Bicycles don't kill motorists but motorists do kill cyclists

March 5, 10:00 AMNY Cycling ExaminerGrace Lichtenstein

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the NY Cycling Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

A conservative writer for Examiner.com has posted a long diatribe suggesting that cyclists need to be taxed, tested and taught how to ride properly. His attitude is misguided at best, and dangerous at worst.

In most places in the U.S., cyclists must obey the same rules of the road that motorists do. While it’s true that a minority of them don’t – especially grocery/ takeout delivery riders and some messengers – the majority of us do.

In New York City, among other places, cyclists DO get tickets from the police. Apparently they don’t in Seattle, where this right-wing writer lives. Unfortunately, most tickets given to cyclists here are frivolous and ticketing is subject to the whims of police officers and their captains. I know riders who have gotten tickets for not having a bell on a bike, for example.

Cars kill bicycle riders, not vice versa

The main point: when a car and a bike collide, the cyclist always loses.

A big man on a bike weighs, for argument’s sake, 250 pounds; a 2009 Honda Civic, to use a small-car example, weighs approximately 2,600 pounds. Even at slow speeds, with the cyclist wearing a helmet (and I happen to believe that helmets should be mandatory) the result can be tragic.

In 2007, 698 bicyclists died on U.S. roads in traffic accidents, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and 44,000 were injured in traffic accidents. Over 90 percent of the deaths occurred in crashes with motor vehicles.

I can’t seem to find any statistics on how many motorists were killed in 2007 in crashes with bicycles.

There are more stats to be cited, but the overall picture is clear. Drivers hurt bicycle riders; bicycle riders do not hurt drivers.

Agree? Disagree? Let the “debate” begin.