New York Personal Injury Lawyers

New York City Hires Bicycle, Pedestrian Lane Managers

New York City Hires Bicycle, Pedestrian Lane Managers

NY auto accident lawyers assess measure

The New York City Department of Transportation is trying to make the streets safer for pedestrians as the city bicycle rental program begins.

The NYCDOT hired crossing guards to watch bicycle lanes and pedestrian malls. These street safety managers are tasked with advising bike riders to yield to pedestrians, ride with traffic, stay off sidewalks and obey traffic signals. They are also to ask pedestrians not to stand in bike paths, reported Fox 5 New York. However, the managers will be less like policemen and more like school crossing guards. They will have no enforcement power.

Fox 5 posed a question on the minds of many New Yorkers: Will bicyclists listen to the street safety managers?

The CitiBike bicycle share program is funded by Citibank and run by New York City. It starts on Memorial Day 2013. There are 250 CitiBike stations in Manhattan south of 60th Street and in Brooklyn.

Common causes of injury-causing New York bicycle-auto accidents

A rider involved in a bicycle accident has very little protection, and bicycle injuries can be extremely serious.

According to 2010 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 52,000 pedalcyclists were injured and 618 were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes.

According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, 5,883 individuals were injured in New York bicycle accidents in 2011. Fifty-seven cyclists were killed.

Bike accidents are typically the result of a few common scenarios:

  1. Failure to yield the right-of-way at an intersection by a motorist or bicyclist
  2. Motorists turning or merging unexpectedly into a cyclist’s path, including making a left turn into a rider’s path
  3. Failure to yield the right-of-way at a mid-block location, like an alleyway, by a bicyclist
  4. Vehicle drivers overtaking bicyclists, mistakenly misjudging the space needed to safely pass
  5. Bicyclists turning or merging unexpectedly into the path of a motorist, for example, making a left turn into the path of an oncoming car

Call a lawyer after a New York bicycle, pedestrian or auto accident

After a car, bicycle or pedestrian accident, a lawsuit will first seek to establish negligence for the accident. Hiring an experienced lawyer from the beginning can enhance the chances of winning a case. An experienced accident lawyer can help an injured pedestrian, cyclist or motorist and/or the victim’s family secure the compensation they deserve.

NY auto accident lawyers at The Perecman Firm assist individuals and families who have been hurt or had loved ones killed in both bicycle accidents and auto accidents. Firm lawyers have handled thousands of accident cases throughout the state of New York.

Categories: Auto Accidents

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