I never realized how few things I agree with Markowitz on

There are speeders on PPW just like they are on 8th Ave. It may have been worse on PPW because it was 3 lanes. But still they speed along now on 2 lanes. That really hasn't changed all that much with installation of the bike lane. A better solution with a bike lane included would be two traffic. Yeah that whole bike lane controversy where you have to pick one side or the other I find just plain frustrating. I've owned and ridden bikes now for nearly 60 years, but now I find I can't ride a bike safely anymore because I'm getting old and my balance isn't what it used to be and there's still dangerous traffic out there bike lane or no bike lane. But still you want a bike lane then good luck with that and I hope it works out. I understand young folks want what they want regardless of consequences especially unintended ones. But one day hopefully you'll be old so show a little understanding for us long gray beards. We should all be looking out for each other. Peace.

Boygabriel wrote: Actually factually incorrect. The number of people driving 40 mph or higher is down 95%.

This is actually what I think makes most of the anti-bike folks so apoplectic.

Carnivore wrote: [quote=Boygabriel]Actually factually incorrect. The number of people driving 40 mph or higher is down 95%.

This is actually what I think makes most of the anti-bike folks so apoplectic.


The speed limit on the streets of NYC is 30mph . . . I see idiots speeding down my one way street and nearly breaking an axle going over speed bumps. So don't start quoting figures that you pulled out of your ass. . . 95% down indeed. . . idiot drivers are all over the place in this city. Just like there are idiot pedestrians and bicyclists.

As a biker + former BK car owner, I empathize with both sides.

Driving in NYC is a pain in the ass (but it's also, for many ppl, wholly unnecessary). Bike lanes put the needs of very few people ahead of many.

However, if bike lanes became more prominent, maybe more people would bike, easing up traffic & subway congestion. However, it will be a long time before bike lanes on major thruways like 6th ave in Manhattan become acceptable. So IDK.

I do think the PPW lane is a good one, and pretty much all opposition I've heard to it has been silly/short-sighted.

Boygabriel wrote:

So don't start quoting figures that you pulled out of your ass

Wrong. Again.

idiot drivers are all over the place in this city. Just like there are idiot pedestrians and bicyclists.

The difference of course being that reckless cars kill people. Reckless bikers and pedestrians do so rarely if ever.

If a car hits you, you're probably going to the hospital. If it hits you at 40 mph, you're probably dead. If a bike hits you you probably need some band-aids and an ice pack.

Quoting streetsblog is laughable but not surprising, to back up your "95%" reduction:

"Streetsblog is a daily news source, online community and political mobilizer for the Livable Streets movement. We are part of a growing coalition of individuals and organizations in cities around the world working to transform our cities by reducing dependence on private automobiles and improving conditions for cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders. "

Guess you and streetsblog missed the memo on the guy that was killed by a biker and that idiot Sadik-Khan sent the guy a form letter of apology:

"Yesterday the NYC DOT commissioner met with the wife of a man killed last year in a collision with a cyclist riding the wrong way on a Midtown street. Not long after the tragic accident, Nancy Gruskin, widow of Stuart Gruskin, wrote the mayor about safety issues and asked for a meeting with someone at the DOT. Her response was a form letter from Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, addressed to her dead husband.

Sadik-Khan attempted to make up for the faux-pas yesterday, meeting with Gruskin privately for an hour. CBS 2, whose "Bike Bedlam" series portrayed cyclists as reckless maniacs taking over the city with their ubiquitous lanes, reports that Sadik-Khan apologized to Gruskin. The commissioner also promised to improve the DOT's data collection when it comes to accidents between cyclists and pedestrians. "The hard data on incidents between bicyclists and pedestrians, it’s a real missing link," says Gruskin.


And Sadik-Khan reportedly promised to press the NYPD to do a better job enforcing laws that ban cyclists from sidewalks and require deliverymen to wear helmets. Through the first half of 2010, police issued 15,957 tickets to cyclists across the city, 13,632 of them for riding on the sidewalk, according to City Room. "They’ll run you over, they don’t wear helmets, they don’t care," one Upper West Side resident tells CBS 2. Indeed, residents on both the Upper West and Upper East sides have lately been up in arms about bike riding delivery men. As a result, the State Legislature is considering a bill that would make a restaurant liable for their violations."


http://gothamist.com/2010/09/21/wife_of_husband_killed_by_bicycle_r.php