New Haven Independent

Posted by: charlie | May 1, 2007 1:34 PM

Everyone reading this should email with this link and a comment about bicycle-car interactions and the need for driver education to the DOT commissioner Ralph Carpenter, governor, and your local state senator.

It's time that the government stop endangering the lives of cyclists and pedestrians by refusing to enforce the laws.

Posted by: question | May 1, 2007 1:48 PM

It is not clear was the bicycle stopped at the light as well, or was she riding through the light? It seems rather difficult if both were stopped, and then the car moved forward to turn right, that the bike would not have been moving forward as well. Do bikes have to obet traffic signals and stop at red lights, or can they ride rigt through them if they see no traffic? Please enlighten me

Posted by: nfjanette | May 1, 2007 1:51 PM

When asked again if motorists had any responsibility for illegal, dangerous moves in traffic that impact cyclists, he offered, "Maybe there could be some type of public education to educate motorists through commercials or ads -- something that's accessible to people."

And vice versa, I hope - the education should also be required of two-wheeled drivers as well. I look forward to the cops on bicycles ticketing the droves of bicyclists who routinely blow through red lights and stop signs, endangering not only themselves but potentially causing accidents.

Posted by: B | May 1, 2007 1:56 PM

If a bike is supposed to obey the rules of traffic.
Why are they not behind a car at a light waiting for the light to change? The cyclist is as much at fault for posting up adjacent to the car in the sam lane.
I nearly hit a cyclist who was going the wrong way in the bike lane. That's like looking out for a car going the wrong way down a one way street.
He flipped me off...is anyone shocked.
Cyclists need to be as schooled as motorists.
The behavior of critical massholes does not help in the attempt by bikers to gain respect either.

Posted by: Jerem | May 1, 2007 2:23 PM

Mission accomplished, Laura Miller?
Officer Strickland is a 'power christian" who enjoys
the suffering of the vulnerable.

Posted by: Bruce | May 1, 2007 2:32 PM

"I don't usually give out tickets unless it's a red light violation; or an injury."

Weren't BOTH criteria met in this case???

Posted by: HeavyD | May 1, 2007 2:55 PM

I agree cyclists need to understand the rules, too. However, I'm not very sympathetic to generalized, antagonistic statements about "droves of bicyclists" flouting the law. Like most New Haven cyclists, I bike responsibly, and I'm baffled at the number of motorists who tell me to "get off the road" (where I legally belong) and who don't understand my role as part of traffic. We all share the burden of responsible behavior, but when motorists (by far in the majority) neglect the rules, cyclists get *killed*.

On a related note, I want to give the New Haven PD some credit for an experience I had last year. A motorist took issue with me and my wife slowing him down on a narrow stretch of road. After honking and yelling, he ended up spitting on my wife. The police hauled him in the same day and charged him with assault, and the officer (no, not a bike cop) expressed disgust with motorists who can't share the road responsibly. Nobody gets it right every time, but in this case the NHPD was just plain fantastic.

Posted by: Biagio | May 1, 2007 4:32 PM

I live near Orange and Humphrey in the East Rock section of New Haven and was thrilled to see bike lanes start working their way down from East Rock. I figured, great.. bikes know where they should be, cars know where they should be.

Then the riders started using the bike lanes. Two sometimes three abreast in a lane created for just one cyclist. Now I find myself crossing the yellow line to stay away from a bicyclist.

I'm not saying that Ms. Schafer was in the wrong, she obviously wasn't according to the article, but immediately saying we need to teach all motorists to be careful of bicyclists is falling short. Cyclists should also be warned that their own reckless behavior can also get them hurt.

Posted by: Ned | May 1, 2007 4:54 PM

Wow, so now the police are interpreting/enforcing the laws based on their religious beliefs? (yet another reason I have zero confidence in the police). Hopefully, the next time Ms. Miller hits something it will be a brick wall. I'm sure we'll hear more comments about how horrible bicyclists are, etc. On the other hand, when you're on a bicycle, cars totally suck and should be treated with the same caution one would exercise around armed religious fanatics in uniform, who work for the city.

Posted by: question | May 1, 2007 9:12 PM

I am wondering if the bicycle was stopped at the light too? It seems rather difficult for a car tp turn right on Grove if a bike the bike was stopped at the intersection. It seems both mau have equal degrees a fault, and this shouldn't become various editorials between bike-riders and non-riders. We all no neither side is perfect, so why not discuss concerns here instead of in the stupid road rage encounters that lead nowhere.

Posted by: JE | May 2, 2007 1:58 AM

seems to me bike riders break the laws twice as often as drivers. ie going the worng way, rideing on the side walk, going through red lights. In this case it sounds like she was side by side with a car makeing a right turn. I'd say thats a dumb ass place to be if you dont want to get hit no one in a car or motorcycle would even think about doing that. Next time say in your lane.

