Still reading through the article but hoping this does call more attention to this in legislatures across the US. The video they link in paragraph one is chilling.
Now reading through it, this quote in particular bothers me, even as I know it came from a lawyer defending the bus driver from a prior case. It seems to me this isn’t just him doing his job to defend but that he truly believes it as person that this was not reckless. Distracted driving, in my view is completely reckless.
“At the same time, it’s a high burden and a horrific standard to saddle someone with that criminal record when they weren’t criminally negligent or reckless or intentional.â€
Seems to be a paywall. Are you able to copy/paste the article, or is it super long?
Sorry! Link to the video is here via youtube, that should at least work
When Umar Mirza Baig barreled through a red light at a terrifying speed and T-boned an S.U.V., sending it flying across the street into José Alzorriz, a cyclist, the moment was caught on dashboard cameras in Brooklyn.
Mr. Alzorriz, 52, a bike-safety enthusiast from Spain, had just rolled up to the traffic light on the opposite side of the road when the S.U.V. careened into him, killing him instantly.
Mr. Baig, 18, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with manslaughter.
With Citi Bike expanding and the creation of more lanes for cyclists, there have never been more people biking in New York City. The push to carve out space for them often angers drivers.
Still, as the number of cyclist deaths climbs in New York — Mr. Alzorriz was the 19th cyclist killed this year, nearly twice the 10 deaths all of last year — there are growing calls to increase the legal culpability of drivers.
Bicycle advocates want stronger laws, as well as a cultural change similar to the one around drunken driving.
“I know we all make mistakes and I don’t hate the driver,†Sandra Cotuna, a friend of Mr. Alzorriz, said in an interview before Mr. Baig had been charged. “But he took my best friend away. If he’s walking away free, to me that is not justice.â€
Andrew Gounardes, a state senator who represents parts of southern Brooklyn, called for the young driver to serve jail time.
“If this is the case of some woman walking down the street just shooting a gun in the air randomly, and hitting people and killing them, we’d be all up in all arms,†Mr. Gounardes said in an interview. “We’d be prosecuting, we’d be having press conferences, and everyone would want to be sure that that person was held criminally liable.â€
But while activists say the law is not protecting cyclists enough, some lawyers say it is too strict for honest citizens who accidentally cause just that — accidents.
“You can’t criminalize every negligent act,†said Thomas Lucarelli, who has represented cyclists and pedestrians injured by cars. “If a driver is driving reckless or violating the law — driving drunk or intoxicated — that’s criminal charges.â€
But, he said, if there is no criminal intent and it is a negligent accident, legally, “there is no criminal accountability.â€
Mayor Bill de Blasio has described the 19 deaths of cyclists this year as an “epidemic.â€
In comparison, 114 pedestrians were killed last year in traffic fatalities, according to city data. The number of people injured or killed by cyclists is increasing, too. This year, two pedestrians were killed by bikes; last year there had been none.
Mr. Alzorriz was the 19th cyclist killed so far this year in New York City.CreditScott Heins for The New York Times
In court on Wednesday, Jeffrey Lewisohn, Mr. Baig’s attorney, said: “As tragic as it is that someone passed away, it was an accident. He would like the opportunity to finish his GED and go to college.â€
“It was a tragic accident and now he’s got criminal charges. It’s not appropriate.â€
But in a statement, Mr. Gounardes agreed with the district attorney bringing charges against Mr. Baig.
“Our city’s unofficial policy for too long has been that no matter how reckless, dangerous and harmful a person’s driving, there will never be consequences and oftentimes the driver will remain on the road,†Mr. Gounardes said.
“That needs to change. I stand ready to work with community members and other elected officials to change the law so that drivers who kill or gravely injure others no longer enjoy impunity.â€
New York has a raft of laws around traffic violations, but prosecutors and defense lawyers say drivers who cause fatalities are almost never criminally charged, unless there are extenuating circumstances: if the driver was under the influence of alcohol or other substances; intended to harm someone; or was aware of the risk of harm, but chose to ignore it.
Running a red light alone is almost never considered reckless driving, even though in Mr. Alzorriz’s case, it had fatal consequences.
“If you’re not drunk and you stay at the scene, it’s very unlikely that anything is going to happen to you,†said Jon Orcutt of Bike New York, an advocacy group, and the former director of policy at New York City’s Department of Transportation.
