic rules - thereby endangering the live of others.

I see this question come up all the time and the answer is that on average, fewer than one person per year dies due to a collision with a bicycle in NYC.

In fact 5 of the last 8 years had zero pedestrian deaths due to collisions with cyclists. [1]

Cyclists in NYC (and I imagine most cities) do not, and have never had, a history of "endangering the lives of others."

[1] https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikestats.shtm...

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#84

Post by simonsarris » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:49 PM UTC

SwellJoe wrote: post #65

kansface wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How popular is biking in New York - eg, do people bike in the winter?

It'd be more popular if it were safer/easier. Which is true pretty much everywhere. Some of the places where biking is the most common also have quite harsh winters (e.g. Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, etc.).

Tons of winter biking in Montreal too.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#85

Post by rb808 » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:49 PM UTC

SwellJoe wrote: post #65

kansface wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How popular is biking in New York - eg, do people bike in the winter?

It'd be more popular if it were safer/easier. Which is true pretty much everywhere. Some of the places where biking is the most common also have quite harsh winters (e.g. Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, etc.).

Netherlands and much Denmark aren't that cold in winter, many years it wont even snow. Further the summers are cool.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#86

Post by randomfool » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:49 PM UTC

wefarrell wrote: post #59

pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

I commute on my bike in NYC daily and I am far more terrified of pedestrians and other cyclists than I am of cars. Cars for the most part pay attention and obey traffic rules. Cyclists less so and pedestrians ignore rules entirely and frequently aren't even aware of cyclists.

This makes absolutely no sense. Cars are much more deadly than cyclists and pedestrians.

If cars are so safe then just ride in the middle of the street. It's perfectly legal- bicycles are classified as moving vehicles.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#87

Post by bravoetch » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:53 PM UTC

pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

No. NYC isn't some reference point for what other cities should do. Making a city bike friendly is available to all cities, and has been for decades. There's no trickle down bike policy, as other cities in the US are already showing.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#88

Post by oh_sigh » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:53 PM UTC

wefarrell wrote: post #59

pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

I commute on my bike in NYC daily and I am far more terrified of pedestrians and other cyclists than I am of cars. Cars for the most part pay attention and obey traffic rules. Cyclists less so and pedestrians ignore rules entirely and frequently aren't even aware of cyclists.

I get angry at some pedestrians for behaving poorly but I'm not terrified of them. I'm terrified of cars, and even more so of trucks.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#89

Post by philwelch » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:54 PM UTC

mschuster91 wrote: post #41

smt88 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you don't win points for prevention of hypothetical harm. See: vaccine "debate". Pro-vaccine policies saved millions of people who are alive right now, but you can't run on a pro-vaccine platform until people start dying again.

You can run a pro-vax platform - if the populace is not too dumb and uneducated. Anyone with a slice of a brain understands that anti-vaxx is a deadly game. The problem is that (not only in the US!) education funding has gone way downhill and the "free speech!!!" absolutist crowd does not realize that truly free speech depends on an audience intelligent enough to separate facts from quackery (such as homeopathy, anti…

The problem with this argument is the assumption that “smart people” with whom you agree will be the ones policing speech. This is rarely the case.

This is also why fascists themselves are the ones who tend to embrace violence and censorship; fascism isn’t typically capable of surviving in an otherwise free and peaceful society.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#90

Post by bobthepanda » Mon, Oct 28, 2019, 7:54 PM UTC

maximente wrote: post #36

kansface wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How popular is biking in New York - eg, do people bike in the winter?

killer is summer imo, where 2-4 months are swamplike so any professional (attire wise) is bringing a change of clothes and/or showering but it's nice 7-8 months out of the year!

What‘s nice to help with that are e-bikes, so that you don‘t necessarily have to exert all that much energy.