This is an accident that will be exploited by ghouls in elected office and advocacy groups in a grotesque effort to promote their propaganda and to advance their agenda. It is, as usual, another dreary attempt by liberals to gain a privilege in the form of dedicated bicycle lanes for little more than their desire to consume yet another status symbol in their drive for virtue signalling. The set up here is the usual morality tale of leftist angels versus the devils where the angels in this case are the bicyclists who can do no wrong in battling against evil cars. To remedy this horrific miscarriage of justice, more protected bicycle lanes are needed and automotive traffic euphemistically "calmed" in gridlock. Yet, despite any sense of decency, these people will see the personal tragedy of the victim, Mr. Spencer, as an opportunity to wave the bloody shirt with vulture-like glee to advance their agenda. Really, how low can you go exploiting a man's death for the privileges of special interest groups.
That all the existent bicycle lanes are seriously under utilized, that bicycles, fun for recreational or exercise purposes but cannot serve as a viable replacement for the automobile makes no nevermind to these fanatical cultist advocacy groups. Like spoiled children, they will continue to make demands. Worse even with these types of creatures, even when their current demands are met, they will cry for ever more concessions. A social justice warrior activist is a liar and lives only for conflict so a wise policy would be never to believe any of their claims and never make even the least concession to them.
Let's see from the article what happened:
"The operator of the vehicles was traveling southbound on 2nd Street, in the right of two travel lanes, approached the intersection at Borden Avenue. The vehicle entered the intersection with the green traffic signal. The bicyclist was traveling westbound on Borden Avenue, approaching 2nd Street, and apparently disobeyes a steady red traffic signal. The bicyclist continues into the intersection and was struck by the southbound vehicle. The bicyclist was removed to Mount Sinai Hospital of Astoria and subsequently pronounced deceased. The operator of the involved vehicle remain on the scene. The investigation remains on going and there are no arrests at this time.
Although bicyclists and pedestrians always have the right of way, that does not protect them from the consequences of unsafe actions or bad decisions. Right of way does not protect one from the physics of momentum and kinetic energy from impact with a car. This accident should serve as a cautionary tale to bicyclists that for their own safety they must obey all traffic laws. No amount of protected bicycle lanes can protect a rider from their own bad decisions. Further, bicyclists should understand that a motorist may not always see them and may not be able to react in time to avoid hitting them. Always be aware of and respectful of traffic around you. In any confrontation between a motor vehicle and a bicyclist (or a pedestrian), the motor vehicle will win every time. Otherwise, a white painted "ghost bicycle" becomes little more than a Darwin Award.
Nobody sane who drives any motor vehicle wants the problems of an accident on their insurance and driving record or an injury or death on their conscience. Yes there are plenty of assholes out there behind the wheel as in the bike saddle or walking along and they should be given a wide berth.
"Several cycling advocates disputed the findings on social media, pointing out that the report is based on what the driver told police."
First of all, none of us should doubt the NYPD's findings in this accident. The police have no dog in this fight, no cause to promote nor axe to grind. The police investigator's findings will have to stand up in either criminal or civil court. Determining the cause and if any criminality is involved is all that matters. The physical evidence of skid marks, location of damage on both the car and bicycle alone tells the story.
If these advocates are right, then why don't they produce evidence to prove it instead of an assertion and innuendo. Obviously, they have nothing really to say outside of inane conspiracy theories and should be ignored.
And the political vulture, NYC Councilman Van Bramer, weighs in with an insipid statement of fact free histrionics:
“This morning, a cyclist was killed in LIC,” Van Bramer said. “Another awful tragedy. Another life lost. Another family shattered. We cannot normalize traffic violence and deaths. They cannot be a forgone conclusion. Cyclists deserve safety on our city’s roads like everyone else. It’s long past time to hold reckless drivers accountable and to invest in sustainable transportation infrastructure like protected bike lanes to better ensure the safety of all New Yorkers and to prevent any more needless loss of life.”
First off, see the police statement and understand that mistakes or bad riding habits can have terrible consequences. There must be some personal responsibility involved here. Next, who in the hell is "normalizing traffic violence" and death? Violence? Seriously? Right, Jimmy, gilding the lily a bit too much there but set that strawman up and knock him down.
Hold reckless drivers accountable, great idea, Jimmy. If only we had something like a police department that investigates accidents and who issue summonses for traffic violations or make arrests in cases of motorist criminality, that just might work. Oh, wait, just more Van Bramer verbal spew.
So yes, cyclists do deserve safety but once again, personal responsibility and obeying traffic laws should play a major part in safety. To try and make this all about all motorists being reckless is a disingenuous genetic fallacy. Being an assclown of a snowflake is a quality that cuts across all demographics (including politicians and bureaucrats too) so why get so sanctimonious about motorists only. Liberals are just not bright enough to think outside of simplistic, binary dichotomies.
And finally, how is moar money spent and moar protected bike lanes going to address accidents that happen at intersections? The sustainable transportation infrastructure thing is just an emotional throwaway term to trigger goodfeelz in liberal emoters. Otherwise it is completely meaningless nonsense.
But in all of this, are bicyclists going to pay registration fees to help defray the costs of dedicated bicycle lanes or are they going to be held accountable for violations of traffic laws by being issued summonses by the police? No, the SJW snowflakes want special privileges and freestuff in the form of bike lanes.
Well, maybe I shouldn't be so hard on old Jimmy. After all, being a liar and pandering to the interests of favored vassal special interest groups is in the modern politician's job description. No, really the blame lies with we the people who have been asleep at the switch for generations and have allowed many bona fide creeps to be elected to office and the managerial/custodial state to run wild. Worse yet for us is that there is no widespread public will to elect better people or demand the excesses government and their vassals be reigned in.
In conclusion:
It's a sad and tragic thing when someone is killed in an accident.Something no normal human being wants to happen (progressive leftists excepted) but any reasonable person understands that we are not perfect and accidents happen. We can take reasonable steps to significantly reduce the odds of accidents which first and foremost must be exercise of common sense and adherence to the rules but must realize that no system can ever be completely foolproof. Motorists, pedestrians or bicyclists disregard traffic laws, and yes, no one is blameless here. This is not in any way "normalizing" accidents but recognizing a fact. So no new sets of laws or unnecessary bicycle lanes, etc, will address the assholery of pompous, entitled douchebags that too often run amok here. Only by encouraging people to respect the rules of the road as created for their safety, promote use of common sense and respecting each other can we reasonably reduce accidents.
We must strive for the heuristic and not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. All of us, as human beings, must ultimately take responsibility for our actions and accept the consequences like rational adults.
Donald Cavaioli
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