I really don't feel like getting into a road rules debate right now, but this article about what supposedly lead to her and the motorcyclist's death kind of got under my skin...
The article even relates one person's corroboration of reports of two guys on crotch-rockets racing up and down Greene Ave before the incident. I've got nothing wrong with clubs, or even gangs, that center around a particular vehicle, hobby, or sport; but I'm pretty sure everyone in Brooklyn is intimately familiar with the growing popularity of driving a motorcycle like a goddamn maniac in the middle of the night. So why aren't we doing something about the ones who are flagrantly disobeying both common sense and local law; and instead pleading with cyclists to be more "defensive," "watchful," and "vigilant" of them?
Since when is it the duty of the law-abiding citizen to accommodate the transgressions of the law-breaking citizen? All this mentality does for us is perpetuate this disgusting culture of fear we've submitted to both consciously and unconsciously.
Though after reading the "account" of what transpired, it seems that Ms. Miller was salmoning up Greene or riding off the sidewalk between cars in the dark of night.
If you'll recall, I recently be-frogged my bike in a clever lightway that helps me and my penchant for dark clothing stay visible when riding after hours, and as a result I've become keenly aware of many bikes' extreme lack of illumination. I don't want to encourage people to bedazzle their bikes with those stupid peel-n-stick neon green reflectors, but some lights or reflectors are always a good thing (bear in mind, if you have lights theres really no point in having reflectors too, since the light should outshine the light bouncing off the reflector; if it doesn't, you need new batteries for your lights).
I've also started riding around Prospect Park on Tuesday and Thursday evenings since I'm somewhat unhappy with the speed my fitness allows me to ride at. In doing so I notice an irritatingly common problem with bicycle traffic at this time of day: people salmoning, lightless, through the pitch-dark park to (I assume) save a few seconds on their evening commute.
But recently I haven't been vocalizing my disdain for bike salmon, and instead have adopted a live-and-let-live policy, only saying something when they directly affect my safety or path of travel. I figure nobody wants to get lectured at anyway, and hopefully one day they'll realize that riding with traffic is far less scary than the opposite by their own volition.
Then again, the Police certainly aren't helping the situation (that is assuming they lead by example, which we all know, they don't), as evidenced by this occurence I was fortunate enough to capture this morning as I walked my bike to the service entrance of my office building:
Yes, thoust eyes dostn't decieve thee; that is indeed a Cop-salmon. I thought i was going to catch him sidewalk-salmoning, but right as I managed to free my camera from my bag, he rode into the new protected bike lane on Broadway... Oh well, this just as bad if not worse in my opinion.
Not to leave you with a sour taste for cycling, I was heartened to see that the Bergen St. 2,3 station in Brooklyn now boasts bike racks for commuters to use.
I only wish we could see this at every train station instead of having people to resort to vertical locking jobs on scarce bike racks, fences and signposts... But it's nice to see people are at least riding part of the way to work...
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