Tag: bike wars

I’m writing about the bikes vs cars war here in Washington, DC, and how the police handle things when motorists target cyclists (hint: not very energetically). But as I mentioned in an earlier post, Washington is a Cycle Safety Utopia compared to New York City, where cyclists are being injured and dying at a shocking rate (with pretty lame police follow-up).

Now even CNN has taken note, with the intrepid Dr. Gupta investigating.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Here’s a pretty stunning detail from the accompanying article:

In 2010, in more than 6,000 New York City traffic accidents involving cyclists, 36 people died, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Transportation Nation reported that no criminal charges were filed against the drivers involved.

So each and every time the cyclist who died was at fault and the motorist broke no laws, or the police just couldn’t put down their doughnuts long enough to track down a suspect? I’d be willing to bet that a bunch were hit and run, at a minimum.

With those kinds of stats every cyclist should wear a headcam. It won’t save your life, but it may help jail the bastard who killed you.