Twin Cities Streets for People

This is a truly tragic story—it describes an incident that recently happened in NYC but can happen anywhere at any time.  This adds to a growing list of cyclists killed by "dooring."    

This can serve as a wake-up call and real-life reminder for road users in the following three situations:

1. Riding a Bike:  Avoid riding in the door-zone of parked cars
2. Driving a Motor Vehicle:  Provide at least three feet of space when overtaking a cyclist
3. Exiting a Parked Car:  Check to see if there are any approaching cyclists before opening the door

Any lapse can be the difference between life and death.

This post from Across the Great Divide made me think about how people report car crashes, particularly when a pedestrian, bicyclist, or driver dies in the crash. Do reporters call it an "accident" or a "crash"? Do they say that the person "was killed" or that the person "died"?

I remember reading recently about an attorney general in Florida who made headlines by trying to get drivers tried for murder instead of for vehicular homocide, in the interest of reducing inattentive driving. But it poses the question: if you are texting and speeding while driving a car, and hit and kill someone on a bicycle, are you guilty of murder? Or was it just an accident? Read more >