City Council Demands Bicycling Data

With the midterm elections over, our nation taken back, it’s finally time to get down to the people’s business. There’s a sinister element among us, and we need to shine the light of freedom brightly upon it.

We’re talking, of course, about bikers. And no, not the leather, tattoo and goatee types, nor the midlife crisis-stricken insurance brokers out on Long Island who bought a Harley to prove to their younger co-workers that yes, they really are cool. (Ed. – We’re looking at you, Chad.)

I mean bicyclists. They’re everywhere, and they’re wreaking havoc among our citizens. Or at least, they may be, and the City Council Transportation Committee thinks we ought to know about it.

Bikes running over pedestrians, bikes colliding with other bikes, colliding with motor vehicles, crashing through shop windows, leading police on high speed chases before exploding in a fiery swan dive off of a cliff – okay, maybe not the last two, but the point remains: statistics on bicycle-related accidents are non-existent and are currently not collected by the NYPD or the DOT.

The City Council wants to change all that, seeking to put a bill to vote that would compel the Boys in Blue and the DOT to keep tabs on the pedaling menace, wherever it may lurk, which happens to be everywhere… except on bike lanes. The bill, expected to move forward early next year, would require reports to be filed for accidents involving bicyclists even when there is no automobile involved and no injuries occur.

“We cannot assess traffic safety without knowing how many accidents are caused by bicycles and where,” Transportation Committee chair Jimmy Vacca told CBS. “It’s an important part of our attempt to improve pedestrian safety in the city.”

[via Queens Crap]

— Eitan Kahan