No, not safer than platforms in traffic. Even pro riders can't always unclip in time.

In time for what?

In time for what?

See, this is what bugs me about these forums and any other forum or chat room on web. Too many people talking, not anyone listening.
Here's a fact - any cyclist that's experienced enough to ride with clipless pedals has devoloped the required muscle memory to use them. This muscle memory helps you to clip into the pedals w/o having to look down at them, and it also helps you to clip out of them w/o thinking about it like in emergency situations. There have been countless times while riding off road that I've been in mid air from being bucked off the bike. Never once did I have to think about unclipping from the pedals, my body just knew what to do. I run all my pedals, road and off road, very tight, as tight as the adjustment will go.
When I saw her body that morning her shoes were still on her feet not "ripped from her body" as the newspapers have said. The image is burned in my brain forever. They were Specialized road shoes, and she was using Look pedals. Not very hard to get out of in my experience, even at their firmest setting, that's why I don't use them anymore.
As I said in my last post, consider it a war out there and assume nothing. Don't assume you ever have the right of way, don't assume that you're visible, don't assume there won't be a pedestrian that will step out from between those cars, never assume you're safe! This is the price we all have to pay for cycling in the city. We're all 2nd class citizens out there, and if you think otherwise, or if you think that that's ever going to change, well my friend, you've got another thing coming.
This country will never be the cycling utopia that many parts of Europe and Asia are. Cycling is built into their cities infrastructure and is not an after thought as it is here. in Holland you've got your parked cars, a 6 foot wide shoulder and then a bike lane. Their bike lanes are not only protected by authorities, but are respected by the driving public. In these places cycling is a PART OF LIFE.
Here in the US, we cyclists are seen as either 1 of 2 things. Either we are yuppies that can afford such play things as bicycles and have the room to store them, and we choose to live an alternative "LIFESTYLE" by using them to get to work, or we're seen as poor working class citizens or possible illegal immigrants that use bicycles as all around transportation because we/they can't afford a car so we/they have no choice other than the bicycle as A WAY of life. Either way, not a very flattering image for us. Until this country is ready to give up their suv's, and until our kids lose their weight (kids aged 6 thru 18's average weight has more than doubled since 1980 according to the national institute of health), and team sports are still the national pastime, consider yourself a 2nd class citizen when your on your bike. It's the only way you'll stand a chance.
Educate the driving public? Yeah right! Too much of an expense for the small population of cyclist here. When I say small, I mean small compared to the millions in this city that don't ride. Call on the nypd to enforce all traffic laws? Again. YEAH RIGHT. Speeding and the illegal u-turn is a way of life here in brooklyn. Stop sign? What stop sign!! It's not a complete police state....yet.

In time to avoid an impact. In time to stick a foot out for balance. In time to stick out a leg and deflect themselves off a car or truck.

I ride clipless in Bklyn & NYC, and I've taken a few headers while riding...got doored once, for example. When I looked around afterwards, I was surprised to find I wasn't still attached to the bike. Don't know if I clipped out or got knocked free, but I wasn't attached to the bike anymore.

What I've decided, based on experience & on reading about stuff like this, is that when my number's up, I probably won't have time to unclip, and that the benefits of clipless pedals far outweigh the risks, even in a city.

I am truly a handicaped rider. I am a left below the knee amputee. I use a "clip less" pedal on my right leg. Since I lost the leg I have made many more falls than the average bicyclist but have never had a problem about coming unclipped during an accident. It just happens without me thinking about it. Among my many falls over the last 24 years, I have boken hips twice, one rib and one arm but not one of these accidents were agravated by the inability to get unclipped. In each of these cases I got back on the bike and rode on.

Whoaaaa... not cool. As much as I'd like to agree, for balance maybe. But sticking your foot out to deflect off a car is bad, a truck, sucide. I've bounced off vans, suv's, and cars before in traffic and the best way to do it is with your body, being clipped in helps me stay on the bike so I don't slip off as I'm bouncing around. I can unclip just as fast as I can get off platforms.

Or maybe not harsh enough, I hate that I get comfortable with this move and I know I have to actually tell myself to back off if I find myself in that situation. My life is worth more than the 30 seconds I save.

I agree with pretty much everything you said here, (But the quote, if I believed that NEVER was an absolute for a bicycling utopia in the USA, I would be in Copenhagen right now. I believe it can happen) I think that people posting here are rather experienced riders, and I hope that all the non-posters who read what Goldie wrote take it to heart, I think it is right on. To rely on anyone for YOUR safety is dangerous to your well being, to say the least.
I don't know what happened to Elizabeth Padilla or Brandi Bailey, but in this debate over the sanity or correctness of their position, we must not forget them. Two Brooklyn women in a month, is obviously too high and painful toll. This is a small town, I saw Laika turn up 3rd street that Thursday night; (I was sitting at the Gate) every day there is more of a memorial on 5th and Warren. I think with unity we can band together and be the small but squeaky wheel that can change the way people, the cops, and the government think.
And Goldie, sorry you had to see the accident scene, I hope I never see anything like that.

