Readers: These drivers are Crazy
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 4-10, 2019 35
A cyclist was injured after a
driver pulled a sudden U-turn in
Downtown Brooklyn on Wednesday,
before nearly backing into
a second cyclist a few minutes
later, according to the victims.
“I’m a life long New Yorker
and rider. I have never experienced
that,” said Jeff Dalton, a
Kensington resident, who was
injured in the collision.
Dalton said he was pedaling
northbound on Smith Street between
Livingston and Fulton
streets at around 9:45 am, when
the driver attempted the U-turn
across Smith Street.
But the maneuver was obscured
by an idling bus, according
to Dalton, who said he
smashed into the car head on.
“Because of the bus everything
was blocked, I can’t see...
all of a sudden this guy pops out
in a U-turn. I hit him straight
on, right in the middle of the
lane,” explained Dalton.
A group of cyclists stopped to
assist Dalton as he lay on Smith
Street clutching his groin, including
Rachel Wolfe, who
asked the driver to write down
his name and insurance information.
However, as Dalton picked
himself up, Wolfe began making
her way to the sidewalk, when
the motorist nearly ran her down
as he backed out of the northbound
lane. “As I was pulling
my bike to the side, he backed up
into me!” Wolfe explained. “Not
a good day for him.”
Readers chimed in online:
Jeff, the bike rider here. Let me
first say thank you to all the bike
riders that stopped and pedestrians
too, one woman with a cane
called an ambulance and was late
for a court date. Flashback seeing
myself on the ground there in such
pain and felt like I could have died
or been seriously injured. Odd to
have this chronicled. No outstanding
or ever warrants here. The car
driver flew out from in front of
a line of buses. He stopped right
there in the middle of the uturn
where the crash occurred the
driver side door and window and
roof is where the impact occurred.
If I was riding faster or he pulled
the uturn a second later I may have
been hit head on. I have ridden all
my life decades in NYC but haven’t
since that day - I will, though. I am
a supporter of Restorative Justice
and have had too many of my own
and read about terrible encounters
with the police, and add a
bike into the mix? No thanks. I did
wave at the two police cars driving
by just to point out why traffic
was backed up and all the honking
and the reason for it, but they
kept going anyway. Plus, do I want
this man to be locked up in jail
or Rikers or whereever ? No, that
creates more injustice. It is quite
a dilemma. I will say that thanks
to the important work of How’s
My Driving anyone can look up license
plates and see all the violations.
This car driver has dozens.
There is a bill in the City Council
that would allow seizure of the vehicle
if x amount of whatever certain
violations. I think that is a
good start but the current bill is
too lax because people with such
a track record of speeding, running
red lights, parking where
ever they want blocking lanes are
inevitably going to be involved in
a crash, like he was. And that bill
is one small step towards making
streets safer for all, driver/s included.
There should be a policy
that Lyft, Uber, whatever does not
hire people with x or certain violations
too, they also bear responsibility
I believe for who they hire
and this is an easily accessible record.
(I presume TLC does this but
maybe not?) This also shows how
underreported any crash data is.
Jeff from Kensington
Always call 911 when hit/doored
by a motorist.
Rob from Williamsburg
They need to move that Bike Lane
off Smith Street & off Jay Street because
most bikers are putting themselves
in danger, as well as pedestrians
and buses. They should have all
bike-riders take Boerum Place and
make bike lanes along the divider.
Robert Berrios from Red Hook
U-turns on major avenues are
dangerous and common. This is
a benefi t of making more avenues
one-way.
Janet from Park Slope
They need to enforce laws that
motorists constantly break. They
are constantly putting EVERYONE
in danger.
Robert Berrios from Red Hook
There’s nothing illegal about a uturn
per se. Making a u-turn from
the far right lane however is not legal.
J from Gowanus
Here we go. Another biker is
down. It’s time to get rid of these
crazy bikers driving against traffi
c/wrong direction.
Jim from Brooklyn
At least the cyclist confessed
that HE hit the car.
JD from Gravesend
Another driver doing illegal
stuff causing a injury. 3 school zone
violations, the car should be confi scated.
Jack from Brooklyn
Driver made an illegal u-turn
and hit someone. End of story.
Jim from Cobble Hill
There’s a double solid line on
that street and a U-turn is illegal.
This is the driver’s fault.
Reader from Brooklyn
The city has spent more than
$1,000 every week since 2007
to maintain sidewalk sheds
around a Downtown Brooklyn
courthouse that’s cost taxpayers
roughly half a million dollars
— and construction hasn’t even
started yet!
The Brooklyn Supreme Court
Building at 360 Adams St. has
been surrounded by the lowhanging
scaffolding since the
middle of George W. Bush’s second
term in office, and the city
has been cutting $4,340 checks to
a private contractor in monthly
rent ever since, according to a
spokesman with the Department
of Citywide Administrative Services.
The scaffolding remains in
place to ensure that the building
complies with a city law requiring
sidewalk sheds be erected
around buildings deemed to
have “an unsafe façade condition,”
thereby preventing falling
debris from squashing hapless
passersby until repairs are
made to the building, according
to a spokesman with the Department
of Design and Construction.
However, twelve years and
more than half a million dollars
into the boondoggle, city building
honchos have taken only preliminary
steps to fix the building’s
problems.
Readers spoke out online:
Hi, this is Ian Michaels from
the Department of Design and Construction.
I just wanted to clarify
that DDC did not place the scaffolding
at the courthouse. That was
done before the project was referred
to DDC by another City agency that
maintains the building. DDC began
its project to repair the facade in
April. Thanks.
Ian Michaels from UWS
Hmm....it only has 7 years on the
MTA scaffolding on Boerum and
Livingston.
Zaxby
It would be helpful to the reader
for the author to explain why a
State Courthouse building is costing
the city money. Is the city the
owner of the building and the state
is a tenant? Or is it another reason
the city is on the hook for this cost?
Also, was the Department of Design
and Construction not pressed
with the simple question, “At what
point would purchasing scaffolding
be more cost effective?” But I
guess asking random passers-by
for their uninformed opinions is
better journalism...
Tyler from pps
Can’t they put up some cladding
on this building? It’s so damn
ugly. Biggest eyesore in Brooklyn.
When’s the last time it had a power
wash? Get a design fi rm to make
som panels and wrap em around the
whole building.
DB from Downtown
The city cannot manage anything
properly. This is why property
taxes are so ridiculously high.
Abigail from Brooklyn
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