Posted by: E B | May 2, 2007 9:30 AM

I ride a bike every day, That situation has almost happened to me. I would like to say one thing about it however, the only way that it was possible for something like that to happen, the cyclist would have to been riding her bike on the wrong side of traffic. If the motorist was turning right and managed to hit a cyclist on the right side, the cyclist was not obaying the rules of the road. A good idea to prevent this would be to teach cyclists to ride on the right side of the street obaying traffic laws, a lesson I already learned.

Posted by: E B | May 2, 2007 9:43 AM

oh and another thing, on the driver's licence test it asks whether to give motorcycles more attention, less attention, or equal ammount as cars. The answer is equal ammount and space. Bicycles should be no different. You dont expect a car to be coming at you from the right because that would be going agaist traffic. So if anything its the bike riders fault in this particular case. Seriously think about it, how would this have been possible if she had been riding on the correct side of the road, with the rest of motor traffic?Yes its true, the driver should have been looking for pedestrians coming from the right crosswalk, but bikes shouldn't be on the sidewalk, and cyclists are not pedestrians, they are a part of vehicle traffic, and once again should always be riding on the right side of the road, going in the same direction as cars. If she was doing this she would never have been in danger of getting hit by cars on the left side of the road turning right. (comment by a bike rider and and auto driver)

Posted by: HeavyD | May 2, 2007 11:30 AM

In response to EB, I think you've misinterpreted the scenario. The cyclist was riding with traffic, and she pulled up alongside the right hand side of the car at the light. As others have already pointed out, this isn't an advisable place to pull up -- better to stay where you are in line -- but I just wanted to clarify she wasn't riding against traffic as you've indicated.

Posted by: Ned | May 2, 2007 11:45 AM

How not to get hit by a car:
http://bicyclesafe.com/

Posted by: robn | May 2, 2007 1:04 PM

This article does not specify who reached the intersection first, the cyclist or the motorist. However, I can specify exactly how many times I've reached an intersection on a bicycle before a motorist and had them pull up aside me...the answer is everytime.

Its nothing but reasonable to expect that a motorist look in the direction of travel before proceeding and therefore, the driver is squarely at fault, no matter who got there first. (What if a child ran into the skirt of the road chasing after a ball?? Would you be so forgiving if the motorist didn't look where she was going and ran over a child??)

Posted by: HeavyD | May 2, 2007 5:55 PM

In this case, reading through the Yahoo group, it seems the driver got there first. Although it's best to avoid pulling up alongside on a bike, I agree the driver needed to look before turning. But as ROBN points out, most motorists simply have no concept of waiting in line behind bikes. I recently had a motorist scream at me for occupying a lane at a red light. I'll deal with the screaming so I remain visible and keep drivers aware of my presence. There's no need for anyone, motorist or cyclist, to squeeze alongside at a traffic light.

Posted by: K | May 2, 2007 6:01 PM

Regardless of whether the bicyclist was at fault or should/shouldn't have been there, one fact remains: THE CAR RAN A RED LIGHT!

I am always so frustrated with downtown drivers. "No Turn on Red" means NO TURN ON RED! Why wasn't this driver ticketed?!

As a pedestrian, this bothers me almost as much as the hoardes of people I see running straight through red lights every day.

Posted by: Esbe | May 2, 2007 7:12 PM

Bicyclists really need to read Ned's safety link above, but so should drivers, to see what can happen.

And let's be more clear about Robn's point. You are on a bicycle and come to a red light. If you stay to the right, then a car can pull up to the light, fail to see you and then crush you as it turns right. That may have happened here. You can try to pull forward so that the driver sees you, but if before you can do that the driver suddenly makes an illegal turn on red (ahem) you're still crushed.

The alternative is to "take the lane" and block any car coming up behind you, so they can't turn right and kill you. However, this will make the auto drivers go crazy -- you're blocking the road!!

As a driver, I have plenty of complaints about bicylists, too, including the suicidal folks who run red lights, ride at night without lights and try to pass on the right while I have a right-turn signal on!

Posted by: Ald. Erin Sturgis-Pascale | May 2, 2007 10:19 PM

The NHPD should be aggressively enforcing all traffic laws for all users. That includes jaywalkers, bikers travelling against the flow and motorists. The lack of enforcement in this city is appalling, as was sadly demonstrated in this incident. This has led to an attitude of lawless privilege that borders on anarchy, putting everyone at risk, but especially the most vulnerable users: bicyclist and pedestrians.
It would be wonderful to see a cultural change at the police department that would acknowledge the importance of enforcement of the "small crimes" too. Now that sounds like "community policing" to me.
Our transportation dollars are spent on facilitating motor vehicle traffic, almost to the exclusion of other users. We must demand a more equitable distribution of these funds for sidewalks and bike lanes. This should include a progressive traffic calming program that encourages drivers to respect non-motorized users of the streets.
Disrespectful driving corrodes the fabric of our neighborhoods. We have surrendered our public spaces to cars and the result has been a devastating and systematic removal of civility.
We need a transportation policy that acknowledges the legitimate transportation status of bikers and pedestrians and to fund bike/ped infrastructure accordingly. Our urban density is an ASSET of which we are failing to take full advantage.
The ripple effect of a policy shift like this would be incredible: less pollution, less obesity, less crime, more small businesses, more economic and social equity, more stable tax base and more opportunities for civil engagement.
All of which would contribute to a healthier community.