Here my 2c worth, with the experience of being doored AND having been run over by a semi (18 wheeler):

The rider was doing what she loved, would have known the risks, and would probably have had plenty of experience in heavy city traffic at close proximity. Life is risky, the level of risk is personal choice. I choose to ride.

If you ride in heavy traffic you expect to be squeezed occaisionally. Lashing out doesn't help anything (sorry Expat, that's a no-no). The basic idea is to keep everything flowing so everyone stays happy. When you can take a lane, you take a lane. But sometimes you might not have the pace, or you just need to run between the lanes (of slower/stopped traffic) to keep your own ride flowing along. If that involves big trucks or buses, then so be it.

Everyone dies. Unfortunately everyone else seems to wants to apportion blame. The door guy may be innocent. I don't know how, but then again I don't have ANY of the facts. Do you?

Trucks will always be around, especially in the CBD areas, so you get used to them or simply find a (boring) alternative like walking.

And no, I'm not trying to incite a riot, I'm just a realist. I agree whole-heartedly that it's a tragic shame that the young rider died. RIP.

No lashing out? You mean the foot thing? I've had to unclip to bounce off rocks and trees when riding through very rough stuff - I'd do the same to avoid going under a car or truck. But I think you and I have already agreed to disagree. Good hot chocolate though.

Did he mean lashing out as in bashing a car in by kicking it?

As far as a car or truck is concerned, I can't think of anything to kick off on, especially on a truck, that wouldn't actually cause you to get caught under the wheels. Since most of the body and housing's level with your body, it's best to use that than using your foot.
I've unclipped to bounce off rocks and stuff too but believe me, I've bounced around in traffic a lot more than rocks and if you stuck your foot out to try to bounce off a truck, it's guaranteed suicide.

I kick cars all of the time to get the attention of someone with thier windows rolled up and the stereo blasting. It's not out of malice and rarely do people get too freaked out. Now have I occasionally kicked cars out of malice sure... and I know I will do it again. Anytime anyone almost kills out of negligence or selfishness I have no problem letting them know. You only have to get sent to the hospital once to realize that you have to accept responsibilty for yourself out there because no once else will. Least of all the police. I don't want to hurt anyone, but a squirt gun full of cat pee would be AWESOME. :)

WRT fault: *IF* the driver of the parked truck opened his door and she swerved, then under New York State law he is at fault. Case closed. Of course we don't know if that actually happened.

From the account I don't see how anyone can tell with any accuracy just what happened. And for those of us who do not know the site in question it seems nearly impossible to even make a decent guess. It is unclear which side of the ice cream truck she was on. Was she squeazing between two trucks on the right of the ice cream truck or passing on the left (into the lane for oncoming traffic?). It is clear that when she died the ice cream truck was moving. But was it moving when she decided to pass or did it seem to be stopped and at least seeming to be double parked to unload? Let's say she was passing the truck on the right. Was she passing at 8 mph or 18 mph? The first in hindsight was a bad decision, the second seems reckless to me.

The original posting does not seem biased to me. If there is call to criticise it the problem is that it is has limited details, but to be fair they have to get what they can into the evening edition. If anything it is biased in favor of the cyclist, not in the reporting of the facts, but in the human interest parts about how nice she was. But that kind of 'bias' is the rule, at least for anyone where they can find nice things to say, be the dead person man or woman, driver passenger, pedestrian or cyclist.

one thing we can probably be sure of is that there are those out there that are waiting for this to happen again. :/

What do you mean?

It is very easy to leap to conclusions, especially if one's conclusions support one's own biases. Many posters argue for or against the point of view of the news story. This despite the probability that the story was conjured up from a criptic on-scene report in the immediate aftermath of the accident, and, likely by someone other than the journalist. The four inches the story got was probably in some editors mind only barely interesting enought to supplant a story about juvenile cookie sales. There will likely be no follow-up on this story, yet we in the forums will keep this thread alive for days on speculation.

That a person died grieves me. That they died while doing something I love to do gives me pause. No one murdered anyone here and no one committed suicide. There are indeed lessons to be drawn - Be careful "squeezing" between vehicles - Be cautious about opening a vehicle door, etc. Be careful, avoid accidents if you can.

I am going to leap to the conclusion that this is a tragedy, especially for the families. Many will suffer and grieve. Virtually none of us, however, will feel the full impact nor ever know the full story. Some of us though will continue to post with some assumed authority about right and wrong, and the "facts" of this tragic event.

There's a trial program underway with stickers in taxis and recordings at the end of taxi rides; call 311 and tell the TLC that you support the program and want the stickers / warnings in every cab. I did.

-chris