“You have penalties in society in order to create a deterrent,†he said. “But I don’t think we’re doing that with regard to how people drive in the city.â€
Failing to yield to pedestrians and cyclists, a common cause of accidents, carries a penalty of up to $750. The practice of opening a door in the path of a moving cyclist or car — so-called dooring — is illegal, but carries just a $150 fine. Last month, Em Samolewicz was killed while riding her bike after a driver opened the door of his van into traffic, causing her to crash and tumble. A tractor-trailer ran over her.
To date, only one vehicle-related cyclist death has reached the trial stage. Last October, a bus driver was found guilty of killing a cyclist after a bench trial in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. The judge convicted the driver of failing to yield the right of way, a misdemeanor, and failure to exercise due care, a violation.
Part of the reason so few cases reach trial, lawyers said, is that they are difficult to prove in court. Judges use the so-called rule of two: There has to be evidence of egregious behavior or a gross deviation from normal behavior, and prosecutors must show that the driver violated at least two traffic laws.
Defense lawyers said that criminalizing drivers who fail to exercise due care — by briefly taking eyes off the road to calm a child in the back seat, for example, or being momentarily distracted by a cigarette falling on a lap — is too harsh.
“To saddle someone with a criminal record that could decimate their career, their family, their ability to provide for their family, have a future, is, on its face, not big of a price to pay when someone dies and there’s a tragic, wrongful, horrible death,†said Jeremy Saland, who represented the bus driver in the Manhattan trial.
“At the same time, it’s a high burden and a horrific standard to saddle someone with that criminal record when they weren’t criminally negligent or reckless or intentional.â€
Prosecutors have said that the criticism they and the police receive is unfair. In some cases, cyclists are at fault, too, said an official in a New York City district attorney’s office who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak.
Still, changes could be legislated, the official with the district attorney’s office said, citing a proposal to require trucks to have a safety netting to prevent cyclists from falling under wheels.
Facing pressure from advocacy groups and relatives of those killed, Mr. de Blasio’s administration announced a $58.4 million plan last month to reduce cyclist deaths.
Focusing on 10 Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods that account for nearly a quarter of the city’s cyclist fatalities and serious injuries, the plan, named Green Wave, would build an average of 30 miles of bike lanes with protective barriers each year — up from roughly 20 miles.
“If you kill someone through your negligence, maybe that’s not murder one, I’m not a lawyer, but I’d say it should be a serious, serious charge with many years in prison,†he said last week.
Additionally, a bill sponsored by Councilman Brad Lander of Brooklyn would impound vehicles that get at least five red-light or speed-camera violations in a one-year period. That would take 25,000 cars off the road, according to Mr. Lander, until those drivers took a safety course.
Mr. Lander introduced the bill after a driver plowed through a red light in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in March 2018, killing a 5-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy. The girl’s pregnant mother, the Broadway actress Ruthie Ann Miles, miscarried as a result of injuries from the crash.
Mr. Gounardes has also introduced several proposals, including one that would terminate the license of anyone who has at least three moving violations in a year.
“It is completely and 1,000 percent legitimate to be upset and frustrated and angry at the fact that our criminal justice system does not seem to be able to handle cases where people are killing other people because of their reckless, dangerous and stupid behavior,†Mr. Gounardes said.
Jeremy I’ll chime in on this, I really don’t think its possible to make biking in NYC safer via legislation. You tell people don’t drive and drive, or don’t text while you drive. they still do it. You put a harsh penalty (which are already in place) and it still happens. The guy who blew the red light at the intersection probably didn’t give a f#ck about laws and just acted on some irrational impulse.
On that note, inattention on the part of drivers, cyclists, pedestrians is rampant . You have seen each segment being unaware of their surroundings and either put themselves or others in harms way as a result.
Everyone shares the blame but obviously a distracted or reckless driver will cause more harm.
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Ultimately, I know that its very dangerous to cycle in NYC, I instead choose not to as I weight the cost/benefit of serious injury possibly death over just using our shitty public transport system and or use my car.
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Well, my guess would be that 99% of cyclists are already drivers and pay these fees already - do you propose bike licensing? Because that’s how you reduce bike ridership.
I do agree with the rest of your post though, NYC is way too dangerous and obnoxious to drive in.
Inattentive pedestrians or people on bikes do not kill anyone. Inattentive drivers do.
