A bicyclist collided with a sedan on 81st Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue on Wednesday around 11:45 a.m., according to police. The bicyclist hit the windshield and sustained an injury to the head. He was taken away by ambulance, but it didn’t appear to be critical, a police source said.
The bicyclist was turning left onto 81st when he collided with the eastbound vehicle, according to the police source. The indication from preliminary investigation is that the cyclist ran into the car, not the other way around. No charges were filed.
Photo by Carol Tannenhauser.
Got to watch out for those reckless bike riders.
I was hit, twice in the last year by them, riding on the sidewalks.
Yes, those reckless cyclists who have nothing to lose by being hit by a car, such as this poor kid. It’s more likely that he misread the right-of-way situation. It’s unclear which intersection this occurred at, but the intersections on both ends of that block are extremely tricky when you’re on a bike.
Now, riding on the sidewalk IS very reckless, but nothing in the article indicates this kid was doing that.
I was NOT referring to this rider, but to others who ride on the sidewalk.
Plus, the fact that there were no charges filed against the motor vehicle driver kind of tells you who’s to blame.
God speed to the biker.
UWSBiker,
I don’t understand. How could misreading the right of way situation have caused this biker to hit the car?
If we all learn more about what is confusing for cyclists maybe we can improve things.
Would be so much safer for everyone if rules were truly enforced for cyclists!! All of us have either been hit or have had close calls because of bike riders on the sidewalk, running lights or riding in the wrong direction.
Would be so much safer for everyone if rules were truly enforced for motor vehicles!! All of us have either been hit or have had close calls because of automobile drivers making illegal U-turns, driving through red lights, blocking the crosswalk, double-parking in cycling lanes (and in the street), and failing to yield to pedestrians or cyclists.
Would be so much safer for everyone if rules were truly enforced for pedestrians. Crossing at red lights, walking into the street from between parked cars or trucks, just plain walking in the street.
It is against the law for cyclists to ride on the sidewalk unless they are accompanying a child.
Most of the offenders are delivery cyclists riding on sidewalks . In addition they rarely stop for red lights and go the wrong way on bicycle lanes . A letter from Council member Rosenthal to take out restaurants citing the bicyclists infractions would help
Even if they accompany a child, the must walk the bike, not ride it.t.
I hope this kid is alright!
Interesting how the first several comments on a post showing a picture of an injured kid who was hit by a car in the street are all about the dangers of bicyclists riding on the sidewalk.
People are being maimed daily and killed weekly by reckless drivers and lack of bicycle infrastructure, and still, when a bicyclist gets hit, the first thought is ____watch out for dangerous bicyclists on the sidewalk!!!!!
The reason bicyclists ride on the sidewalk in most cases is that they are afraid of being mowed down by cars.
There’s always someone claiming to have been hit several times by a reckless sidewalk rider, but I haven’t seen a news story in memory about such an incident, whereas cars killing/injuring people news stories occur many times a week.
Gnarley-Davidason,
Lets get this straight.
I have been riding a bike in NYC for over 50 years.
I stop for red lights and I don’t ride the sidewalks.
Most bike riders DO NOT stop for red lights, but go right through them, endangering themselves, pedestrians and yes, drivers of cars as well.
I was never hit by a car. But I have been hit by bike riders, more than once, twice or three times. On sidewalks and streets.
Bike riders should be regulated and given tickets, especially while riding through red lights.
But we all know the game.
They drive by fast and the cops have little chance of catching up with them.
And – if as you say, bike riders ride on sidewalks because they are afraid of cars, then they should not ride at all. Period!
I’ve been riding a bike in NYC for 25 years
So there
If, over the course of 50 years, you have never ridden on the sidewalk for even 10 feet in some area where the traffic is dangerous and pedestrian traffic light to non-existence, nor gone through a red light, even where there are no peoplef crossing other than the pedestrians who are jaywalking parallel to your trajectory because there is no traffic, then I would have to call your bluff.
Really, I simply don’t believe you.
Either that, or you are the most unproactive, goody two-shoes bicycle rider ever to grace the Upper West Side.
Congrats!
It’s only very recently that there has been enough infrastructure for bicycle riders occasionally to feel safe on at least portions of their trips….and because of that for most of the time that I’ve ridden in the city, the bicycle culture was a free-for-all, do what you can to make it through the craziness alive kind of approach.
Now they actually ARE enforcing bike laws—I got a ticket for slowly going through a red light on Riverside Drive, no traffic, no people, and I still slowed down to make sure no one darted out from behind a car.
Fair enough—bike riders are slowly learning to follow more of the rules, and that makes sense, if more bikes are expected to be on the streets.
Still, there are places where following the rules that were made for cars and busses and trucks which break those same rules all the time and which, in doing so can splat you into the next life without even realizing they managed to send you off, is the right thing to do but not necessarily the safe thing to do.
I cross central park at 86th several times a week, for instance, and while it would be safer to ride on the sidewalk, I never do—because it’s against the law. But there is no shoulder in that transept, and there are potholes and grills, and lumbering tourist busses and impatient taxis passing you with inches to spare.
It’s the only legal way for a bike to cross there, but it’s certainly not safe.
I’m not going to argue for a change in the blanket no-sidewalk law in NY because that strikes me as an unlikely cause, but I am arguing that if you look at it from the point of view of a bike rider afear’d of being mown down by agressive traffic, the occasional straying into shared space with pedestrians while trying to avoid a route through danger, or simply out of confusion as to where to go, in the case of tourists, makes sense to them, since they are comparing a very real danger to their own hide to an extremely mild danger they might pose to the fellow unprotected humans sharing this space.
Gnarley-Davidason,
Sure looks like you have a lot of free time on hand.
You calling my bluff?
Can’t believe someone would actually care for his well being enough to not only follow the law, but be smart about not getting physically hurt?
Go ahead and call my bluff.
I call your reasoning for riding the sidewalk a bluff.
If one must get off the road, for whatever reason, and go on the sidewalk, walk the bike for the the safety of others, and get back on the road when the fear of getting hit by cars is over.
Enjoy this beautiful day and ride safe buddy.
I hope the WestSideRag got permission from the cyclist to publish this photo. I’d hate to find myself in extremis on the streets of New York and have my pic end up in the local news blog.
Why is no one in this picture holding c-spine
Amazing that articles about cyclists getting hurt brings out such anger. I’ve lived in NYC my whole life and never felt terrorized by crazed cyclists overtaking the sidewalks. I have been hit by, and have had many near misses with cabs, trucks, cell phone talking drivers, and dogs. I also got overcharged a dollar for a hot dog in midtown once.
Let’s just hope the guy gets better.
Thank you ex mayor Bloomberg for encouraging the riding of bicycles in this car choked city and leading to death and injuries of stupid naïve bicyclists who should have been using the public transportation system.
You’re welcome.