12 MAY 23, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Make our streets safer for cyclists
With the number of cyclists
killed in New York City on
the rise in 2019, it’s clear
something must be done to prevent
further tragedy.
In recent years, the city’s
Department of Transportation has
reconstructed and reconfigured
roads — to the chagrin of many
drivers — in an eff ort to provide
bicyclists with some semblance of
street safety.
And yet, the body count keeps rising.
There have been 10 cyclist fatalities
citywide so far in 2019 — the same
number the city saw in all of 2018,
according to Vision Zero data — eight
of which have occurred in Brooklyn,
including three in a four-day
span last week.
Queens has seen its own share of
deadly incidents involving bicyclists.
Back in March, a Long Island City man
was struck by a car while traveling
on a neighborhood street with an
incomplete bike lane. In the weeks
since the tragedy, the DOT tweaked
the timing of a nearby traffi c signal,
hoping to make things safer.
Last week, The Brooklyn Paper
EDITORIAL
— one of our sister publications —
obtained video from the victim
of a hit-and-run incident in
Brooklyn where a driver struck a
cyclist from Elmhurst and fl ed the
scene. They published the video
and sent the clip to the NYPD’s
88th Precinct, which reopened
the investigation.
We urge victims of similar
incidents to share their stories with
their local newspapers and media
outlets. Let us tell your stories so
we can help spread the word and
help prevent further tragedy. Every
publicized incident will put pressure
on local lawmakers to protect their
cycling constituents.
The City Council is hoping to
improve road safety with its “Vision
Zero Streets Design Standard” bill,
which would formalize a set of safety
measures for the Department of
Transportation to consider when
renovating city streets.
Proponents of the bill believe
it would encourage construction
of bike lanes and other
traffic calming measures in cardense
neighborhoods.
The street in Clinton Hill where
the biker was struck did not have
a dedicated bike lane. The city had
removed “sharrows,” shared lane
markings which indicate that while
there’s no dedicated bike lane on the
street, drivers and bicyclists have to
share the space.
Sharrows aren’t perfect — they do
not off er an explicit lane and keep
cyclists at risk of being struck — but
one may have prevented the cyclist
from being struck in Clinton Hill.
Bike lanes may not be the perfect
solution, but they will help keep
cyclists alive. If drivers can stay out
of bike lanes, and cyclists can stay out
of the road, then there shouldn’t be
any fatalities.
Accidents happen, but we need to
do our part to prevent them.
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ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
MAX PARROTT
BILL PARRY
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STORY:
City shuts down Queens school
for failing to comply with measles
outbreak protection order
SUMMARY:
The city’s Health Department
slammed the doors May 13 on a
Kew Gardens Hills school for noncompliance
with a citywide order
aimed at curbing the ongoing measles
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REACH:
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