Two pedestrians, , and , have been hospitalized in the past six months with serious injuries after being struck by cyclists in Prospect Park, but the Daily News says that hasn’t slowed anyone down.
A Daily News reporter armed with a radar gun clocked bikers going as fast as 31 mph, though the speed limit for cars and bikes in the park is 25 mph. The reporter also witnessed incidents of bikes speeding through red lights at crosswalks. In a day, 8 out of 50 cyclists broke the speed limit, according to the report.
In January, the 78th precinct vowed to crack down on speeding cyclists, as reported by the Brooklyn Paper and .
“More enforcement will be implemented for bicyclists who disobey traffic laws,” said an unnamed source at the 78th precinct in January. “If [an officer] sees a bicyclist go through a red light it’s the same as if a car does.”
The Daily News reports that just 22 cyclists were ticketed in the park this year.
A few weeks ago, including a new “highly visible” crosswalk and a narrowing of the two-lane road to one lane with orange traffic barrels near the the area where Cohen was struck.
The on November 16, where park users expressed their opinions, ranging from a ban on cars and bikes to better pedestrian education.
“People need to realize that [the drives] are not a velodrome,” said Geoffrey Croft, founder of New York City Park Advocates. “It’s a park with many different users.”
Cohen, a 55-year-old park volunteer, was struck by a cyclist in the park on November 3, and was put into a medically induced coma at Kings County Hospital. Two weeks later, she was fully conscious and breathing on her own, according to a friend.
Jacks was struck by a cyclist in the park on June 11 and sustained serious brain trauma and fractures throughout her face and skull. According to the New York Post, Jacks is suing the City for $3 million, blasting the Parks Department and NYPD for their “negligent, careless and reckless” lack of traffic enforcement inside of the park.
Do you have any specific ideas? A few bikers are reckliss and you blaim the all.
New York has jerks and nice people. Some ride bikes. Some drive cars. Some walk. Some stay at home. Some are men. Some are women. The list goes on. But to Rick and mw, ALL bikers are reckless, entitled, scofflaws.
You people? Please.
Good to know. For the record, I think what has happened recently has been terribly disturbing and I met the family of one of the victims. Absolutely terrible. But how that precludes me from saying that you have to also get cars out of the park is a mystery. Care to elaborate, Rick?
It is refreshing to hear someone say that they are disturbed abnout the recent tragic events. That is the issue that is being addressed in this article. Again for the umpteenth time I have to say that while getting cars out of the park is a good idea it is not the issue being addressed here and to address it here is to distract from a real serious problem that has to be fixed before four more pedestrians are hit. Getting cars out of the park does not fix this danger because it happened when cars were not allowed in the park. It had nothing NOTHING to do with it. That doesn't make it a defense of cars it is a matter of focusing on a serious problem, the issue at hand, and finding a sensible solution. How much more can I elaborate?
I documented them for the Prospect Park Alliance Safety Committee last Summer.
Of course the prospect of enforcement will get some bikers to stop at the lights. But what good is that. A few bikers stopping at red lights and the rest swerving around them. That will not be better. There need to be better rules. That will make Prospect Park Safer
It's a park where people go to exercise and train their bodies. When the Tour D' France has a speed limit then the park bikers should have a speed limit. Speed limits for bikes on commuter bike lanes on the roadways makes some sense but in the park, give us a break. There are many dangers in the park, walk across the ballfields during a game and get hit with a ball; new rule, Styrofoam balls and bats only. It is tragic that there are occasional accidents. Some are events are even preventable but that doesn't mean that we should alway flail around like babies until the big momma government rights some more laws to make me feel better (and thus buy my vote in the next election). There are times when the danger is so great and the events so common that government action makes sense. Try and get a stop light put in and you will realize that there are actual standards as to when a corner is dangerous enough to warrant a light. For anybody really concerned about bicycle danger they should be screaming to close the PPW bike lanes, close the park drive to cars and expand the bike lanes in the park. People will need to take care in crossing (and some people will still be hit on occasion) but we all need to get along without a monitor!!
Question: Are there any speed limit signs posted on the park drives? I have carefully circled the park drive several times searching for any 25 MPH speed limit signs posted. So far, I have found none - zero - no signs at all. Unless there are 25 MPH speed limit signs posted in reasonable view of cyclists and drivers, the NYC 30 MPH citywide speed limit applies. The NYC citywide street speed limit is 30 MPH, unless otherwise posted for faster or slower travel. The Daily News clocked cyclists traveling up to 31 MPH. Therefore most were at or below 30 MPH, and even 31 MPH is within the margin of error of the radar guns. Using the NYC 30 MPH speed limit, no cyclist could be said to be speeding. I did, however, finally find a speed limit notice in the park. It was on the three sided bulletin board along the foot path near Grand Army Plaza. The speed limit was included in the fine print text, on the side facing away from the foot path. It was nowhere near the park drive and not even directly visible from the path. Somehow, I don't think this constitutes adequate notice of the change from the citywide street speed limit. Can anyone point to valid speed limit signs along the park drive?