Bicyclist Run Over in Greenpoint
The North Brooklyn bicycle lane wars took a tragic turn this weekend. Just hours before biking activists staged their mock wake for the painted-over lane in South Williamsburg on Sunday, a popular DJ was run over by a truck on what newspapers are describing as a crowded stretch of Nassau Avenue (though it doesn’t look…
The North Brooklyn bicycle lane wars took a tragic turn this weekend. Just hours before biking activists staged their mock wake for the painted-over lane in South Williamsburg on Sunday, a popular DJ was run over by a truck on what newspapers are describing as a crowded stretch of Nassau Avenue (though it doesn’t look that crowded in this older image from Google Maps) that lacked a protected lane for cyclists. According to newspaper reports, 33-year-old Solange Raulston, who was known as DJ Reverend Soul, was riding west on Nassau Avenue near McGuinness Boulevard at around noon on Sunday when she was struck by a truck; she was taken to Bellevue Hospital where she died. The Post reported that the driver was not charged in the incident.
Soulful DJ Solange Raulston Killed After Being Struck [NY Daily News]
DJ killed on bike in Brooklyn [NY Post]
Cyclist killed by trucker in Greenpoint! [Brooklyn Paper]
DJ Killed In Greenpoint After Struck On Bike [Gothamist]
I’ve said this a million times but of course the same shit keeps being said
Often times it’s safer for a biker to treat a red light as a stop sign or yield sign (especially when there’s no bike lane and they are riding with traffic) to keep them ahead of the flow of traffic, especially when they need to make a left hand turn across a busy street (flushing comes to mind)
I’m pretty damn sure none of you would let me cross from right to left by using a hand signal.
This is why I don’t ride a bike in New York City.
regarding blindspot on car mirror – super easy solution. tilt your head toward driver side window then push your mirrors more outward to point you barely see your side body panels. Do same thing with the right side mirror when you tilt your head over the center console. When a car or bicycle disappears from your rear view mirror, it’ll show up on your side mirrors – effectively eliminates all or almost all of the traditional blind spot one can overcome via turning head to check the sides.
those automatic electronic blind spot thingies are a gimmick for suckers
“If there’s a blind spot in my mirror *I* adjust my behaviour to compensate. It’s *my* responsibility when I drive”
When someone operating a vehicle that could kill me on impact *might* have trouble seeing me, I consider it *my* responsibility to make sure I don’t put myself in a situation where he *must* see me and act responsibly to ensure my safety.
I do this when I’m driving a car around other cars, I do this when I’m walking across the street, and I do this when riding a bike on the streets (which I rarely do, and usually only on weekend mornings when traffic is lightest).
Why? I guess because I understand probability.
So Northie is saying it is okay for bicyclists to run red lights and it’s not their fault if they get hit but it’s not okay for pedestrians to jaywalk and it’s totally their fault if they get hit. This idiotic lack of logic in bicycle advocacy is just as responsible for this girl’s death as the truck driver.
“If there’s a blind spot in my mirror”
What do you mean “if”? Its there unless you bought a car with an inbuilt corrector or a detection system, or you installed it yourself. You are aware of the blind spot right?
If you’re a cyclist and you refuse to admit that there are blind spots, that your visibility under different conditions varies, and that in the end its you versus a ton of metal, then you shouldn’t be on the road any more than a cell-phone distracted driver or a sleepy driver.
Stop blaming cyclists. There are too many cars, and too many thoughtless, subhuman goons behind the wheel.
When the result of a mistake can be death, the issues of whether or not you are right or wrong should take a distant 2nd place to safety.
Posted by: northsloperenter at December 15, 2009 11:29 AM
exactly. only true idiots argue right / wrong at the expense of doing right thing to protect his / her life.
i bike, walk and drive and have seem bad behavior only from bike messengers on bikes, not from regular people biking, but, damn, i have seen just terrible terrible driving.
there are so many people who simply cannot drive driving in brooklyn it’s shocking. also, some scary car service drivers who blow throw stop signs and speed in residential areas.
bike lanes are the future if we really want to become more green, let’s just get to it.