visitordesign

OCMC and NYCDOT are responsible for overseeing, approving and regulating. they, however, do not do their mandated jobs.

you gotta see what passes as acceptable for street design when it comes to cycling in this city... these NYCDOT/NYSDOT design manuals are ludicrous for your average commuter.

BadAssBiker

I went down there and stood on the corner for 20 minutes, talked to a few people.

I also think a ghost bike will be up shortly.

visitordesign

these are the OCMC rules that have to be met at excavation sites. can anyone who gives a crap look at this and pipe up with any areas you've ridden thru that are out of spec? i'm trying to do it myself, but i'll likely miss a lot...

https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/pdf/hwyrules.pdf

look at the index and skip to pertinent sections (section 2-11, pages 82-96 for instance. TA quotes from page 87 in their press release, sections 2-05 and 2-09 are the only other applicable sections--and only sparingly)

at the very least, let me know where there are roadway plates without non-skid surfaces (i've never seen a single one with a coating...) or where there are abrupt lane closures without advanced signage/lane tapering OR where more than one lane of traffic is closed. i'll try to hit the spots and take pix.

can anyone who has wrecked in any such spots PM me brief descriptions of what happened?

luggedwithlove

I just edited this. sorry.

hyperRevue

Sure looks like the same bike.
****. I didn't want to see that.

I remember seeing a few months back some website that compiled tons of myspace profiles of people who have died. ****ing morbid.

fordfasterr

There is a huge metal plate just like this one thrown in the right lane of a street I take to work 3 days a week. It has been there for at least 2 weeks. There are no markers or barricates indicating that it is there, and it does not have any ramps to make it a smooth transition, and it does not have a grippy surface, just plain flat steel... very unsafe.

I'm going to snap a picture of it 2morrow on the way to work and then forward it, along with the PDF file above to the city's streets division manager...

The road that I take is used by lots of bicyclists daily and at night.. ( a bunch of bars on this road lol) + there are tons of trucks going in and out all over this road because there are several industrial companies all over this part of town....... ... so I figure I might help to save someone, or myself ! ...

I'll also have to look up the city's codes regarding construction and proper safety measures.

BadAssBiker

Church St. near the WTC has fully covered metal plates (sandpaper-like surface). This is the only spot I know in the city that appears to be on the code.

fordfasterr

Maybe someone can help me find an MPF for Hollywood Florida, or Broward County, or the entire state?

HERE is my reference but I can't find any mention of MPF, when I expand the search to include "maintenance and protection of traffic" I get too many matches and nothing specific....



Any help ?

visitordesign

it's sort of in here:

https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2003r1/Ch6A-E.pdf

but you need to couple that with information from the highway design manual.

the MPT is mostly, "this is what a road of this type should look like when it's under construction." but then you need to know the specifics of what's required of the elements included in the MPT (i.e. coatings on roadway plates, asphalt ramps, buffer distances between construction and road, etc.

evanyc

is it possible to file a class action suit against the city to hold them responsible for unsafe conditions for riding?

brokenrobot

Sure - but probably pricy as hell, unless you can convince somebody to take it on contingency.

What you *can* do for free is call it in to 311 every time you find a plate that's not ramped or a ditch that's not covered or etc - I probably call three or four times a week about road conditions. If call volume gets high enough, the city WILL do somethign about it, especially because they're liable if there's a record that a problem was reported before it killed or injured somebody...

Matthew A Brown

This could be sigworthy.

bmxdan

MY GOD, I saw this a few min after it happened.

I was driving down Houston (i suppose it was that street, i just moved to NYC 2 weeks ago) with my boss and we were detoured at that intersection by a bunch of cops. He said "oh **** man there is a bike down there, a guy must have fallen pretty bad" and i looked and saw that bike.

I just got on BF to see what is going on and saw the title of this thread.

As i was opening up the article i was dreading seeing the picture and my heart just sank as i saw the same bicycle i saw earlier today.

just before this intersection on houston i saw 2 ghost bikes and mentioned them to my boss, and told him what they were about. It is so tragic that there will be yet another bike on that st.

i have never ridden on that st. and i am pretty damn sure i never will.

just when i was starting to get used to riding in traffic here in nyc this happens. im pulling my helmet out of the closet cause no matter how safe i feel in traffic that isnt gonna stop my wheels from slipping out on a damp smooth sheet of metal covering the street.

