First Citi Bike fatality?

[Serge Issakov]

This is why I’m so skeptical of “Vision Zero”.  To start, how do we eliminate solo crash fatalities like this one?

R.I.P. 37yo comedian Kenny DeForest. 

Serge

DeForest was on a Citi Bike near the intersection of Saint Marks and Rogers avenues in Brooklyn when he hit an unoccupied parked car, the New York City Police Department said Friday. He was found conscious with lacerations to the head and was hospitalized in critical condition. No criminality is suspected in the case, police said. 

"Kenny underwent neurological surgery to remove a piece of his skull and relieve pressure from a brain bleed at Kings County Hospital," the GoFundMe page said. 

He died Wednesday at the hospital with his parents, family and friends at his side.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna129913

[CycleCA]

Hello, Serge,

Please help me connect the dots. Why does this particular crash have anything to do with Vision Zero?

Happy Holidays!

~Tracy Corral

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[John F. Hess]

way to go Serge!  Victim blame much?  Reminds me of your comments about Octavia.  (?  SD concrete truck willing bicycle commuter.)

[clint.sandusky]

Sadly, we saw a similar solo crash in my City of Yucaipa a while back!

An older male riding an e-Bike (no helmet) ran into a trash can on the shoulder, fell off his bike and hit his head on the pavement.  He died later.

I now always instruct law enforcement, other public safety, the cycling community and industry of the following:

As you can see, being able to "control your bike" is of first importance!  That's why taking an in-person bicycle skills course, like from https://cyclingsavvy.org/ is essential -- especially for e-Bike riders!

Respectfully & be safe,

Clint Sandusky

Retired Police Cyclist

CA POST-certified Bike Patrol Instructor (29 yrs.)

Cycling in Traffic Expert & Educator

E-Bike Instructor, Presenter, Author & Consultant⚡️

CABO, District 8 Rep.

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[petevannuys]

Uh.... solo crash. Only one person to cause a collision....? What is that but the "victim" to blame???? Is it the parked car's fault ? The trash can's?

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-------- Original message --------

From: "John F. Hess" <john...@gmail.com>

Date: 12/15/23 21:42 (GMT-08:00)

To: CABOforum <cabo...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: [CABOforum] First Citi Bike fatality?

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[Serge Issakov]

John Hess wrote:

> way to go Serge!  Victim blame much?  Reminds me of your comments about

> Octavia.  (?  SD concrete truck willing bicycle commuter.)

Hi John,

I said nothing to blame the victim. For all I know he crashed into the parked car after losing control due to an unforeseeable mechanical failure on the bike that wasn’t his fault at all. My only point is I don’t see how VZ can eliminate these, or many other (see my reply to Tracy below), types of fatalities. 

Also, I have no recollection about Octavia or understanding of what “SD concrete truck willing bicycle commuter” means. 

Hi Tracy,

Vision Zero is about eliminating, reducing to zero, all traffic related deaths. It’s based on the idea (fantasy?) that it’s possible to do this mostly, if not entirely, through infrastructure changes. 

DeForest rode a bike into an unoccupied parked car. How is infrastructure, or any other VZ measure, going to keep cyclists from having this type, and similar, crash types?

And that’s just one area in which I don’t think VZ can do much, if anything. What about a cyclist who runs a red light into the path of crossing traffic? What about cyclists riding at night without lights? What about cyclists riding against traffic? Cyclist-cyclist head-on collisions on two-way bikeways?

And of course the challenge is not only when the cyclist is at fault. Motorists can drive through or over barriers, and either party can contribute to collisions at crossing conflict points. 

Of course I applaud efforts to reduce fatalities, but when the stated goal is so far from anything actually achievable, it’s hard to assess success vs failure, or even determine which measures are effective. Hence my skepticism. 

Serge

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[clint.sandusky]

Pete - Crashes whether multi-vehicle or solo, especially fatals, are very sad, tragic and normally preventable.

From a legal standpoint, when we in law enforcement investigate any traffic crash we are normally required to determine and assign fault and the Primary Crash/Collision Factor (PCF) of the crash.  I never saw it as blaming whomever.

In the case of our fatal solo e-Bike crash here in Yucaipa, SBCSD deputies determined the bicyclist was at fault, with a PCF of CVC 22350 - Basic Speed Law, unsafe speed for existing conditions.

Our job as bicycling instructors is to teach bicyclists how to reduce their chances of crashing, whether solo (which occurs on the national level around 50% of the time for total crashes) or avoid colliding with other road, path and trail path users!

Clint

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