NY Times on NYC bicycle deaths

From: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/ny...6memorial.html

On Roads Where They Fell, Bicyclists Are Remembered

By COLIN MOYNIHAN
Published: June 26, 2005

The day after Andrew Ross Morgan was killed when his bicycle and a
furniture truck collided at a Manhattan intersection, a bouquet of lilies
stood nearby in a metal coffee can; a scrap of paper on a lamppost bore his
name and the abbreviation R.I.P. Soon, those memorials were joined by
another.

Just after 9 p.m. on Thursday, a group of people assembled at the same
intersection, Elizabeth and East Houston Streets. They unfolded a cardboard
stencil stained with orange and blue paint and placed it in the street. A
man shook a can of silver spray-paint and pointed the nozzle at the
cardboard. When he removed the cardboard moments later, an outline of a
human body remained on the macadam.

"There needs to be more visibility for cyclists," said Matthew Roth, 28, of
Chelsea, gazing at the image that he had just created. "This is an act of
solidarity and tribute."

Over the years, roadside memorials in New York City have become a familiar
sight. Their goal is to commemorate lives that came to a sudden end in a
landscape of asphalt, brick and concrete where yesterday's events can be
quickly forgotten. The most common display involves a milk crate or a
cardboard box, tall candles in glass sleeves bought at local bodegas and a
snapshot of the deceased.

But in the last week, memorials of a more noticeable and lasting nature
have appeared in Manhattan and Brooklyn to designate the spots where
bicyclists have died. They have been created in response to a recent spate
of deaths on major thoroughfares and are intended to recognize the dangers
cyclists face. According to police records, Mr. Morgan, 25, a food market
manager from Brooklyn, was the 10th bicyclists to die this year in a
collision with a car or truck; there were six by this time last year. In
2003, there were 16 fatalities, and in 2004, there were 15, the police
said.

"There's a lack of education for drivers about sharing the road," said Mr.
Roth, adding that many motorists endanger bicyclists by abruptly swerving
their cars or by swinging doors open. And bicyclists sometimes bring danger
upon themselves by riding in a risky fashion.

Mr. Roth, who is a member of a bicycling advocacy group called Time's Up!,
said his organization had compiled a list of hundreds bicyclists and
pedestrians killed in the last 10 years in collisions with motor vehicles.
In the last week or so, he said, the group placed seven stenciled images at
spots where fatal accidents had occurred. It is unlawful in New York City
to place painted messages on public streets. But Mr. Roth said that a
desire to call attention to the deaths made him and others decide to create
the images.

The stenciled images are not the only new memorials for bicyclists. Last
week, a collective of artists called Visual Resistance began using bicycles
that have been spray-painted white, called "ghost bikes," to designate
spots where bicyclists have died. The first was on Fifth Avenue near Warren
Street in Park Slope, where a 28-year-old lawyer, Elizabeth Padilla, died
after being struck by a truck on June 9, said Kevin Caplicki, 26, of Fort
Greene. Mr. Caplicki is a member of the collective and said he happened by
Fifth Avenue moments after Ms. Padilla died. The experience motivated him
and others to introduce to New York this type of memorial, which has
appeared on the streets of St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

"I feel an affinity with any cyclist who has fallen," Mr. Caplicki said. "I
hope that people can make a connection when they see a riderless bicycle
and think about a life that's gone."

At 11:30 p.m. Friday, Derek Bobus, 21, an architect's assistant from the
Lower East Side, stopped to gaze at a Raleigh 10-speed painted white and
chained to a signpost on East Houston Street near Avenue A. He read a small
white sign fixed to the post above the bicycle; the sign bore the name
Brandie Bailey, a 21-year-old who died nearby after being struck by a
garbage truck on May 8.

Mr. Bobus said the memorial moved him to reflect on Ms. Bailey.

"She woke up that morning, and she had no idea she was going to die," he
said. "It proves how life is really fragile."

Kareem Fahim and William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting for this
article.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

"Don Wiss" wrote in message
...

On Roads Where They Fell, Bicyclists Are Remembered

Last thing I want is stupid political activests painting a symbol where I
died, using my death for their cause.
F*ck them.

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:31:52 -0500, "Ernie Demetrie"
wrote:


"Don Wiss" wrote in message
.. .

On Roads Where They Fell, Bicyclists Are Remembered

Last thing I want is stupid political activests painting a symbol where I
died, using my death for their cause.
F*ck them.


These would be the folks that are fighting to make New York safer for
bikers? That kind of stupid political activists?

The day after Andrew Ross Morgan was killed when his bicycle and a
furniture truck collided at a Manhattan intersection, a bouquet of
lilies
stood nearby in a metal coffee can; a scrap of paper on a lamppost
bore his
name and the abbreviation R.I.P. Soon, those memorials were joined
by
another.

Here in London one quarter of all cyclist fatalities occur when a
truck turns left - we drive on the left, of course. The truck pulls
away from the curb to be able to make it round the sharp corner, and
the cyclist gets into the gap, and gets squished. If the truck is a
tractor-trailer, the mirrors, on the tractor, do not point towards
the back of the trailer when the truck is turning.

It's shocking how few cyclists or, indeed "road safety officers",
know about this problem. If you don't know the problem exists, you
won't do anything to avoid the consequences.

How did the NYC accident happen?

Jeremy Parker

dgk wrote:
On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:31:52 -0500, "Ernie Demetrie"
wrote:


"Don Wiss" wrote in message
.. .

On Roads Where They Fell, Bicyclists Are Remembered

Last thing I want is stupid political activests painting a symbol where I
died, using my death for their cause.
F*ck them.


