Press release and photo
Picture of a woman injured on May critical mass in NYC. Eye witnesses say she was purposely doored by NYPD in the bike lane which resulted in hospitalization with a broken colar bone.
PRESS RELEASE:
NYPD TARGETS CRITICAL MASS THROUGH PERMIT REGULATION REVISIONS
NYPD threatens public safety with its aggressive and reckless behavior
MANHATTAN CRITICAL MASS RIDE
Friday, July 28, 2006 at 7:00PM
Participants meet at Union Square Park North
CONVERGENCE SPACE FOR PRESS & RIDE PARTICIPANTS
Friday, July 28, 2006 at 9:30 PM
TIME'S UP! Space, 49 East Houston Street (between Mott & Mulberry)
(high resolution pictures and video footage will be available following the ride)
New York, NY (July 27, 2006) -- – Time's Up!, the non-profit, all-volunteer, environmental group that is being sued by New York City for advertising the Critical Mass bike ride, denounced the new parade permit regulations proposed by the NYPD. The rule change, which requires permission from the NYPD whenever 20 or more law-abiding cyclists ride together, is a retaliatory response by the NYPD to the decision of two judges in two separate cases. The judges refused to halt the ride, stating that Critical Mass is not a parade and does not require a permit.
Despite paying lip service to public safety as a reason for the rule change, the NYPD continues to create unsafe conditions for Critical Mass cyclists. Police officers have been documented cutting off, "dooring," and pushing down law-abiding cyclists, merely to give tickets for moving violations. On the May Critical Mass ride, a cyclist was rushed to the hospital with a broken collarbone after she was doored by a police officer while riding in the bike lane.
Cyclists encourage the NYPD to discontinue its show of force and harassment through these overbroad and unenforceable new rules and hope instead to see a new atmosphere of cooperation on the part of the NYPD.
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TIME'S UP! is a non-profit environmental group that has been using educational outreach and direct action for the last 15 years to promote a more sustainable, less toxic city.
posted by Michael Green at 4:50 AM
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18 Comments:
i hope she sues for damages and presses charges against the cop who did that.
Mass silent sit-in next month where she got hit.
I'm glad we FINALLY got some info about that. I was trying to find some actual evidence/witnesses for weeks with no luck. Thanks so much.
Any word on the rumor that they actually served her with tickets while in the hospital? Sounds a little too ridiculous to me.
Serving tickets to accident victims in the hospital is standard operating procedure for many PDs nation wide. I have a cop friend (and cyclist) who laughs about it.
Bikers go home. You are nothing but a nuisance and get in the way of alreay congested streets. Boo hoo hoo, NYPD ROCKS!
Ha ha, "Bikers go home." Half the time, that is where I'm going. "Bikers stay home" might have made more sense.
I wouldn't like to speculate about the truth in this story because it sounds too implausible to me. However the most implausible events seem to be what have lead the human race to this point so who am I to argue? So presuming this story is true and police did commit this offence against a cyclist, then it's a terrible thing to happen and maybe it is the kind of mentality that can somehow make sense of an argument that suggests that it is bikes that clog city streets????
Wow now that's a hard one to comprehend no matter messed up my thinking can get! I guess it must be true though, what else could convince places like India and China to trade in their bicycle rickshaw taxis for motorcars? :) but that's progress...(?)
Look, speaking as someone who competitively raced for three years... critical mass is really, well, annoying.
This is unrelated to this accident (and, God willing, she recovers) I'm sorry, it is. It's one thing to ride a bike. It's another to a) disregard all laws of the road (as bikes and cars are supposed to follow the same rules), b) not wear a helmet in the city (which 90% of critical mass riders in Boston seem to really enjoy not doing), c) block traffic (including an ambulance, last time I saw the CM riders out do).
The irony of making cars sit in traffic, of course, is that they're idling and burning off fuel - adding more pollutants to the air.
