Motor Scooters Redux – Bike Snob NYC

Additional to Friday’s publish, right here’s extra from Streetsblog on the latest moped motorbike crash on the Manhattan Bride bike path:

It’s an honest report, and it’s value studying (for those who can abdomen it) because it exhibits the place New York Metropolis’s bicycle infrastructure is at the moment headed–although it’s Streetsblog, so there’s nonetheless the compulsory excuse-making for the supply employees and gratuitous reminder that vehicles are worse:

At this level it’s most likely each unfair and pointless to focus solely on supply riders since all kinds of individuals at the moment are utilizing high-speed motorized contraptions within the bike lane, not simply supply individuals. Finally if the bike lanes are to stay protected for individuals on regular bikes it’s going to require enforcement, which is an issue, since any relationship which will ever have existed between advocacy and the NYPD is totally damaged. Clearly advocates’ deep frustration with the NYPD is justified in some ways, however on the identical time they’re now just like the buyer who can by no means return to the native Starbucks as a result of they threw an iced Frappucino within the barista’s face. Sarcastically, their solely hope could also be that the law-and-order set additionally hates unlawful motor scooters:

Right here’s the context for the “collector automotive,” by the way in which.

After all every group hates unlawful motor scooters in its personal inimitable self-serving model (“It makes it scary to trip my bicycle!” “Third world-style crime!”), but it surely’s uncommon that one thing bothers the householders of Park Slope and Whitestone equally, so it could possibly be that town can have no selection however to do one thing–and by that I imply really do one thing, not simply declare a “local weather emergency:”

I do know at the least a few of you will see that my pointing the next out to be irksome, however excessive warmth in July in New York Metropolis is usually a direct results of it being July in New York Metropolis, when you may traditionally rely on it being what meteorologists name “sizzling as balls:”

Talking of advocates and the NYPD, that is about as shut as they arrive to a dialogue:

My guess is that they tagged Streetsblog because it’s about not crashing your automotive into individuals and issues and their beat is vehicles crashing into individuals and issues, although it is also as a result of that is one other topic advocates hardly ever handle that nonetheless ought to be addressed. Just like the motor scooters, stoned driving has turn out to be shockingly pervasive in New York Metropolis, and I stay aggravated that few individuals even wish to take into account it when discussing why the streets maintain getting extra harmful. As a substitute, the present style is responsible big-ass vehicles:

I believe driving big-ass vehicles within the metropolis is dumb, they usually certain ain’t serving to something, however over the previous 20 years the most important change I’ve observed by far is just not the automobiles individuals drive–it’s the way in which they drive them and the smells that come out of them. There’s kind of a “new recklessness” on the market, and whereas I don’t low cost my rising age and concomitant fuddy-duddyness I can’t assist considering numerous it’s simply telephones and weed. In case your financial institution saved making errors together with your cash and it began smelled strongly of weed in there you’d most likely at the least query their claims that it was on account of a brand new laptop system. But on the subject of “sharing” the street with drivers we’re not supposed to fret about the way it actually reeks of weed when you’re driving via site visitors now, as an alternative it’s as a result of the RAV4 has turn out to be extra in style than the Camry.

Anyway, it’s not trendy to have a look at hashish as something apart from a panacea, so I’m certain we’ll maintain blaming the vehicles. As for the motor scooters, I count on a helmet giveaway any day now. As a result of helmets repair every little thing.