Sterling Place and Vandy last night?

Last night around 8 PM there were a bunch of sirens and police, ambulances, etc. at the corner of Vanderbilt and Sterling Place. Does anyone know what happened? I suspect a pedestrian was hit because it happens at that intersection so often but don't know for sure...

There was a black car that pulled over just ahead of the police and ambulance. Its flashers were on. I assumed the same thing, that a pedestrian had been hit.

Ugh...I got hit (on a bike) last week at Vandy & St Marks. This morning I saw an ambulance next to a car with a broken front windshield (as if someone had been hit) on Underhill btwn St Johns and Eastern Pkwy.

Be careful out there!!

Seriously, bike riders and walkers! My husband has recently come across SO many bikers/walkers just completely ignoring all traffic signals, signs, cars, and people/bikers. It's like the nice weather has brought out the stupid.

LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE YOU CROSS THE STREET.

Please- if you have a death wish- continue doing what you're doing. (This is why, by the way, many car drivers who hit bikers/pedestrians DON'T get arrested.) If that car has the right of way, and you get in the way- car wins, YOU lose.

BTW, Arches- I'm not talking to you- I've seen you in action and you are by far one of the more careful riders out there. Hope you're feeling better!

I'm a strong believer that most car vs. bike/pedestrian accidents are caused by speeding, reckless, or inattentive drivers, rather than inattentive bikers/peds.

However, I've been hyper-observant of all kinds of traffic interactions, biker behaviour,etc. since my accident, and I do want to call out one group whose actions blow my mind....Bikers who talk on their cellphones while riding. That seems like a death wish to me, since they are both distracted and unable to adequately stop or steer the bike with only one hand. This is on top of my generic amazement about people who ride in traffic without helmets (although most cell phone talkers seem to fall into that category as well).

Seriously, Arch- you should take a drive with Daver one day- it's amazing to see people and bikers practically jumping out into the street with complete disregard for opposing vehicles.

I recently got a bike. I'm scared to ride because i can't figure out which laws i'm supposed to follow. I always thought that bikes were to ride like cars - but i see them riding like people walk instead here in NYC.

For example ::
- If I am driving, and there is a red light, i STOP whether there are other cars coming or not.
- If I am walking, I stop at the "don't walk" sign, look both ways, and then cross if no cars are coming.

So on a bike I assume I have to stop and wait whether there are cars or not. But here, bikers seem to zip through red lights and practically hit people walking.

If you want to be treated like a car, ACT like a car. If you go through even one red light you have no right to complain about cars not respecting you on the road.

arches wrote: Bikers who talk on their cellphones while riding.

Gotta say, I've never seen that one before!

I think that could only be topped by talking on your cellphone while riding your bike with your kid strapped on the back.

I know I'm going to get creamed for writing this, but I don't understand child seats on adult bikes. I well understand the convenience, but they just seem really, really unsafe unless you're biking in Prospect Park. Yes. it's unlikely that you'll fall off your bike. But, one wrong move by a stupid car and you, and your kid, are going down.

BKChickie wrote: [quote=arches]Bikers who talk on their cellphones while riding.

Gotta say, I've never seen that one before!



Daver JUST saw this the other day in Manhattan- the guy was pissing off all the cars on the road completely ignoring everyone and everything and when one car started honking and telling him to get out of the way....the biker flipped him off and then went BACK to his phone conversation!

If and when that guy gets creamed- we'll all know why.

xlizellx wrote: But here, bikers seem to zip through red lights and practically hit people walking.

All the time.

xlizellx wrote: If you want to be treated like a car, ACT like a car. If you go through even one red light you have no right to complain about cars not respecting you on the road.

Thank you!

xlizellx wrote: If you want to be treated like a car, ACT like a car. If you go through even one red light you have no right to complain about cars not respecting you on the road.

AMEN!!

I'd add to this

1) Ride in the right direction on the bike lanes, its not optional and you are putting unsuspecting pedestrians at risk who aren't expecting moving vehicles to come the wrong way up a one way street

2) Wear a helmet. I don't particularly care if you smear your brains all over the street, but your loved ones might.

