With the recent vilification of cyclists by the NY Post, NY Daily News, as well as many within the NYPD and Parks Department, allow me to bring a little balance and perspective to the situation.
While it's certainly true that some cyclists break traffic laws and are a danger to others, it's also true that cyclists seem to be receiving a disproportionate amount of anger from the public, media and law enforcement.
The NYDN's four reporters who wrote the recent piece said that they witnessed eight cyclists speeding over the course of four hours. Contrast that with the observations of Transportation Alternatives who recently watched traffic during the morning rush on Jay Street between Willoughby and Johnston streets. In eight hours they found that 48 drivers per hour parked in the bike lane for longer than 10 seconds, (including an average of three per hour among police vehicles on non-emergency business). 18 drivers an hour blocked the bus stop, and 141 illegal u-turns were observed. Good luck finding a story about that in the Daily News.
Paule Herodote, the T.A. Brooklyn Volunteer Committee member who spearheaded the traffic monitoring effort said "Drivers on Jay Street display a dangerous disregard for their neighbors when they block bike lanes and bus stops and engage in potentially lethal behavior. Just as troubling is that the police officers we expect to enforce the laws are breaking them as well."
Here are a few more facts.
• More people are killed in traffic than murdered by guns in New York City.
• A New Yorker dies in traffic on average every 35 hours.
• Half of the people killed are pedestrians.
Despite these facts, the media, law enforcement, and the public seem more concerned with the danger of a 20-pound vehicle than a 2000 pound one.