You might want to learn more about who actually pays for roads. Here is a good start:
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/10/28/who-pays-for-roads-addressing-the-users-pay-myth
Something to think about in regards to registration of bicycles.Australia isn’t the only country that has done relevant studies to find that it would not be a viable solution and does not actually address the issue of cycling deaths or driver annoyance.
http://www.executivestyle.com.au/18-reasons-why-registering-bicycles-is-a-bad-idea-1m23gh
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street?
Well, they shouldn’t pay with THEIR LIFE. That’s one thing. Further, as will be pointed out to you numerous times because this is one of the dumbest fucking arguments drivers make: most cyclists already own vehicles and have licensing, registration, and insurance payments on them. So…yea.
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Seriously? This old canard?
Go away, please.
"In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure? "
I’d tell you fuck off but probably can’t. Are you really as stupid as this post makes out?
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Seriously? This old canard?
Go away, please.
Low information decision making leading to a fundamentally twisted world view.
Even if I sat him down and drew for him what his traffic would look like if every cyclist were all of a sudden in a car sharing a road with him and making his commute worse, he’d still hand wave it away and hang onto his preconceptions. Best to ignore and move on.
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Well, my guess would be that 99% of cyclists are already drivers and pay these fees already - do you propose bike licensing? Because that’s how you reduce bike ridership.
I do agree with the rest of your post though, NYC is way too dangerous and obnoxious to drive in.
I don’t know what the situation is in the US but here infrastructure is funded from general taxation and motor tax is supposedly for spending on infrastructure maintenance and emmissions limits penalty payments. Thus cyclists, even if they don’t drive, are still paying their share (since I the impact of bikes on road wear and tear is negligible and there are no regulated emmissions).
Regardless of that, it’s a truely terrible notion to charge people for the right to cycle. Philosophically, it’s a big step towards charging and regulating for absolutely everything. Should we be charged for the right to walk or run on footpaths? It’s not a silly extrapolation, since cycling as an activity and a right is far closer to walking or running than it is to driving in almost every respect. On top of that it’s also a bad policy for other social and financial reasons. It will be difficult and expensive to police. It will need to be applied to children unless you propose banning children from riding bikes or segregating by age or location which just makes it more complex, unfair and unenforceable. And of course it will disincentivise people from using an enjoyable form of exercise and low impact transport, promoting worse health, worse pollution, worse traffic congestion, higher cost of living, lower quality of life, etc, etc…
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Everyone pays for car infrastructure such as with taxes. Car driving is actually subsidized by non-drivers. And drivers pay no where near the cost of pollution they put on the rest of us. If anything, car ownership should be much more heavily taxed - drivers (including me) are free-riding on society as a whole.
And you have to pay for insurance and registration because cars have high potential to kill people. That’s pretty basic.
And whining about upkeep? Dude, if you don’t want to pay that don’t have a car. Advocate for better cycling/pedestrian infrastructure or mass transit. Or at least get a much cheaper to maintain car.
And you have to pay for insurance and registration because cars have high potential to kill people. That’s pretty basic.
Statistical speaking there’s what more than a handful of people that will die every day from accidents on the road. In most accidents are drivers jailed for it, even if “distracted”?
IE are car v car deaths pretty much the same end scenario as car v biker accidents? The person at fault doesn’t really ever get due punishment?
At most it’s what manslaughter, $10k fine, lose of license, in most cases?
Jeremy I’ll chime in on this, I really don’t think its possible to make biking in NYC safer via legislation. You tell people don’t drive and drive, or don’t text while you drive. they still do it. You put a harsh penalty (which are already in place) and it still happens. The guy who blew the red light at the intersection probably didn’t give a f#ck about laws and just acted on some irrational impulse.
On that note, inattention on the part of drivers, cyclists, pedestrians is rampant . You have seen each segment being unaware of their surroundings and either put themselves or others in harms way as a result.
Everyone shares the blame but obviously a distracted or reckless driver will cause more harm.
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Ultimately, I know that its very dangerous to cycle in NYC, I instead choose not to as I weight the cost/benefit of serious injury possibly death over just using our shitty public transport system and or use my car.
Most vehicle and gas taxes go to highways which cyclists cannot use. Normally city roads are paid for by sales/property tax which everyone pays.
Also in regards to legislation, laws are very weak, and the car lobby fights to keep it that way. Holland, in addition to great infrastructure, has strong vulnerable user laws.
For instance , drunk driving is automatic jail time. In USA, people are out the next day with a restricted driving permit.
