Cyclist hits 59 year old woman in Central Park

The comments in the article are brutal. I mean, who writes this about a now brain dead woman?

"She will be the next senator...or Hillary's running mate from New York."

yhyj wrote:

Can any cyclists here explain why they think its OK to run red lights and to weave through traffic? Are you guys just that self-centered?

They're like that in my area too. Gangs of 20 or more will blow right through 4 way stops daring you to hit them. And there's always one among them who gives the friendly wave - like I had a choice in extending the courtesy of staying put. It's no wonder drivers hate those entitled sobs.

cars kill hundreds of people in NYC every year

bikes kill around 2

just saying - keep this in perspective

tyson wrote:

That's not the law in any state in the USA. If someone jumps out in front of a car/bike and gets hit, the driver/biker is not going to be at fault. Pedestrians DON'T have the right of way when they jump out into oncoming traffic. It's unclear exactly what happened here and who is at fault but it's not definitely the cyclist.

You also are wrong in concluding that since he had time to yell he had time to stop.

She was in a crosswalk. He was in the wrong lane. In this state, the minute you step off the street into a crosswalk, you have the right of way. Doesn't even matter if you have a light. I have no idea what the law is in New York.

..and stopping? Total BS. I rode time trial bikes for YEARS, often in the aero position for hours on end. If he had time to yell at her several times, as the article states, he had time to either a) slow down or b) avoid her. If he can't handle his bike in the aero position, he shouldn't be riding it. Frankly, he should have ditched the bike. He put his safety over hers by plowing into her.

It seems strange to me that he had time to yell at her to move, but didn't have time to brake or maneuver around her. It's not like he was zipping down a hill at 45 mph in a flat place like NYC.

Confuzzled wrote:

It seems strange to me that he had time to yell at her to move, but didn't have time to brake or maneuver around her. It's not like he was zipping down a hill at 45 mph in a flat place like NYC.

that is a downhill section - near the finish line of the marathon - bikes can easily get to 25+ mph there, and it is one of the most crowded places too

psaxc wrote:

http://nypost.com/2014/09/18/cyclist-slams-into-pedestrian-in-central-park

Classic example of someone that needs to be beaten severely and locked up.

If you do the same to all the car drivers that hit and kill pedestrians and cyclists, then I agree.

Tragic. This lady is brain dead... Here is some additional information.

I looked up the location on Google maps.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7703547,-73.9790069,3a,75y,61.54h,97.15t/data=

!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCvS-xyoeaQuQoHNlyXgR9A!2e0

It's a pedestrian crosswalk with a traffic signal. There is no vehicle intersection. It's also one way traffic on West Dr. I could see how someone could step out, look left as you would normally do not expecting anything to be coming from the right, and then get hit by the bike coming from the right in the left-hand lane.

Tri-bikes are notoriously hard to steer and the brakes are at the bar ends.

tyson wrote:

[quote]Track Timer wrote:

That's not the law in any state in the USA.

It is in Illinois sporto.

Pedestrian in a crosswalk without a light means you stop, no matter where it is. If there is a light, all must obey the light.

If the pedestrian had the light, the rider was wrong.

Check your facts before you bloviate.

So glad that all the folks sitting at their computers miles and miles away from the scene of the accident are able to determine what happened especially from a newspaper article that probably has errors in it.

psaxc wrote:

tyson wrote:

[quote]Track Timer wrote:

That's not the law in any state in the USA.

It is in Illinois sporto.

Pedestrian in a crosswalk without a light means you stop, no matter where it is. If there is a light, all must obey the light.

If the pedestrian had the light, the rider was wrong.

Check your facts before you bloviate.

just to add on, even if the pedestrian was going against a walk light, if the cyclist, or driver, saw the pedestrian and didn't attempt to stop or steer around, they are out fault. Cars do not get to run over someone without penalty if they could have avoided it, even if the pedestrian was in the wrong.

re: this incident

I don't think we have enough facts at our disposal to know whether the cyclist was at fault.

re: making CP safer going forward

This incident makes me think aero bars should be banned in Central Park. Do those of you who bike in CP agree? Disagree?

It was years ago, but I used to ride in packs in Central Park, and alone (as well as the Gimbel's Ride). The reality is that if everyone pays attention it is one of those chaotic situations in which things work out. Runners go through red lights all the time. And one's aware that there are people not paying attention, which is why one is always ready to shout a warning, as this guy apparently did. We can't say whether he expected her to stop and she didn't or whether he expected her not to stop and she did.

The surprising thing is how infrequent this type of thing is.

Can radar guns detect the speed of a bike?

There are times during the day when running a speed workout with a group of 5 or more can be dangerous to oblivious pedestrians. I'm not saying the cyclist is not at fault just that CP is not always the best venue for training on a bike or on foot.

The answer is obviously having the cops enforce the laws. They have scooters and patrol vehicles in the park, pull a few speeding cyclists over and ticket them and the word will get out.

(1) You don't know she was in the crosswalk so please stop making that up. She may have been or she may have not been but the articles don't say either way. Moreover, it's unclear if the light was red or green for the cyclist. Even if she were in the crosswalk and the light were red, she's in the wrong.

(2) What state do you live in that the light is red and someone can step into the crosswalk and legally stop all traffic to get across the road? North Korea? No state in the US has such a ridiculous law so please stop making that up.

(3) I think he did slow down, which is why the bike wasn't wrecked. It's just a big ridiculous on your part to concluded that he can't handle a bike if he couldn't avoid her. For all we know, he swerved and she stepped into where he swerved to (I've had that happen before).

(4) For sure he should have ditched the bike at that time in the park and he definitely put other people in peril with his reckless actions.

(1) I'm pretty sure she was in the cross walk since the blood stain in the photo accompanying the article is in the cross walk.

(2) I'm also pretty sure that every state has some form of "last opportunity to avoid collision" kind of rule, meaning that however oblivious the pedestrian was, the biker has an obligation to avoid her if he had the chance.

(3) The one time I hit a pedestrian while riding a bike [under not entirely dissimilar circumstances], I didn't slow down but angled off a little to the right and caught the pedestrian with my right shoulder rather than with my bicycle. She went flying, I wasn't even knocked off balance. Fortunately I wasn't going terribly fast - maybe 15 mph - and she was ok.

(4) Agree or disagree that using aero bars in a crowded place like Central Park should be banned?

Now it seems there were "other pedestrians" involved.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bicycle-rider-charged-central-park-collision-put-pedestrian-ventilator-article-1.1945604

And:

"Cyclists are expected to slow down at crosswalks and yield to pedestrians, according to the Parks Dept. website. The speed limit for cyclists is 25 miles per hour in Central Park."

I just realized that I have seen this guy play in a jazz club. A good friend of mine is a jazz critic in NYC and I just confirmed with him. Crazy.

(1) The newer Daily News article provides more detail and it does appear that she either was in the crosswalk or was right next to it. However, the article now says that other pedestrians were in the bike lane and he swerved to miss them when he hit her.

(2) Yes, just because someone steps into a crosswalk on a red light doesn't give cars the right to gun it and mow the person down. You do have a duty to try and avoid the person even if the person is in the wrong. However, the prior poster made the wrong claim that the pedestrian always has the right of way if he or she is in the crosswalk and that's not correct.

(3) My guess is that something similar happened here because the front of the bike looks undamaged.

(4) Aero bars never are going to be completely banned in Central Park but it wouldn't be that crazy to ban riding aero from, say 10am to 6pm. Cars should be kicked out first.