By Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H.
Posted: Thursday, November 18, 2004

EDITORIAL
Publication Date: November 18, 2004

We New Yorkers are more obsessed, even more than other Americans, about hypothetical or phantom health risks. We are constantly anxious about trace-level exposure to the dry cleaning chemical "perc," PCBs in the Hudson River, dioxin traces in paper towels, pesticide residues in produce and whatever the other scares du jour happen to be. The city just passed laws requiring all of us to have carbon monoxide detectors, even in high-rise apartments, where the risk of injury or death is totally theoretical.

 That is why it is particularly astounding that we are so tolerant of real risks, including this one: the risk of death and injury to pedestrians posed by out-of-control bicyclists. You know what I am talking about. Ask 10 of your friends, work colleagues and relatives if they have recently been hit by a bike in New York - or, more likely, almost hit - and I predict that most will say yes.

 The bike riders - many but not all of whom are on delivery missions - go through traffic lights, travel at high speeds against the flow of traffic, ride on the sidewalk and generally sneak up on you - often at high speed - between trucks and cars stopped at intersections. All too often you cannot see them coming as you cross the street with the light. Your first indication that they are whizzing by is that they appear out of the blue - and nearly hit you head-on.

 Yes, the bikers themselves are at serious risk of death and injury in New York. But regarding the risk to us pedestrians, let us consider this: Bike riders are bound by the same traffic regulations as drivers. That means when you see bikes on sidewalks, zooming through traffic lights or going the wrong way on one-way streets, they are breaking the laws. But there is no significant attempt on the part of police to enforce these laws for bicyclists.

 Let your political representatives know that it is time to make bike riders obey the law by prosecuting violators. But to protect ourselves, we must be cautious and constantly on the lookout for speeding bikes, whether it's when we're crossing the street or getting out of a cab.

 As a society, we should not tolerate such real risks to life and health while our representatives and regulators constantly (and expensively) seek to protect us from parts per billion of some chemical they fear, primarily because they cannot pronounce its name.

Whelan, an author and public health expert, is president of the American Council on Science and Health.

Source Notes:  
The New York Daily News