3alarmer 

...need an emoticon. One of the rulez for the innerweebz.

Doohickie

Except it's not a passive "it goes wrong." It's an active "people purposely acted in a dangerous manner resulting in a collision."

Doohickie

It helps me keep perspective on the absurdity of it all.

UnfilteredDregs

Is 25mph okay? That's the speed limit.

colnago62

Charlie Parker started his drug use in H.S. with cocaine, or so the story goes.

Joe Minton

One thing I can assure y’all of:
The bicycle rider will suffer for years and probably the rest of his life. He almost certainly does and will have nightmares. They will wake him in the early morning hours. He will re-live the tragedy at random intervals when he is awake. He will, almost certainly, suffer far more than the Law might punish him. He ‘knows’ he screwed up (whatever that means for him); he ‘knows’ that to some extent or another he could have prevented that woman’s death. This is normal for survivors. Actually, it is almost certain for survivors. I know of what I speak.

I have met, interviewed and sat with a number of folks who have killed another person(s) in traffic accidents. I never met one who did not suffer as described above. It does not matter whether the person left alive was legally guilty or not --- the suffering remains.

Joe

UnfilteredDregs

Pedestrians are required to obey the lights in CP, they don't have carte blanche ROW. Being in the car lane isn't strike two, especially if he was avoiding others...what remains is who had the light?

UnfilteredDregs

I know the route as well and pedestrian traffic is time of day dependent. Many times during the workweek afternoon it is quite clear.

There's many variables left here...I'm surprised that who had the light still hasn't been disclosed. I have a feeling that if the cyclist didn't we'd already know.

3alarmer 

...I don't know your vehicle code, but in California, the code is quite specific:
...IOW, there seems to be incumbent upon both pedestrians and vehicle operators a duty to act responsibly.
I have bolded the phrasing on reducing speed. I'm guessing your vehicle code is written similarly.

3alarmer 

https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/trafrule.pdf

MNTC

Another +1 for Brian Ratliff's very reasonable perspective on this incident.

UnfilteredDregs

Yup, you're correct, nevertheless there's a point to the lights and although I'm careful and yield accordingly there's always some oblivious type who unpredictability does something almost unavoidable collision wise.

With a little re-engineering and sensible enforcement all the way around these kind of incidents can be mitigated as rare as they are. What's going to happen is our beloved NYPD is going to lock down and slap riders because it's easy and then they'll just go back to their unpredictable practice of selective enforcement.

UnfilteredDregs

Interestingly the CP website says this:

"With its scenic views and hilly terrain, the Central Park Drives provide cyclists with a relaxing ride or a challenging workout, depending on their interest. No permit is required to bike in Central Park, however there are several laws and rules that every cyclist must obey: Pedestrians have the right of way at all times. At crosswalks, cyclists must slow down, yield to pedestrians and then proceed cautiously. Cycling is prohibited on all pedestrian paths except the marked shared paths at 96th St and W. 106th-108th St."

lakawak

If a motorist kills someone with reckless driving, they often face jail time. This guy was speeding, and by his own admission in the wrong lane. So he would be like a motorist that decided to drive on the shoulder to avoid traffic. HE also may have ran a red light. And you can bet your ass that if s motorist killed a pedestrian in a cross walk while running a red light they would face jail time.

This idiots was also on his aerobars and therefore made no attempt to slow down. Common f***ing sense tells you that when you are in CENTRAL PARK you don't do time trials or use your aerobars. I don't care if it is a parson, or a SQUIRREL, or any other obstacle...if you are going 30+ MPH in Central Park and have no quick access to your brakes, sooner or later you are going to take a nasty spill and seriously hurt someone, or yourself. And YES, he was NOT in the bike lane, and NO, it was not legally to avoid something. This is what he ADMITS to. As for the picture and where the blood is...that is now where the accident occurred. IT is called momentum. When a bike travelling 30 MPH hits a pedestrian, the pedestrian is going to be thrown a considerable distance. If you notice, there is clearly a path shortly before the blood. THAT is where she got hit.

I can't believe anyone here is defending him in the SLIGHTEST bit. A cyclists, he is the LAST person you want to defend because he gives us all a bad name. There is a time and a place to go for speed..and what is perhaps the most heavily trafficked park in the ENTIRE WORLD is not that place.

By the way for the other posters..that IS his Strava account.

Campag4life

It really isn't if its known to be a dicey area with pedestrians routinely walking into the road as stated by one poster who knows the area.

But there's more. If the guy was riding on his aerobars without brake access at 25 mph and there were people walking along the road...and it sounds like there were more than just this lady and this is typical during particular times of the day, then the guy was reckless.

But I want to say that I believe the counterpoint in some defense of the guy is valid because there are posters here that know the road and say they typically may open it up on that stretch of road where it happened. These guys know the road and say this is not unconscionable. So I defer to them.
Yes it is nuanced as mentioned. The lady may have stepped into the road where she shouldn't have. Bikes don't make a lot of noise either and sometimes ped's will hear a car coming. So we don't know exactly what happened.

