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06/29/2006 02:25 PM

Advocates Rally For Tougher Bike Safety Laws

By: NY1 News

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In light of three deadly bike accidents this month, one group of advocates is rallying for the mayor to tighten up laws that would keep the streets safe for cyclists.

A group called Transportation Alternatives gathered at City Hall Thursday for the cause. The group also campaigned for the same changes last year, but they say nothing has been done. And as a result, they say four cyclists are dead.

"There is a lot of traffic, but that's no different than other big cities that have made the decision to nevertheless carve out safe rights of way for bicyclists, clean up parking,” said Paul White of Transportation Alternatives. “A big reason why our streets are so congested is because they're lawless."

"They're fairly certain that a driver didn't hit me, and my thought is that this is popular bike route where I crashed and the conditions that caused me to have such a catastrophic crash are so scary and so threatening that it doesn't make sense that even the City of New York allows it's streets to fall into such bad disrepair," said Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives.

Two of the cyclists died on Monday. One from being hit by an NYPD tow truck on the West Side Highway the week before. The other was killed instantly when his bike slid beneath a moving truck in Greenwich Village. And on June 5th, a woman was killed on Rockaway parkway.

The group will gather this evening for a memorial for those that have passed at 6:30 in front of the Intrepid at 46th Street.