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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Good Morning Philadelphia: Cyclists protest at accident site

Staff photographer Tom Gralish reports:

Members of the Bicyle Coalition of Philadelphia protested this morning on the Martin Luther King Drive near the Art Museum where a  man and his 4-year-old son were hit by an SUV last week in a crosswalk.

The coalition wants a a bike-only lane on the drive and this week so-called bicycle ambassadors will be at the accident site during different morning and evening rush hours with signs reminding motorists of the need to slow down and yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

Read more breaking news in our From The Source blog.

Posted by Inquirer Online Desk @ 11:22 AM  Permalink | 21 comments
Comments   
Posted 11:29 AM, 05/26/2009
scargosun
A bike lane is fine but Doty also wants MLK to be reduced to 1 lane in either direction. He actually thinks that the 2 lanes are not needed. I am all for more areas being made safer for bikes but not at the risk of increasing the already conjested areas by reducing lanes. Also, he was complaining about people in cars speeding. What about all those bikers that zip through stop signs and lights because it's too hard for them to stop on their bikes? When the Philly Bike Coilition starts telling their members to follow the rules of the road then we can take them seriously. Until then, many of the people on bikes are still going to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
Posted 11:37 AM, 05/26/2009
PAEnglish
If they are anything like the idiots that ride around where I live its not suprising they get run down . The 'local' bike club insist on riding 4 or 5 abreast dont yield at stop signs and generaly act like they own the road .
Posted 11:41 AM, 05/26/2009
Politburo
While there is a point to be made about cyclists following the law, the fact is that a speeding 3,000-lb vehicle at 45 mph is far more dangerous than a speeding 200-lb vehicle at 30 mph. Also, the person most likely to be hurt by a cyclist infraction is the cyclist themselves. This doesn't excuse any infractions, but it is a matter of priorities. No cyclists are out there killing people in crosswalks.
Posted 11:48 AM, 05/26/2009
CrazyIvan
http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/resources/materials They do tell people the rules of sharing the road. People need to slow down. It's not just bikers that get hit; there are hit and runs all the time in this city. And @ PAEnglish: the accident they were protesting was a 4 year old and his 29 year old father. One car stopped for them to cross at the crosswalk, and the woman behind that car swerved around the stopped car and hit the boy and his dad. People just need to stop being in such an impatient hurry and obey the laws of the road.
Posted 11:50 AM, 05/26/2009
mike c
aren't bicyclists supposed to get off their bikes when crossing a street and walk the bike across the street??
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Comment removed.
Posted 11:59 AM, 05/26/2009
CleanupPhilly
People in cars fly out of the city on MLK Drive/West Kelly Drive. It's insane. I cross on that crosswalk all the time, and you want to get across as quickly as possible, so no, you don't get off your bike. If you are on foot, you run. Bikes are not breaking the laws to get in the way of cars. Being in the way of cars is in fact the law. You're supposed to ride in the street, not on the sidewalk. Bikers don't do that because it's too crazy in Philly. Philly is not the PA Turnpike. It's a city, and people have to calm down and drive like are in a city. Does any motorist even know the Philly speed limit? Post if you think you do. Let's here it.
Posted 11:59 AM, 05/26/2009
CleanupPhilly
People in cars fly out of the city on MLK Drive/West Kelly Drive. It's insane. I cross on that crosswalk all the time, and you want to get across as quickly as possible, so no, you don't get off your bike. If you are on foot, you run. Bikes are not breaking the laws to get in the way of cars. Being in the way of cars is in fact the law. You're supposed to ride in the street, not on the sidewalk. Bikers don't do that because it's too crazy in Philly. Philly is not the PA Turnpike. It's a city, and people have to calm down and drive like are in a city. Does any motorist even know the Philly speed limit? Post if you think you do. Let's here it.
Posted 12:06 PM, 05/26/2009
DiGi
You're seriously suggesting that a father and his 4 year old on a bike meant for 2 might be driving wrecklessly?
Posted 12:07 PM, 05/26/2009
CleanupPhilly
I wondered what happened to that sign that shows the icon of a pedestrian crossing. It was shaved off at the base like someone sliced butter. They had to be going 55-60 mph to do that. The thing is 2"x2" steel in concrete. The sign was crumpled up like paper. If two people were hit in that accident, their prognosis can't be good. Here's the deal -- MLK is a CITY street, not a I-76. It's a major recreational thoroughfare. Every 5K, 10K, Marathon etc. involves MLK. People practice for them on the route and always will, because it's the way to get to Fairmount Park from CC. People will always run, bike, and walk along side MLK/West Kelly Drive. It should never have been done up like a highway, because it's not just a car-only highway like the PA Turnpike. The PADOT has to calm it down. Closing it altogether to highway traffic is the right answer. Anyone who has a kid knows how hard it is to get them out the door in the morning, much less across what drivers mistakenly regard as the expressway just to try to ride bikes your child. MLK is recreational. Always was, always will be. The Fish Ladder is there, the route to Fairmount Park. It's essential to calm or remove car traffic like they did in Times Square.
Posted 12:13 PM, 05/26/2009
chemlady
There is no room for a bike lane, and anyway, if those people who got hit were in the crosswalk what good would a bike lane have done? I agree with scarcgosun- just yesterday I was driving up Walnut street and a guy on a bike rode from alongside me to in front of my car WHILE I WAS MOVING. I wonder sometimes how many of these cyclists have an ounce of common sense.
Posted 12:14 PM, 05/26/2009
CleanupPhilly
You know who most often doesn't follow the rules of the road, and just ask any car insurance actuarian? A PHILLY DRIVER. Philly drivers are world-renown psycho nut jobs and more than one needs to permanently lose their license when Philly finally gets tough on buzzed driving from any substance, speeding, not signaling, and basically being proud to be a butthole on the road. Where are the state troopers that normally park on MLK at that crosswalk? We need you to write about 500 tickets a day.
Posted 12:16 PM, 05/26/2009
CleanupPhilly
People, I know you never paid attention in Driver's Ed, because it was too much like school, but cyclists and pedestrians have the RIGHT OF WAY. You have to YIELD. I know most Philly drivers not only don't know what "yield" means, they spell it like "yeeled, yo'."
Posted 12:18 PM, 05/26/2009
SayHello2MyLittleFriend
Please check the facts. The bicyclists were not on the road when they were hit. They were on an island. Had the vehicle that hit them followed the speed limit, this tragedy would never have happened. I do agree that there are "elitist" bicyclist out there who think they own the road. The written rule is single file only.
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