These would be the folks that are fighting to make New York safer for
bikers? That kind of stupid political activists?


I'd like to see folks fighting to make NYC safe for everyone. That
would include cyclists I think. I could be wrong...but I think safe
for "everyone" would be a good thing. Ever try to cross a street in
NYC. It is an experience. You walk, ride, and do everything defensivly
in NYC. No one is going to watch out for you. If you aren't looking
out for yourself, you are going to be road kill.

Maggie

Maggie wrote:

I'd like to see folks fighting to make NYC safe for everyone.

In fact, Time's Up! and their more mainstream cousin Transportation
Alternatives lobby as heavily for pedestrian safety as for bicycle
safety.

Ever try to cross a street in
NYC. It is an experience. You walk, ride, and do everything defensivly
in NYC. No one is going to watch out for you. If you aren't looking
out for yourself, you are going to be road kill.

Sounds like you haven't ever lived or spent an extended time in the
city. New Yorkers (even gypsy cabs) are not killers, and a pedestrian
or cyclist who knows the rules can effectively assert his or her place
in traffic. The most dangerous drivers in the city are the ones from
Jersey or Westchester who (erroneously) think that traffic is so
hostile to pedestrians and cyclists that they need not be accomodated.
That and tourists flinging open cab doors into traffic without looking.
They should weld the doors shut on the left side of all the cabs in the
city.

CC

In article ,
Don Wiss writes:
From: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/ny...6memorial.html

On Roads Where They Fell, Bicyclists Are Remembered

By COLIN MOYNIHAN
Published: June 26, 2005

....

The stenciled images are not the only new memorials for bicyclists. Last
week, a collective of artists called Visual Resistance began using bicycles
that have been spray-painted white, called "ghost bikes," to designate
spots where bicyclists have died.

There are some folks who think this does bicycling a
disservice by portraying it as a dangerous activity.

As for my own opinion on the matter ... I'm afraid
I haven't developed one yet. It's good to remind
drivers that cyclists exist, and are mortals. I'm
not so sure this is the best way to convey that message.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Ken [NY]" wrote:

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:31:52 -0500, "Ernie Demetrie"
claims:


"Don Wiss" wrote in message
.. .

On Roads Where They Fell, Bicyclists Are Remembered

Last thing I want is stupid political activests painting a symbol where I
died, using my death for their cause.
F*ck them.

Tsk tsk. Not very trendy of you.

Get the **** out the bicycle newsgroups, KKKen.

KKKen is an ex-NaSSasu KKKounty cop who drove a desk for
many, many years.

He cheered the arrest of innocent people during the RNC
and cheers the illegal and unlawful arrests and property
siezures of the NYPD during the Fridan Night Rides.

--------------------

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/i...now-usat_x.htm

"Other top officials, including Cheney and Rumsfeld, said the war would
last
"weeks, not months.""


http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/ar...05/052705w.php

"More than two years into a war that was supposed to be quick and easy,
and
the justification for which has spun from removing a dictator to
eliminating
weapons of mass destruction to fighting terrorism and, finally, to
planting
democracy that would then spread across the Middle East, Iraq is in chaos."


RayGun sends his lackey to kiss Saddam's ass.
http://www.worldmessenger.20m.com/weapons.html#wms

http://www.bushflash.com/thanks.html
WHY IRAQ?: http://www.angelfire.com/creep/gwbush/remindus.html
http://www.quantumphilosophy.net/fil...yan_Medium.mov
http://www.toostupidtobepresident.co...ickenhawks.htm

"Bubba got a BJ, BU$H screwed us all!" - Slim

wrote:

Maggie wrote:

I'd like to see folks fighting to make NYC safe for everyone.


In fact, Time's Up! and their more mainstream cousin Transportation
Alternatives lobby as heavily for pedestrian safety as for bicycle
safety.


Ever try to cross a street in
NYC. It is an experience. You walk, ride, and do everything defensivly
in NYC. No one is going to watch out for you. If you aren't looking
out for yourself, you are going to be road kill.


Sounds like you haven't ever lived or spent an extended time in the
city. New Yorkers (even gypsy cabs) are not killers, and a pedestrian
or cyclist who knows the rules can effectively assert his or her place
in traffic. The most dangerous drivers in the city are the ones from
Jersey or Westchester who (erroneously) think that traffic is so
hostile to pedestrians and cyclists that they need not be accomodated.
That and tourists flinging open cab doors into traffic without looking.
They should weld the doors shut on the left side of all the cabs in the
city.


Many times people are so self-centred in their own world, that they
don't see anything else. One time I was driving along the highway
behind a truck, and some idiot was coming down a ramp, nice car, a few
seconds later I see a car mirror go flying by, at window height. As I
passed idiot the mirror was missing and the side of his car had a huge
scrap on it. Guess He didn't see a tractor with a 53' trailer behind
it. My guess he needed to change his shorts after that one..... Still
like to know what he told his insurance company. Yes the truck did
stop, as soon as it was safe to.

As for getting doored, it's actually as much the cyclists fault, as the
door opener. Cyclists should not pass cars within 4'/1.25m, instead
they should take possession of the next lane, and if that inconveniences
a driver in a car so be it. If all cyclists did this, then cagers would
eventually get used to the idea. If you do need to pass closer, then
ring your bell, as you go down the line of cars, to warn people in cars
that you are there. You could sing, but that could often result in bugs
in your teeth.

W

wrote:

The most dangerous drivers in the city are the ones from Jersey

I won't argue with that. ;-)