I will say further that I have made too many mistakes personally driving cars, motorcycles and bicycles. I have a racer's heart and when young in particular took way too many chances. I won't even mention the things I did which are off the chart. So I am the last guy to blame any guy without all the facts. What happens with a lot of crashes...I worked in the crash industry actually during my career is...it is typically a stack up of partial contributing factors that causes a fatality. A weird combination including sometimes a precarious twist of fate as Brian mentioned. So I do listen to the other guys that say, don't be quick to judge.

One thing I do know however is many say riding with Tri bike guys is dangerous...which I do all the time btw. This is often discussed here. But there is a huge disconnect between a Tri bike with brakes out on the aerobars and a road bike with no brakes out on the aerobars. This is a completely different level of safety concern if quick braking is required. I routinely accelerate on my road bike to 25 mph in the drops on roads with a 25 mph speed limit where pedestrians do cross the road out of nowhere and cars can pull out of driveways. I would never think to do this in an aerobar position without brake access. I am in the drops with hands right across the brakes which I have grabbed hundreds of times when the unexpected car or pedestrian appeared. If this guy was peeling along which he likely was and was on his aerobars with no brakes and a pedestrian stepped in front of him because he did have time to yell and he didn't have time to scrub off speed, that is contributing factor to her death. A very sad occurrence and I feel bad for her family and even the rider that will have to live with this.

Campag4life

I am the guy in your camp however others have come here and said they know that road and some routinely open it up on that stretch. Do you know that road? I haven't heard others however say they ride 25 mph+ on aerobars with no brakes. Riding in the drops at 25-30 mph is a completely different level of safety because brakes can be immediately grabbed. I believe the outcry relates to being in aerobars with no brake access when there are pedestrians milling around. Also put Strava in the mix. If the guy was riding aggressively to put up the numbers throwing caution to the wind, it is very poor judgment which in this case cost a life. This will go to court because it was a CBS executive's wife and I hope we hear the outcome.

diphthong

from which taco shop? better not be lucha libre...

RollCNY

You seem to be very agitated. My post was post #9 in this thread, before the Post updated it's article and before locals started weighing in, and it was based upon two things:
1. The presumption of innocence before guilt is proven, beyond a reasonable doubt.
2. Consistent application of the law, regardless of the status of the accused and the victim.

You may or may not have heard of these things, but people saying that this guy DESERVES jail time is ludicrous. He deserves equal treatment under the law.

It is embarrassing to have to explain this to people who I assume live in the US, and MIGHT understand their own civil rights.

Nachoman

never tried it. my favorite, before it closed, was Serrano's out in El Cajon. I can't find a good Burrito in OB or PL.

Nachoman

Cyclosaurus

fify

kbarch

It turns out the Jason Marshall in question was the same one I was acquainted with after all. Sad. He struck me as a very thoughtful, caring guy.
It's been rather amusing to read all the discussion here, though. Everyone wants to either make their own stories out of what happened, or make the incident, or what people say about it, into some kind of simple commentary on or description of the world.
But the world is a complicated place. We're surprised and delighted by it, bored and saddened by it. It's beautiful, it's ugly. People live, people die.
To me, the Central Park drives are not merely lines on a map, or a diagram for proscribed and harmless behaviors. They are a focus of desire. Over the last thirty years or so, the reduction in crime has drawn more and more people to the park. But the park will never be free of risk until it is free of people. It can't be regulated or punished away. Not because people bear malice toward each other, but because they carry desire and conflict within themselves - for achievement and reflection, for activity and rest, for solitude and community. The park draws people to itself for all these things. To me, this event is merely a graphic display of the drama that can come from this mix of desires, desires that all of us carry within ourselves, and it must be a great distress for the people involved to find themselves as unwitting examples.

rms13

Not really. Depends on what he ultimately is convicted of and his prior record. I could imagine many scenarios where he gets some sort of probation and fines and serves no jail time. At the end of the day this was an accident not a premeditated crime. The details seem sketchy. He may have been reckless. I don't know the laws in NY but if this was CA, the only thing that I would say he did wrong was riding with his hands on aero bars where he couldn't reach the brakes and I don't know if that's enough to put someone in jail.

As for speeding, how fast was he going and what was the speed limit? I have had security at my work accuse me of speeding in the parking lot when I was doing about 12 mph in a 15 mph. People's perceptions of how fast a bike is going when they are standing still is generally greatly exaggerated.

And I'm not defending him. I avoid riding where there is a lot of pedestrians and ride slower, heads up with my hands covering brakes when I do

neliconcept

I don't want to get into a complication here, but I also ride Central Park. I'm not exactly sure where he hit the lady at but 4:30 is not a good time to ride in the park. It is realllly packed then and pedestrians (a lot of them tourist and do not understand our traffic patterns) will walk into the road and have no idea where the flow is coming from.

I usually ride slowish around the small loop until I head north past 72nd street. this is where it becomes a bit less crowded and you can open up, especially on the north end switchbacks and after the Harlem hill area their is a nice downhill bomb you can hit. But as far as south park area it is very crowded during the day. Most likely she stepped out and didn't see him. It's a 50-50 thing and may not even have happened at a light. A lot of the pedestrians just cross wherever the hell they want to!

Early morningish is the best time. I now live near Prospect Park and it's less crowded so easier to deal with.

Campag4life

What a bunch of baloney...lol. Alice in Wonderland.