There has, over time, been some anger in Williamsburg directed at Northside Car Service on Bedford Avenue, most of it concerned cars idling and the driving practices of its employees. This week, a Northside car hit a bicyclist on Kent Avenue at N. 7 Street, reigniting some controversy. Here is an email circulating via the Community Board 1 mailing list. It is mostly about bicyclists and the need for bike lanes, but it even calls for a boycott of the car service:
Yesterday there was another bicycle accident on Kent and North 7th in Williamsburg. A hit and run. The cyclist was going straight and a Northside Car Service made an irrationally fast turn and almost hit the cyclist. The cyclist, with little time to react, had to slam on the brakes, flipped completely over the handlebars, and landed under the hood of the car. The car drove off. The cyclists was taken to the hospital with a broken elbow and collarbone – and, thankfully, no worse injuries than that. Also, Big Kudos to a construction worker nearby who flagged the license plate number and confirmed the car was a Northside vehicle.
The cyclist was a dear friend of mine, an active community member, and a fellow citizen that wants to live and enjoy this city. They, alongside myself, are now unfortunately a statistic to the increasing numbers of us who are being affected by the aggressive driving and lack of accessible and safe bike pathways in the 5 Boroughs.
I write this all to you today as a reminder of three things:
1) It is important for all of us to continue to support organizations like Transportation Alternatives who are tirelessly working to support safe and accessible transportation for all of us who live in New York City. If you are not a member, please join today! (i’m going to!!!). They are really at the forefront of this cause and need all the
support we can give them.2) I feel it’s imperative to say that we should speak out against Northside and make them accountable for the hit and run. Please tell your friends, your friends’ friends, and other community members that a
Northside driver caused a serious injury to a fellow citizen and took no responsibility. PLEASE BOYCOTT NORTHSIDE. Please do this for all the hit and run situations you have heard about where there is no one flagged in time to be held responsible.3) I would like to actively start a “Call to Arms”, so to speak, to start really pushing for bike lanes in our neighborhoods. We all know areas that are becoming great routes for the increasing number of
cyclists. The city must keep up with this great change in transportation usage – and/or we must seriously start painting lines ourselves!Anyone who lives or spends time in Williamsburg has no doubt seen car service cars flying down Kent, Roebling and other streets, but plenty of regular drivers do it too.
[Photo courtesy of pixxiestail/flickr]
12 responses so far ↓
1 Jon // Sep 12, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Riding a bike in the street is dangerous, you must always be careful and take nothing for granted.
2 tony // Sep 12, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I could forgive the driver if he stopped and took reponsibility, but to drive off is not only illegal, but it’s not going to fly for Northside’s patrons.
People with cars generally don’t use car services.. chances are, like with me, many car service customers are also bicyclists. I use Metroline because they cost less, but regardless of which service I use, I let them know, as a passenger, when they are driving inappropriately, especially when they are too close to cyclists or driving in their lane. Yes, their lane. If you’re in a car service, watch how your driver treats bicyclists and don’t be afraid to speak up or even just excuse yourself from the ride and the fare.
3 Rosemary // Sep 12, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Is there more to the story? Did anyone press charges against the driver? i boycotted Northide years ago. They are the worst (and most $) in the hood. The idiling of their cars EVERYWHERE drives me batty. I hope the boycott works and I hope someone is held accountable. Drive off?! WTF?
4 Danny Eagle // Sep 12, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Shut.em.down.
5 nativenyer // Sep 12, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Riding a bike in New York is very dangerous – this city was really not meant for all of the bike traffic it now has. Everyone has to try and be as courteous and follow the rules of the road as much as possible – motorists and bikers alike!
6 imnotsayin // Sep 12, 2008 at 6:27 pm
No excuses for the hit & run, but if it wasn’t Northside (and about every third vehicle in the burg sports a Northside car number), it will be a truck…we stood down there yesterday and watched cyclists squeezed between parked cars and barreling truck traffic. The street has become a pretty major commuting route for cyclists between Greenpoint and Manhattan over the past couple years…add the park and now crazy construction with sidewalks fenced off, construction trucks parked everywhere, and its a recipe for disaster.
At the Brooklyn Greenway planning session last summer we advocated strongly for an interim on-street bikeway with a ‘soft’ separation i.e. flexible plastic posts, a short concrete curb or temporary barricade…something to protect bikers during the inevitable years of construction before the water’s edge greenway can be completed.
Hate to say it, but is likely the first of many casualties to come if nothing is done to improve the situation.
7 Ben // Sep 12, 2008 at 11:52 pm
“this city was really not meant for all of the bike traffic it now has.”
I appreciate that you aren’t being inflammatory with this comment. However, I still have to point out that this city was not meant for all of the car traffic it now has, either, and that it was only through the cumulative effects of many decisions that, for example, the Brooklyn Bridge carries x lanes of car traffic and only a rickety, five-foot wide shared pathway for bikes. And, while we have to deal with the effects of those prior decisions, moving forward, we also have the opportunity to make decisions to move things in another direction. It isn’t a foregone conclusion that riding a bike must be dangerous in NYC — but for that not to continue to be the case will take a concerted and conscious effort on the parts of politicians and the people who elect them.
8 nativenyer // Sep 13, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Actually, NYC was made for all of the traffic it has and, if Robert Moses had his way in the day, we would have even more highways than we have now! Unfortunately, the volume of traffic certainly has increased, but the highways and roads were absolutely designed for vehicular traffic. I’m not anti biker by any means and feel that things could and should be put in place to make it safe for everyone. But I truly do not understand why anyone would purposely move into a huge metropolis like New York City – one of the most crowded cities in the world – and insist on riding bikes as transporation rather than trying to improve existing mass transit systems. I would think biking in smaller cities or suburbia would be so much more pleasant and safe.
9 abraham // Sep 15, 2008 at 9:24 am
is isaac abraham ruunig for councilmember?
Abraham later said another major concern is the safety of children, noting that cyclists “aren’t obeying traffic laws. Green lights and red lights are the same.”
10 johnny-biker // Sep 16, 2008 at 12:32 pm
“take nothing for granted.” – In this case it might imply pedestrians on the sidewalk should not have taken the sidewalk for granted when an out of control truck jumped the curb and mowed them down. It is infuriating to me that bravado, arrogance and stupidity can so often become lethal for our friends on two wheels. I take it personally when a need for speed or a last minute turn pointlessly puts my life in danger… and I would venture to say that drivers might be taking their locked, steel shells for granted when I come through their windows with my Kryptonite.
RE: not obeying traffic laws… I believe riders should really do more to improve our overall image (be courteous to courteous pedestrians, give positive feedback to cars and people who do right by us), but the streetlevel reality for most is that disobeying certain traffic laws affords us an opportunity to gain space between ourselves and cars. Cautiously running a red light can allow me a few brief seconds to ride ahead of the pack and often gain a safer position on the road.
11 devils advocate // Oct 13, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Just a thought – how many cyclists in Williamsburg bother to wear helmets?
12 annoyed driver // Mar 17, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Bicyclists shouldn’t be allowed on the same roads as motor vehicles. I live in Birmingham, and idiot bikers decide to ride right in the middle of the lane as slow as they feel like, and make bad traffic far worse. Should be illegal. And when you go to pass them, they swerve to keep you from passing. I think an unorthodox punishment should be made law, that being that motorists be allowed to run bikers off the road. They don’t mind making dozens of people late to where they’re going, I don’t mind running them into a street sign or fire hydrant 🙂