Cellphone driving fine here, too low for police to bother and enforce (the police officials in Cali fought for this reason)
This whole topic infuriates me so much. Robyn Hightman (the girl killed in June in NYC) was my daughter’s college roommate and still a close friend of our family. I don’t know the solution. But something needs to be done.
Jeremy I’ll chime in on this, I really don’t think its possible to make biking in NYC safer via legislation. You tell people don’t drive and drive, or don’t text while you drive. they still do it. You put a harsh penalty (which are already in place) and it still happens. The guy who blew the red light at the intersection probably didn’t give a f#ck about laws and just acted on some irrational impulse.
On that note, inattention on the part of drivers, cyclists, pedestrians is rampant . You have seen each segment being unaware of their surroundings and either put themselves or others in harms way as a result.
Everyone shares the blame but obviously a distracted or reckless driver will cause more harm.
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Ultimately, I know that its very dangerous to cycle in NYC, I instead choose not to as I weight the cost/benefit of serious injury possibly death over just using our shitty public transport system and or use my car.
Ive got to disagree.
If the punishment is sufficiently severe and the law is actually policed and enfirced then it will work as a deterrent. Not 100%, but some.
Take speeding. $50 or $100 fine, and probably caught 0.0001% of the time speeding (think about how many times as car drivers you do exceed the limit, even by only 1 or 2 mph …and how often actually caught). And say $100 fine. It stings. But it doesn’t hurt enough to be a real deterrent.
Now flip that to a $10k fine. And see lots of folks being caught all the time. I bet you’ll be more careful and speed less.
Jeremy I’ll chime in on this, I really don’t think its possible to make biking in NYC safer via legislation. You tell people don’t drive and drive, or don’t text while you drive. they still do it. You put a harsh penalty (which are already in place) and it still happens. The guy who blew the red light at the intersection probably didn’t give a f#ck about laws and just acted on some irrational impulse.
On that note, inattention on the part of drivers, cyclists, pedestrians is rampant . You have seen each segment being unaware of their surroundings and either put themselves or others in harms way as a result.
Everyone shares the blame but obviously a distracted or reckless driver will cause more harm.
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Ultimately, I know that its very dangerous to cycle in NYC, I instead choose not to as I weight the cost/benefit of serious injury possibly death over just using our shitty public transport system and or use my car.
Ive got to disagree.
If the punishment is sufficiently severe and the law is actually policed and enfirced then it will work as a deterrent. Not 100%, but some.
Take speeding. $50 or $100 fine, and probably caught 0.0001% of the time speeding (think about how many times as car drivers you do exceed the limit, even by only 1 or 2 mph …and how often actually caught). And say $100 fine. It stings. But it doesn’t hurt enough to be a real deterrent.
Now flip that to a $10k fine. And see lots of folks being caught all the time. I bet you’ll be more careful and speed less.
Fines should be percentage of income. Ferrari driving ceo will just easily pay that off
In terms of dollars and cents, I have to pay insurance, renew my vehicle registration, and the upkeep of a car. What does a cyclist pay? nothing. Yet the roads I drive on are being taken away so that a small % of folks can bike on the street? Why don’t we start charging cyclists too so that we can improve our so called infrastructure?
Common misconception that governments have user costs built into license, and plate fees. Here’s an extract from a Library of Congress publication.
Under Canada’s Constitution Act, the provinces and territories have exclusive jurisdiction over the building and maintenance of national highways. Local and municipal roads are under the jurisdiction of municipal governments. The federal government administers a number of federal funds to assist with road infrastructure projects, many of which are structured through bilateral cost-sharing agreements with specific provinces, territories or municipal governments for specific projects. Most of the monies for these various funds come from consolidated revenue, which is then allocated through a budgetary process. However, part of the federal gas tax revenue is earmarked for municipal infrastructure projects under the Federal Gas Tax Fund.
Provincially, the general practice is not to tie fuel taxes to highway or road infrastructure projects. In most provinces, expenditure on highway infrastructure projects is allocated under a government budget from the general revenue rather than from a particular tax source. Public-private partnerships have also been utilized to fund major road infrastructure projects.
I suspect if you check state a federal revenues it will be similar.
It’s a common argument by drivers that bicycles have no business on the road because they didn’t pay for it. When in reality they did, through general taxes and the portion they pay is far less of a cost than that caused by drivers. So it’s about time people stopped with the belief they pay for the road and bikes don’t. It’s half the problem with aggressive drivers.and ignorance.