Bikes and City Streets

I was in THE CITY this weekend for the Independence Day festivities. It was great, with street fairs, farmers markets and other festive events taking place.

Before I go any further, those of us from Long Island refer to Manhattan as THE CITY. The other counties which make up New York City are known as "the outer boros", even by people who live in THE CITY.

Anyway, the reason for this commentary is based on an observation which I have witnessed many times. This time, however, I felt it was important for me to discuss.

There is no place for bicycles to be used as a mode of transportation on the streets of New York City. In fact, bikes should not be allowed in any city. Bicycles are fun to ride. In parks and on trails. Not on city streets.

I saw too many near-misses this weekend, between cars and bikes, and in each case, it was the recklessness of the bike rider which nearly caused his or her own catastrophe. Riders were zig-zagging between cars, buses, taxis and trucks and only because the driver was alert did no tragedy occur.

Amazingly, nearly all the bike riders were not wearing helmets. I thought this was a law in both the State and the City. There were regular police and traffic officers on each corner and at each light, and yet, no one was issued a summons for not wearing a helmet or for violating traffic laws.

Citibank, one of the largest companies in New York and the world, brags that they offer a bike rental program called CitiBike, but they don't check to see if the rider has a helmet when renting the bike. Why? Well, these are unmanned bike station racks. And there is no penalty by the State assessed for this violation. So, there is no accountability here to Citibank if a lessor gets into an accident riding a CitiBike.

As one who drives into THE CITY several times a month, I find this cavalier attitude by the Mayor, his team and the City Council to be a total disregard for my rights as a driver. In New York, we pay a surcharge to register our cars to support PUBLIC transportation, i.e., mass transit, and a large part of the bridge and tunnel tolls we pay to the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to get off Long Island is used for the same purpose. Bicycles are NOT defined as PUBLIC transportation, since only one person is able to ride on the bike at a time.

The tolls are NOT TO SUPPORT INDISCRIMINATE BIKE RIDERS who have no regard for traffic laws or safety. And even though the bike rider may ride his bike without regard to safety laws, it is the driver’s fault if he accidentally hits the bike rider.

If I saw one rider go through a red light, which means stop, I saw at least ten. And not one ticket was issued.

Perhaps, if bicycle usage must be an accepted mode of transportation in metropolitan areas, it is time to consider registering and insuring bikes and riders as we currently do with motorcycles. Then, there will be some accountability and cost involved for improper actions by those who abuse the privilege, much like there is for drivers and bikers.

It is time to ban bike riding in major metropolitan areas before someone gets killed. But I know it won't be. Not until the child or loved one of an important person is accidentally killed.

By then, it will be too late.