Hey, there! Log in / Register
Bicyclist hit by car in South Brookline
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Enough is enough, if this
Enough is enough, if this summer has proven anything it's that our transportation system is dangerous. The T sucks (though I commend them on making the most of the infrastructure, but that infrastructure needs massive revamping), driving sucks, bicycling sucks, every type of movement sucks.
We need to get rid of some of these roads, there is simply too many of them and way too many dinky little one-ways and whatnots that don't need to exist. Turn some of these streets into pedestrian/bike path zones, centralize cars on fewer, wider streets, implement way more bus only lanes and get rid of the plethora of on street parking.
Boston is the perfect city to reduce the number of cars on the road, it's tiny and if we get rid of cars and streets less people will drive and more people will walk, bike, and take the T and we'll all be better off. All of us, even car drivers will be better off (less roads but more high-speed roads and less traffic is a win-win for everyone).
It's getting ridiculous, we're a small city filled with smart people and relatively resource abundant. Let's put people to work and revamp our entire transportation system because the whole thing is rotting.
What?
So, no need to improve a dangerous, busy rotary (i.e. one that is clearly used by many, many people all times of day), but instead we should simply tell anyone who lives in that public transport free part of Newton/Brookline to either walk or ride a bike. The entire West Roxbury parkway is a bike nightmare, but the answer isn't to close the thing to cars for the benefit of a small portion of the population that lives in that area, but to improve it for everyone's safety. But then, you clearly are mostly interested in using someone else's misfortune in a suburban neighborhood to rant about transportation issues in the city proper.
While I'll concede my post
While I'll concede my post was very ranty and incoherent in spots, I nowhere recommended we ban cars and force people to bike or take the T. However, our transportation system is way, way too car focused for such a relatively small area. We don't need cars and roads everywhere. Centralizing cars onto bigger main roads will help car drivers drive safer, faster, and more efficiently. Turning the Westie parkway into a giant bike lane would not be efficient.
What would be efficient is splitting it up. Look at what happened with the Big Dig, traffic is way better in that area now that we completely segregated away cars and hid them underground. Way better. For everyone. I'm interested in making quality of life better for everyone here, and reducing the number of cars on the roads improves quality of life for everyone. I'm sorry if it makes it more inconvenient or you or other car drivers but I really just don't care.
Traffic, accidents, and pollution aren't problems because too many people are biking, walking, or taking the T. They are problems because there are too many cars. Period. Cars are a problem, not a solution.
Are we getting a few
Are we getting a few bicyclists hit by cars a week now?
looks like an experienced cyclist
Cleats, printed cycling outfit, etc.
Looks like they probably got creamed by an oncoming left-hand turn or maybe a right hook...hard to tell from the photos.
If that's where I think it
If that's where I think it is, it's not a great intersection in general. I'm guessing the bicyclist was going straight, but most traffic through that intersection turns right towards the center of Brookline. At least this time nobody got killed.
bike on pedestrian in Brookline
You report the car on bike accident, but leave out the bike on pedestrian accident that
also happened yesterday.
http://brookline.patch.com/articles/bicyclist-stru...
This reinforces the it is not the vehicle but the driver way of seeing the bike
accident problem. (Notice the URL says bike-car. Everyone is prepared for the
bike car problem more then for the bike-pedestrian problem).
Note: I try to get at least a 1000 miles a year of biking on city and suburban
roads and I tired of seeing bicyclist riding like idiots.
I just had this discussion
I just had this discussion with a few friends the other night. Facts are cars, bicyclists and pedestrians constantly and rampantly break the law. Some of us break the law wisely (speeding on a highway, but staying in a reasonable range, going through a red light on a bike, but after stopping and looking both ways, and jaywalking, but again looking before stepping into the street). On the other side are idiots. You can't discriminate against an entire transportation method based on idiots and we shouldn't shape public policy based on idiots. Yes, I've seen bicyclists who blatantly fly through red lights without even looking, they're idiots and you can't really legislate idiocy away.
What we should be focusing on is making transportation easier for everyone, though I would insist we focus on making non-car transport easier. Making it more difficult to ride a car door to door (less roads, tougher and more frequent license tests, no on-street parking) helps everyone, even car drivers. Less cars = less traffic = a huge win for the remaining car drivers. The reason cyclists focus on the car aspect of this whole argument is that cars are clearly more dangerous. A bike hitting a pedestrian at full speed will likely result in serious injuries. A car hitting a pedestrian or a bike at full speed will likely result in death. Whether you want to admit it or not, cars are the major problem here. Fixing the car problem makes fixing other transportation methods easier.
That article also doesn't
That article also doesn't give enough info but it seems the pedestrian was at fault (stepping off the curb right as a bike is coming by, the cops did not cite the cyclist for any violations). It just shows that we all break transportation laws, no matter the the mode of transport. All that goes to show that our laws are clearly not effective and that our transportation system in general needs a revamping to better fit how we all use the system (mold the system to fit our behaviors, don't try to change behaviors to fit a system).
More cyclists on the sidewalk
Following the discussion of bike and pedestrian accidents I would like to add that I've noticed more bikes on busy sidewalks over the past year. There was one individual who was riding her bike while walking her dog on a sidewalk. Her attitude.
There was also that person killed by a cyclists near City Hall. The incident involved a messenger.
While it's easy to harp on messengers. Many, not all, who seem to be stuck in the adolescent bubbles of impunity from consequence or harm. It's easy to harp on aggressive drivers or lawless pedestrians crossing willy-nilly. But what seems to tie all these together is a attitude that states I as a driver, biker or pedestrian may do anything I want without regard for anyone else.
Perhaps it's just part of that well known Bostonian charm?