Speaking as an avid cyclist and someone who spent years riding - watching many cyclists together as one is special. But doing it in a VERY reckless and outright dangerous way (I mean, ignoring ALL sorts of red lights and not wearing a helmet in the city is just ASKING for trouble, really - wearing a helmet may not always be mandatory, but only a, pardon my french, fucking idiot, would not wear a helmet) is not only stubborn, but idiotic, and putting one's life at risk.
Apologies if this is rambling, but it's all fact, and you know it.
Ben is right. And furthermore, since pedestrian deaths by car outweigh bike deaths about ten to one, all pedestrians should be required to wear helmets. Basically, everyone who goes outside should have a helmet on. You'd have to be an idiot not to. It's a fact, and you all know it.
does NYPD hate us for our freedom?
please consider joining or contributing to the new york civil liberties union: www.nyclu.org
- a concerned American
"Ben is right. And furthermore, since pedestrian deaths by car outweigh bike deaths about ten to one, all pedestrians should be required to wear helmets. Basically, everyone who goes outside should have a helmet on. You'd have to be an idiot not to. It's a fact, and you all know it."
If you honestly believe that you're better off not wearing a helmet when riding a bike in the city, you're an idiot. It's just that simple.
Driving a car affords you, at the very least, some protection. I'd love to know the numbers of deaths of people in cars wearing a seatbelt - and considering that they are likely far far lower than those who weren't wearing a seatbelt. If you do the responsible, proper thing in a car, I'm quite sure that the resulting death numbers go down. That's the reason there are seatbelt laws.
Can you give me one logical reason to NOT wear a helmet? I've been riding before and just skidded out and had I not worn a helmet, would have probably died. No car was involved in my accident.
As for pedestrian deaths, yes, it's high. And yes it's also foolish. But I'd wager many of those deaths were people who were not following the laws of the road (whether it was the car or the pedestrian).
There's a reason why many laws are in place.
It may well be safer to wear a helmet while biking, but bike safety has much more to do with the number of bicyclists on the road and the attitude that drivers have towards them. Do some reading on bike deaths in the US vs. a city like Amsterdam, where everyone bikes, no one wears helmets, drivers are required by law to yield to bicyclists, and bike and pedestrian deaths are drastically lower.
Critical Mass is doing more for bike safety in the US than a piece of foam strapped to your head. Here comes the knowledge.
I still remember when a trucker decided to ride over bikers at a critical mass in MA. Safety and helmets are indeed a huge concern. Ride safe.
Reproduction Bicycle Catalogs
Ignoring cars altogether - wearing a helmet is a smart idea nonetheless. If you're riding and you hit a rock and get flung from your bike and hit the curb without a helmet - you're going to be going home in an ambulance.
And one of the other problems I had with these riders were that they were blowing through red lights, not riding in a line, and other major infractions of cycling on a paved road. You are supposed to follow all the same rules of the road as a car, motorcycle, or whatever - if you're going to try to change the ways that people see cyclists, it's probably a wise idea to do it in a way that doesn't piss off everyone else.
Sure - riding 15 mph, taking the whole lane, stopping at every red light - the driver stuck behind that biker at rush hour is going to be real sympathetic.
I hope next time you morons get your fucking heads busted up - if I was on patrol I would surely do that to you - next time you white ass liberals are mugged call for a fireman!
I love how you always blame the cops, and give YOUR caption under a picture - you must think people are really dumb. Go play in the sandbox with Jesse and Rev. Al - LOSERS!
As an avid biker and bike commuter, I am offended by Critical Mass riders. Obstructing traffic with a mass ride without permits and traffic lockups serves no purpose other than to attract publicity. And in the end, hurts rather than helps bike riders in NYC. I am sure that every last Friday that goes by you guys have made enemies with one more driver. One more driver in a 2-ton plus vehicle that will be gunning for me when I'm on my bike commute. The Friday evening commute is bad enough without Critical Mass inflaming the situation. In the end, however, I realize that you selfish Critical Mass publicity hounds will continue your thing.
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