Posted by: Bruce | May 2, 2007 11:26 PM

People who are aggravated by bicycles running red lights and riding on the sidewalks have justifiable concerns. Those of you who (JE and BIAGIO) who feel that cyclists also should be educated as to the rules of the road are encouraged to get involved with that very effort! Volunteer a little bit of your time to the community by helping with the next "Bicycle Jamboree", where we help children (and other cyclists) learn how to stay safe and obey the proper rules of the road. I believe the next one is on June 16th on the New Haven Green.

As far as cyclists breaking twice as many road rules as motor vehicles, I seriously doubt that. How many times do you actually come to a complete stop (before the white line) at a stop sign? Do you cross the yellow line if someone is double-parked, or do you wait an hour until he or she comes out of the house? How many times each day do you exceed the speed limit (25 mph in the city of New Haven)? I think people break laws so often in their cars they hardly notice they're doing it.

Posted by: Jacki | May 3, 2007 10:01 AM

I drive 1 mile to work each day. I see at least 2 motor vehicle laws broken each day. No one uses blinkers; cars go through red lights; cars turn left from a right lane, etc. Why aren't the police doing something about this before someone gets killed?

Posted by: z | May 3, 2007 11:24 AM

?? What kind of cop starts off an answer regarding an incident with a discussion as to his religious beliefs?
We either need a better class of cop or a better class of "Christian", who sees folks who maybe are a bit different from himself (like in their choice of vehicle) as also made in the image of God.

Posted by: HeavyD | May 3, 2007 11:54 AM

+1 on better enforcement for all modes of transportation. Honestly, I think in this case a verbal warning might have been justified for the cyclist pulling a bike up along the right side of the car, but the car clearly carries most of the blame for ignoring the posted no turn on red and for only checking for *motor vehicle* traffic from the left, ignoring bikes/peds to the right. A ticket seems in order. It's easy to get lulled into focusing on the largest objects (i.e. other cars) when driving, maybe just b/c they'll do the most damage to our own cars in an accident. But by the same token, a bike/ped loses hands down in an accident against a car, placing that much more responsibility with drivers.

I really appreciate Erin's post. Somehow we've lost touch with our bikes and our feet. It's great to slow down, enjoy New Haven, and (gasp!) interact with other people as we go about our day.

I'm a little miffed at categorizing this as a cyclist vs driver debate. Many of us fall into both categories, though somehow we often get characterized as militant bike radicals anyway. Go figure.

Posted by: Robn | May 3, 2007 1:09 PM

State law (Ct Gen Statutes Sec. 14-286) provides that bicycles can ride on sidewalks if done safely and with an appropriate noisemaker (bell, horn) however, it also allows municipalities to set local rules barring bicycles from sidewalks (as does New Haven). So technically, any riding on the sidewalk in New Haven is illegal, but the police don't enforce it because of aggressive motorist culture and the poor condition of roads. If the police stringently enforced the no-riding-on-the-sidewalk rule, they would undoubtedly expose themsleves to litigation becuase they would be forcing bicyclists into potentially unsafe situations. Its very clear that New Haven bicyclists want bike lanes and want enforcement of motor vehicle laws. However until that happens FIRST, its unrealistsic for anybody to expect strict legal adherance by bicyclists becuase they just won't feel safe in the roads.

As to the predicament which this article describes, lets puit this way; if a bicycle hits a car, at worst the car goes to the body shop; if a car hits a bicycle, the bicyclist goes to the hospital or to the morgue. Ms. Schafer is really lucky that she wasn't killed and the motorist should have been ticketed.

Posted by: charlie | May 3, 2007 8:50 PM

Hon. Ald. Sturgis Pascale, I couldn't have said it better myself, so I'm repeating you below. Action needs to be taken on these issues immediately:

"Disrespectful driving corrodes the fabric of our neighborhoods. We have surrendered our public spaces to cars and the result has been a devastating and systematic removal of civility. We need a transportation policy that acknowledges the legitimate transportation status of bikers and pedestrians and to fund bike/ped infrastructure accordingly. Our urban density is an ASSET of which we are failing to take full advantage."

Call the City's new transit czar and let him know how you feel!