GirlAnachronism

i do my best to stay far far away from houston these days, i've had too many close calls there...i think i might look into a new helmet sometime soon as well...

ch0mb0

there's 2 sections of those metal plates on hudson just below 14th, beware.

rw2157

https://poll.imdb.com/name/nm2086378/bio

.:Jimbo:.

Damn this is awful, and only goes to show how brutal tht avenue is. I know everyone is asking who he is, but i have a different question regarding the driver of the truck which was slammed with six summmones for equipment violation. Can anyone explain the relevency to the accident? As to ask if what the driver was hauling, and if it played a part in the accident.

10x

so, so sad.
i was riding east from mercer on houston yesterday against my better judgement. i know it's repuatation as the most dangerous street for cyclists in the city. it occured to me briefly, somewhere around elizabeth, just after passing the times up! space that i had not heard of any fatal accidents this year, which i took less as being out of the loop and more like good news.
oh and now this..
if i remember correctly things started getting bad around this time last year as well. a woman being run over by an ice cream truck on 5th ave. park slope (the old ghost bike survived the winter and has recently been replaced with a new one), and the guy who was hit by a truck at elizabeth & houston both happend around late may-june '005.
something like this recent accident happend to me a few weeks ago. while riding through a downpour on my way to the manhattan bridge, i tried to squeeze between a box truck and a pickup with a trailer. they were stopped at the moment, but as soon as i was between them traffic started moving and the trailer whipped into me three or four times, knocking me against the box truck. i managed to stay up long enough for them to clear me before skidding out into a 180 and going down, the cars behind me saw this and stopped. it was an extremely stupid thing to do, and im really quite lucky to have walked away from that..live and learn..
days and nights are getting hotter, the streets are reaching a fever pitch.
have fun, but be careful out there.

TIMES UP!

i have never ridden on that st. and i am pretty damn sure i never will.

just when i was starting to get used to riding in traffic here in nyc this happens. im pulling my helmet out of the closet cause no matter how safe i feel in traffic that isnt gonna stop my wheels from slipping out on a damp smooth sheet of metal covering the street.[/QUOTE]

hey, welcome to ny.
the less we all ride, the more dangerous it is out there. there's definitely a learning curve for riding nyc streets- a fun and safe way to ride is with your friends. Times Up! has a lot of fun group rides- check out www.times-up.org
the next ride on the calendar is Critical Mass, 7pm union square

BadAssBiker

good seeing you today, austin. highlight, really.

10x

this was something else i was thinking about on my ride yesterday.
hypothetically, if i ever i were to take my brother on a NYC bike ride (which likely won't ever happen), what do i say to prepare him for that?
the only thing i could think of to tell him, or anybody else new to the city is that most motorists and pedestrians act as tho they were drunken half-wits, look out, be aware, etc.
not to overtly imply cyclists are the smartest people on the road 100% of the time, but, come on..
it's true, isn't it?
oh. i hope i'm not changing the subject or hijacking this thread with such conjecture.
but i worry for my brother, and everybody else out there no matter how seasoned the veteran.
accidents happen, i'm living proof.
and this poor guy..oh.
i'm sleeping with my bike tonight.

onetwentyeight 

His name was Derek Lake, a recent graduate of SVA. bikeblog has a post on the incident.

https://bikeblog.blogspot.com/2006/06...d-in-june.html

brokenrobot

"If they're honking, they can see you. Yell a lot. Your life is more important than anyone's convenience; be in the way if you need to. Stay clear of parked cars or things will jump out at you."

That's all the advice I gave my brother; we had a blast, and we got home safe.

crayonsemble

sad but you gotta ride where you gotta ride. houston is just as bad as any other street
IMO, though the metal plates are not cool. they are everywhere though, crazy drivers are everywhere,
it was sadly this cats time. when its your time or my time then we will go as well.
as my good friend dr.yusef lateef teaches us " from the earth we come and to the earth we return".
very sorry to hear about this nonetheless.

nicelysmiling

This is horrible. After reading these posts and especially BikeBlog, I am inspired to ride in Critical Mass on Friday. He was just my age... ****e