Originally Posted by
noglider
I just applied for a job at Barnard College, which is at Columbia University, which is where I was working most recently. The commute to Columbia is ideal, all along the bike path. I really hammered on that route today, and it felt great compared with riding in motor traffic. The Hudson River Greenway is a heaven of a bike commuter route.
That West Side route is really great. I haven't been playing soccer in that part of the city recently, but I used to love riding back uptown after games and having the chance to build up a nice pace (practically had the lanes to myself in most sections).
Thought of your last night, though, as I nearly witnessed an E-citibike accident. I was waiting for a light to change, when I heard a bell ringing and noticed a guy going through it was still green, about to turn yellow, on an E-citibike. He rang the bell again, and then I realized that people had already started crossing the street. Well, sure enough, a woman walked right into his path and it was an full on emergency brake for this guy, who came super close to going over the bars (his rear wheel was at least a couple of feet off the ground). Somehow he managed to avoid her, and at that point I had to set off and go on my way (cabs behind me), but I didn't really hear much of an apology from the lady.
Now, this lady was 100% in the wrong, crossing on a red and walking right into the bike's path. That said, I wonder what would have happened if the guy was on a regular citi bike, and therefor going slower. It's was tough to tell, but he didn't seem all that ready to handle a situation like that at the speed he was going (he first rung the bell with a solid 30 yards between himself and the woman, so there should have been enough room to avoid the last second panic stop). Something tells me these close calls are pretty common.