Readers: Cyclists must follow the rules!
COURIER LIFE, SEPT. 13-19, 2019 31
Two cyclists suffered nonlife
threatening injuries after
both smashed into separate cars
in Prospect Heights and Fort
Greene on Thursday.
Brian Douglas, a 26-year-old
delivery man for Uber Eats, was
riding his bicycle heading north
along Vanderbilt Avenue at 4
p.m. on Sept. 5, when he struck
a woman’s silver sedan as she
crossed the roadway heading
east along Atlantic Avenue, according
to the driver, who only
gave her name as Ms. Ava.
Paramedics rushed to treat
Douglas, who was unable to lift
his head at the scene, and rushed
him to a nearby hospital for
treatment.
Police could not immediately
comment regarding that collision,
but provided information
regarding another crash in
Fort Greene at 6:33 p.m. on Sept.
5, when a 36-year-old cyclist
smashed into a 55-year-old woman’s
2010 Ford on Navy Street
near Park Avenue. The driver
of the sedan claimed she had a
green light when Douglas struck
her vehicle, leaving a dent near
the front passenger-side wheel
with his bike.
Readers had a lot to say online:
Again most of bikers need to be
educated and follow rules and regulations,
Jay from Brooklyn
This article clearly states that
the cyclist hit the CAR on the CAR’s
right side. The driver had a dent on
her passenger side, and said she had
a green light. This was not disputed
in the article. The cyclist had a
chance to defend himself, but chickened
out by saying, “I’m on meds!”
So he is too ashamed to admit the
truth: that he ran a red light. And
the jerk is trying to cross 6 lanes of
Atlantic Ave Traffi c, with buses and
tractor trailers?! I’m glad he wasn’t
badly hurt, even if he was 100% at
fault. I heard that, sadly, the cyclist
broke his NYC-Issued HALO. P.S. If
he was on meds, and too stoned to
even talk, then why is he riding a
bike?! Cyclists should be forced to be
licensed and insured, like pedicabs.
Wilbur D. Horse
from Middle class
If drivers were running red lights
all day there would be hundreds if
not thousands killed everyday.
Every one needs to follow traffi c
rules. Drivers pedestrians and bikers
alike.
There us enough blame to go
around and demonizing any group
is just wrong. Each accident needs to
be investigated and the guilty dealt
with.
Frank from Furter
Bike riders must recognize that
they are vulnerable and be cautious.
Shared streets mean just that. We
all see too much risk taking from
bike riders including texting while
riding and riding with ear plugs in
their ears.
They need to back off when there
is a truck near them because the
truck driver can not always see
them. It is their life and no point in
blaming the car if they are injured.
Safety First from Fort Greene
What can cars do to protect themselves
from these dangerous bikers?
Drivers need to form a lobby to campaign
for car safety.
Virginia from Fort Greene
Next time try your brakes.
Rufus Leaking from BH
Another failed policy by DeBlasio
and his team of idiots. Why does anyone
trust any policy he initiated.
Norman from Ocean Ave.
I did not see the Fort Greene
crash but heard it and saw the cyclist
tumbling through the intersection
and was fi rst to get to him. He
was not wearing a helmet.
Driver said he wasn’t in the bike
lane but judging by where he was on
the street he actually was in the bike
lane. Not sure if he went through the
light but that intersection is nuts at
rush hour.
I am a cyclist myself and fi nd it
frustrating to see so many cyclists
disregard the lights and traffi c laws
especially in congested areas. We
are the ambassadors for cycling and
bad behavior does not further our
message. Wear a helmet people, be
safe and follow the rules or we will
always be on the defensive.
WK from Fort Greene
What the bike zealots tend to
omit is that in a number of these accidents,
the cyclists that got hit had
a tendency to ignore traffi c laws and
place themselves into harm’s way.
Nobody will argue that those
that got and possibly died deserved
it, but had they followed the traffi c
laws better, that wouldn’t happen to
them. Of course, those bike zealots
over on Transportation Alternatives
and Streetsblog will be crying foul if
there will be a crackdown going after
such cyclists and claim that they
are getting picked on.
BTW, I do agree with de Blasio
on starting to have cyclists registered,
licensed, and insured, which I
know they will be crying foul to this
as well, because they know that this
now means that they can be tracked
down whenever they hit someone.
Tal Barzilai
from Pleasantville, NY
Adams is off his
rocker!
Borough President Eric Adams
refused to intercede in his employees’
illegal parking habits at a
town hall meeting he convened to
discuss placard abuse on Tuesday,
claiming that — if other public offi
cials get to abuse their parking
privileges — he can too!
“I fought my entire life to make
sure men that look like me don’t
have different rules than anyone
else,” said Adams. “There’s one
rule in this city, there’s not going
to be a rule just for Eric Adams,
the fi rst African-American borough
president.”
Adams, who is marketing himself
as a safe streets advocate as he
prepares to campaign for mayor of
New York City next year, convened
the public meeting at Borough Hall
to mend his broken reputation in
the wake of a social media blunder
he committed last month, in which
he compared a Twitter user to the
Ku Klux Klan for criticizing his
record on placard abuse in America’s
Downtown.
As part of a post-Twitter blunder
publicity tour he’s embarked
on, Adam’s rolled back his Klan
comments in a Sept. 1 radio interview
prior to Tuesday’s meeting,
saying that he was merely referring
to criminals covering their
faces — not the white supremacist
terrorist group specifi cally.
Readers spoke up online:
Why is everything about color
with these Democrats? You can’t criticize
him or it’s racist. Scary stuff!
Edmund
I strongly disagree with Adams
that if a person is concerned about
government corruption, that person
cannot vote for an African-American
to address it. There are plenty of
African-Americans who want good
government and voters who dislike
corruption can vote for them. It is Adams
himself who is corrupt.
Mike from Williamsburg
Dang, Eric Adams - have a Snickers!!
Katherine Ripley
I’m disappointed in Adams. He
had a chance to lead by example, and
he didn’t. I’m guessing that as an excop,
he values privileges like parking
wherever the heck he wants to, going
through lights, etc. and doesn’t see
the downside. Well the downside is
when ordinary people see that, they
resent it. When I walk through the
plaza across from Borough Hall and
see cars there, I fume, and I’m sure
I’m not the only one. The 3 AM story
is a fi t leaf - there’s plenty of street
parking there in the overnight hours,
just not during the day. Even worse,
there’s a security guard there every
morning keeping people out of the
parking lot on the corner. It’s a gross
waste of taxpayer money — why not
install a gate like every other parking
lot?
NakedHiker
from Downtown Brooklyn
He lost his chance running for
NYC mayor....
Sam from Bushwick
This whole parking issue is BS.
People who have any business at
Boro Hall should be given the courtesy
of a parking space while conducting
city business... PERIOD. All
these “corruption” screamers should
go about THEIR business and stop
trying to micromanage every public
offi cial. That doesn’t mean free placards,
it means “validating” parking
while conducting business with government.
Frank Grassi
from Dyker Heights
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Submit letters to:
Zach Gewelb, Edi tor, Courier Life,
1 MetroTech Center North, Brooklyn,
NY 11201, or e-mail to editorial@
schnepsmedia.com. Please include
your address and tele phone number
so we can con fi rm you sent the
letter. We reserve the right to edit all
correspondence, which becomes the
property of Courier Life.
SOUND OFF TO THE EDITOR
LETTERS AND COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS
/schnepsmedia.com