3) Don't ride with traffic on a street with a bike lane. Bikers wanted them, you got them, now use them.

4) Cross walks are not waiting areas for bikers who plan on running the red light. Please wait patiently in the bike lane for the light to change.

Let's not get carried away here. I can make a loooooong list of cars you shouldn't ACT like. Car as role model is a liitle hard to swallow while waiting to have bones pinned back together. Just sayin'.

douchebag bikers who talk on cell phones while biking are not from nyc. proven fact.

a

nyluke wrote: I'm both a driver and a biker so I see both sides and I really can't sympathize with this anti-bike attitude.

No one here seems to be anti-bike, but rather anti-bad-biking.

last week I was driving in PS. I was the first car stopped at a red light. Light turns green - I still look around - see nobody and start going. All of the sudden a middle-aged man on a bicycle wanders right in front of my car coming from 6th Ave. with NO HANDS on the bike because he is lighting his corn-cob pipe. WTF?! In the middle of the intersection, not looking, no hands on the bike, no helmet....right into traffic.

While THAT particular incident hasn't happened to me before, I can't even count the number of times delivery bikes have come across my path going down one-way streets the wrong way, or bikers have crossed right into traffic or weaved well outside of a bike lane (marked or while just riding to the far right of the road), or those who are talking on their cell phones (without a headset) while biking.

I am a pretty cautious driver, but it really pisses me off that I might hit some asshole who isn't obeying the law or paying attention. I might injure or kill somebody through no fault of my own. I can't even imagine the guilt I would feel ....never mind all of the potential costs associated with an accident like that (lawyers, insurance, etc.).

Sure, there are asshole drivers and asshole pedestrians all over the place. They piss me off too.

nyluke wrote: Let's have this conversation again in ten years when bikes have their own complete infrastructure

"Can you imagine a world with hover biking...LA LA LA LA LA..." :-'

as driver i say its mostly the fault of drivers. I have done dead stops for bikers who don't believe in braking and going through lights. but most of the times drivers would run lights etc... and do alot of dumb things that could get people killed. if a biker does those they get themselves killed.

For the person who just got a bike and is wondering about rules of the road, check out the Transportation Alternatives website: they publish a pamphlet called "Biking Rules" that is very helpful.

I bike a lot, and frequently see other bicyclists talking on cellphones and even texting while riding. In fact, I've almost gotten hit by some of them, and avoided the collision only because I am hyper-alert and careful. It's unbelievable. And I assume there are just as many car drivers on the road who are also distracted by their phones. It's incredibly dangerous.

People, put down the damn device for the time that you're OPERATING A MOVING VEHICLE WITH THE ABILITY TO KILL OR INJURE SOMEONE!!! Why is that so hard?? Pull over and stop if the call or text is so important that it can't wait til you get where you're going.

there's a whole site for the Biking Rules stuff, and you can download the handbook.

http://bikingrules.org/

Getting back to the topic that started it all: Does anybody know what happend to the person who got hit by the gypsy cab? I saw the accident happen soon after the fact because I heard yelling and then saw the woman fall to the ground. People rushed to help her and the driver did stay on the scene.

Also, I think I saw an umbrella near the woman, which means she was a pedestrian, not a biker.

Cars tend to speed up at the yellow in order to get to GAP at Sterling and Park, but there are plenty of pedestrians who jump the gun and cross without the walk, too, and then get clipped by cars turning right off Sterling Place.

Whether she was at fault or the driver of the car was, I hope she's ok. Car vs. Person does not often end with Person as victor.

Be careful out there!

A woman was crossing Sterling walking from Flatbush side and was clipped by the black car. I heard a thud and a scream and went to the window to check out what happened. Called 911. Cops/ambulence/fire dept in minutes. By the time they go there she had already stood up and moved to the sidewalk. Lots of people stopped to help her and make sure the black car stayed on the scene.

I didnt see what happened only the aftermath but by the looks of it she was not crossing in the crosswalk but rather a bit up from the crosswalk and the black car was making a left from Sterling onto Vandy.

By the looks from my vantage point she got in the ambulence to go to the hospital but didnt appear seriously hurt.