UGLY, BUT TRUE: Police Failure to Police.

Testimony to the New York City City Council Public Safety & Transportation Committees in a Joint Hearing

February 15, 2012

Valentine’s Day is clearly over, as my testimony will make clear.

I moved to New York City from the automobile capital, Detroit, in 1965. Since then, in all that time not one cyclist, and, in fact, not one person has been killed, much less injured by a car, truck, cab, bus, or sanitation truck. Not one.

Unfortunately, many thousands have been killed by car, truck, taxi, bus, and sanitation truck drivers.

So, beginning today, let us—you, the police, the press—use more precise language in reporting the killing of cyclists and pedestrians. Let's no longer say they were killed by cars, etc. They are killed by drivers. Let’s say it.

Probably the most common professions of killers of cyclists are bus, sanitation truck, and private-commercial garbage truck drivers. You see them break driving laws many times every day. Have any of you—any one of you—ever once seen a sanitation truck or bus driver ticketed?

And who were some of these cyclists killed by drivers?

July 12, 1997, Dr. Rachel Fruchter, 57, a graduate of Oxford and Rockefeller Univ. Ph.D., a biochemist, a professor of obstetrics, and a researcher into gynecological cancer and the epidemiology of cancer, was cycling in Prospect Park in Brooklyn when she was struck from behind and killed by a van driver driving well over the speed limit, as police reconstructed the scene. He was not permitted to be on the park road as he was. He was ticketed, but not for that. He was ticketed only for equipment failure.

A few years ago, a cyclist was riding south on South Street. A limousine driver was driving north. The limousine driver made a left hand turn into the cyclist killing him. The driver was not ticketed. The police could not bestir themselves to cite him for violating the New York State Vehicle & Traffic law, § 1141: The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left...shall yield the right of way to any vehicle...so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.

April 30, 2005, Jerome Allen, a 58 year old New York State senior bank examiner, and very experienced cyclist, was on a solo, evening ride in Staten Island. If the first story told by the 23 year old driver who killed him, Anthony Tasso, Jr., is to be believed, Allen was riding his bike as fast as Lance Armstrong. That, or the driver was content to drive his uncle's, Joseph Tasso's, Lexus SUV (with an out-of-state license plate) on an otherwise empty, well-paved, six-lane road c. 18 MPH, which more than strains credulity. In either case, according to young Tasso, as he and Allen were side-by-side, Allen saw fit to suddenly swerve in front of him. That doesn't pass the laugh test. Tasso, who was driving on a suspended license that he neglected to have re-instated, was not even ticketed. The failure of the police to conduct a serious investigation seriously hindered and prejudiced claims arising from that. It has been wondered whether the Tassos were related to a police officer.

September 24, 2005, 14 year old Andre Anderson was cycling near his home in Far Rockaway, Queens when he was hit from behind by another 23 year old, José Vicens, driving another luxury SUV, this one a Lincoln Navigator. (See: http://rightofway.org/) Vicens was not ticketed. The police could not bestir themselves to cite him for violating NY State Vehicle & Traffic Law §1122, which enjoins drivers from aggressive passing.

June 20, 2006, a man was riding his bike on Tenth Ave. at 44th Street. A cab driver opened his door into him, he swerved to avoid hitting it—or after hitting it—and had his leg crushed by a bus. The cab driver was not ticketed. The police could not bestir themselves to enforce the New York State Traffic and Vehicle Law, §1214: No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic.

June 22th, 2006—yes, a scant two days later—Dr. Carl Nacht, 57, was riding on a dedicated cycling/jogging/roller skating/walking path when a New York Police Department tow truck turned from the street and crossed the path. A New York Times story about the incident was headlined, "Bicyclist Hurt in Collision With Tow Truck". The article spoke of his injuries (Dr. Nacht died a day later) “when he collided with a Police Department tow truck, the police said yesterday." The driver was not ticketed. The New York State Traffic & Vehicle Law, §1143: The driver of a vehicle about to...cross a roadway...shall yield the right of way to all vehicles approaching on the roadway to be crossed. Well, of course he wasn’t ticketed. We don’t ticket police. Not even for illegal parking. They can drive—and kill—with utter and complete impunity. And they do.

But note the police report: the bike collided with the truck. It's pretty much always this way in police reports: bikes collide with cars, cabs, buses, and trucks. Cars, cabs, buses, and trucks never collide with bikes. This is because cyclists habitually ram their 23 lb. vehicles into multi-ton speeding pieces of steel. You see, what cyclists who complain about the failure of police to police, to enforce the laws, fail to understand is that all cyclists are suicidal, yes, even Dr. Fruchter, Dr. Nacht, Mr. Allen, and young Mr. Anderson.

Why is it the police fail to police? I descend to regrettably all too warranted cynicism when I suggest one reason is that would take time away from their chatting up their buds as they group in clusters; and it would take time away from their talking/texting/looking at their phones.

But here's a stirring explanation why the police fail to police, and it is offered by a police officer. I stopped at a red light exiting Central Park at 90th St.. Next to me were a police officer on a scooter and a BMW—the three of us side-by-side. However, only two of us belonged there: cars were not allowed in the park at that time. The officer did nothing, said nothing. I asked him why didn't he ticket the driver for being in the park when it was closed to cars. His answer: "Aw, he knew what he was doing was wrong."

This is not to say the police do nothing. They do. Here are some examples. Ticketing a cyclist for having a handbag over her handlebars—although that's not against the law; ticketing a cyclist for exceeding 15MPH in Central Park—although that's not against the law; ticketing a cyclist for swerving out of the bike lane to avoid an obstacle-—although that's not against the law; ticketing an adult cyclist for not wearing a helmet-—although that's not against the law.

Against this we have the insistence of the police department's chief spokesman, Paul Browne, quoted in an August 19, 2011 New York Times article. He disputed tickets were given to cyclists in error: He said, "Police officers write summonses for observed violations." I submit the heirs of Dr. Fruchter, Dr. Nacht, Mr. Allen, Mr. Anderson, and thousands of others might disagree.

Let me conclude with this word of advice to drivers who hit cyclists out of the sight of anyone else: Be sure you kill them. Dead people can’t testify against you. And police will accept your uncontradicted word…never mind physical evidence. And, based on the experience of Mathieu Lefevre’s family, they’ll do everything they can to withhold information about the incident.

Notice I say “incident,” not “accident.” I started here asking we use words more precisely. These aren’t accidents. Accidents are unavoidable occurrences. None of these occurrences was unavoidable. Said more succinctly about all impacts by cars, trucks, taxis, and buses—by all drivers—with cyclists and pedestrians: If it was avoidable, it wasn’t an accident.