Readers: What’s being done to keep cyclists from dying?
COURIER LIFE, AUG. 2-8, 2019 27
A truck driver struck and killed
a 30-year-old cyclist in Sunset Park
on Monday.
The victim, identifi ed as Em
Samolewicz, was traveling north
along Third Avenue near 36th
Street when she swerved into the
path of a massive 18-wheel Freightliner
truck traveling behind her to
avoid a door of a parked van at 9
a.m., cops said.
Emergency responders rushed
the victim to NYU Langone Hospital
Brooklyn where she was pronounced
dead, according to police.
The 37-year-old driver remained
on the scene, and the investigation
remains ongoing, authorities say.
Police set up a crime scene surrounding
the fallen bike, which
lay on Third Avenue near a pool of
vomit. The white van that forced
the cyclist into the trucker’s path
remained barricaded behind police
caution tape, according to
witnesses..
Readers shared their thoughts
online:
We can’t get rid of on-street parking
soon enough. Mike from
Williamsburg
Before opening a car door a driver
is supposed to by law check if anyone
is coming towards them. The car
driver should at least be ticketed and
charged. Susan Rosenfeld from
Sheepshead Bay
NYC.GOV has failed its people
by encouraging them to play-bike in
traffi c. So many more will die at the
hands of this mayor - it is an obvious
crisis and he should be banning bikes
in unprotected lanes. Cyclists and
bikes must licensed to develop some
sense of accountability and limit bikers
that are unwilling to take cycling
seriously. Proof Possitive
What does the mayor expect? He’s
encouraged bike riders to jump into
NYC traffi c willy nilly. They don’t
have to pass a road test, don’t have
to have licenses or carry insurance.
Who’s surprised when these bikers
fl out traffi c rules, ride any way they
like, blowing red lights, riding the
wrong way and on sidewalks, squeezing
between cars and trucks, cutting
across traffi c. When will the city require
these cyclists to learn and obey
the rules of the road?
Daryl from Park Slope
It’s time to get rid of the bikers,
they are just a pain for cars and pedestrians
etc Ben from Brooklyn
This is a tragedy. I think the answer
may be to ban all vehicles, trucks
included, from entering the borough
of Brooklyn. Who needs these fossil
fuel spewing vessels from our distant
past. I wouldn’t mind picking up my
packages from a central point in Manhattan.
And with email, who needs
snail mail anymore?
Penelope from Brooklyn
I don’t think it’s a good idea to have
bicycle lanes on 3rd ave. Already a lot
of these people don’t watch where they
going they run the lights they have
NO helmets on. I think if a car driver
should stop on red they should as well
and also be ticketed for passing the
light. Ijs keeping it real. My Community
can do without bicycle lanes, it’s
too much of a headache.if they do it
they should also follow rules and get
ticket if helmet is not on. Nae from
Sunset Park
It’s time to get rid of Ben from
Brooklyn. Proof Possitive drivers
are licensed and some have no sense
of accountability. Susan is correct
regarding the law, however this applies
to both the passenger side AND
the driver’s side. I have been a driver
(and biker) for over 50 years, always
checked for oncoming traffi c, there
are no blind spots when checking for
oncoming traffi c from either side of
the vehicle. It’s about time that drivers
and bikers have respect for one another
and learn to share the road.
Jeff from Brooklyn
Lane blame
The mayor needs to stay in his
lane!
Southern Brooklyn community
boards slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio
for asserting his right to overrule
their recommendations in the
name of street safety when it comes
to his recently-announced, sweeping
bike lane expansion
De Blasio said that, while he
would take community boards’s input
into consideration, he would
“just give the order” to install new
bike lanes if he feels that the civic
panels were obstructing city efforts
to save lives — but one Manhattan
Beach community board honcho
said the city has ignored the boards
plenty of times in the past, leaving
locals with an already severe shortage
of parking spaces as a result.
“In the past, they have unilaterally
decided to remove parking in
southern Brooklyn,” said Theresa
Scavo, chairwoman of Community
Board 15, which includes Sheepshead
Bay, Gravesend, and Brighton
Beach.
Readers were divided online:
The number of cars on the streets
is astronomically higher than the
number of bikes — you cannot compare
pedestrian fatalities one to one.
Basic statistics. Furthermore, why do
only immediate deaths count? Knock
an older person down, break their hip,
pelvis, collarbone, basically kill them,
just not right away.
Mathemaician from Brooklyn
Those dang NIMBYs and their
precious parking spots again. The
City needs to start issuing costly
permits to park on the streets. Bikes
come fi rst! Taksa from Carroll
Gardens
Too many lanes already. Not
enough parking. Drivers are careless
just as cyclists are. Everybody texting
looking down not paying attention.
Enough with the bike lanes & bike
stations. Im against it bottom line.
Richie from Bklyn hgts
Richie, You are right that both
drivers and cyclists are careless, but
you do not seem to be aware that thousands
of your fellow Brooklynites use
bicycles to get to and from their jobs
and for daily errands and necessities.
These people are tired of getting hurt
by drivers not paying attention and
some not caring. Susan Rosenfeld
from Sheepshead bay
The DOT is not maintaining the
existing roads and bike lanes in
southern Brooklyn. Garbage, puddles,
glass, screws, etc. accumulate on
the “protected” bike paths. Most roads
in southern Brooklyn are already designed
wide enough for bicycles and
automobiles to safely share the road.
The real problem is you have reckless
cyclists and motorists, and that will
not change because Kaiser Wilhelm
orders more bike lanes.
Historian from Marine Park
Ahhhh, South Brooklyn... also
known as North Staten Island.
Leftover Larry from
Sheepshead Bay
In Brooklyn - from Jan. 1 to May
29 of this year: 1181 crashes Reported
to NYPD: 10 incidents where a pedestrian
was injured by a bicyclist (none
killed) 1055 where a pedestrian was
killed or injured by a driver. 1082 persons
injured 12 killed
Peter Kaufman from Brooklyn
Heights
Preserving cheap parking spots
should be formally excluded from the
business of community boards. Cheap
parking spots are incompatible with
the notion of community anyway.
ddartley from Stuyvesant Town
Don’t slash bus
service!
I’m living in the NYCHA building
since January 2016 with my family.
Occasionally, I took this bus from my
residence to downtown Brooklyn for
my medical appointments and back. In
the majority of the time, I had to wait
for at least fi fteen minutes with several
other people in the bus stop that
it’s in front of my residence. This was
occurring during bad weather. When
these buses do arrive, they are arriving
in bunches, three at a time. There
is overcrowding in the majority of the
40 foot standard buses. There is slower
speeds along DeKalb because of double
parking and heavy construction.
Therefore, although I welcomed the 62
foot articulated buses on the B38 bus
route to decrease overcrowding, I’m
not supporting the overall weekend
service cuts because of the rapidly decreasing
bus ridership. Then again,
until both the implementation of the
new fare payment system and all door
boarding for the B38 bus route in a
couple of years, as well as all other
bus routes, some people are going to
the back of the bus, not paying their
own fare, because they are either fed
up with the MTA service, are crying
poverty, it’s overcrowded, or realized
they are not to get caught. Then again,
that’s money down the drain for the
cash-strapped MTA everyday. Therefore,
the bus service cuts was one of
the main results of this so called fare
evasion. Increasing fares is another
effect for this.
Disclaimer: I expressed my opinion
based upon my years of experience
as a B38 bus rider.
Pedro Valdez-Rivera
Bedford-Stuyvesant
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