"The article gives the impression that the cyclist was riding on the ""West Side Highway"" in traffic. For what it's worth, West Street is not a highway and the cyclist was not riding in traffic but in the bike lane.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12022006/news/regionalnews/cyclist_killed_in_dwi_incident_regionalnews_perry_chiaramonte_and_erin_calabrese.htm"

"http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=64753

As can be seen from the video, it definitely happened on the bike path. Apparently, the driver was drinking at a party at Chelsea Piers and then drove his car down the ""Greenway"" instead of the road."

More here:

http://www.gothamist.com/

In addition to the manslaughter charge, Cidron faces charges of driving while intoxicated and reckless endangerment

http://www.wnbc.com/news/10449058/detail.html

I find the fact that the driver in this incident drove to the event to be pathetically irresponsible.

It's pretty likely that the driver knew he'd be attending a party where he would be drinking when he left his apartment on Friday; holiday parties don't usually pop up out of nowhere. Yet he chose to drive, despite the fact that he lives in Manhattan, with its good public transit and plenty of cabs.

Hopefully the prosecuting attorney will point this out.

Seems to me that when a report comes out about the tragic accident of a cyclist it is down played by the use of careful words and the tone of the reporter or the report(the media).Probably because the insurance companyies are behind this.I say this because why is it that when a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle when crossing a street,lets say Queens Blvd. the tone of the report is much different then lets say a cyclist that is killed head on by a intoxicated young male driver in a BMW driving on the westside bike path!To me its as if the tone is,hell you take your own chances when you ride a bike in NYC.And if you die well we dont know what to tell you,you should have had reflectors on your bike and a bell!

"Washington Square News, December 4, 2006"

and of course it's always necessary to include in the story whether the dead cyclist was wearing a helmet and had reflectors or a light. As if this would have precluded his death. I rarely see mentioned in auto deaths whether the occupants were wearing seat belts.

The fact that the driver lives in the East Village leads me to believe he knew the lay of the land and was probably on the bike path to avoid driving poorly due to intoxication. The most likely reason he was there was to avoid driving suspiciously on West Street.

Consider the bike path has a double yellow line down the middle. The lanes are too small for anyone to assume it is a normal road. If the driver actually did mistake the bike path for a road (akin to mistaking a fork for a spoon, then eating the whole bowl with it,) he would have been over in the right lane and no accident would have occurred, assuming the cyclist also kept to the right.

What I don't understand is how the cyclist could miss the car unless the lights were off.

hmmm, could it be overly indulgent parents who don't have a clue that their kids either are idiots or act(drive) like idiots?

regarding richard rosenthal's note of similarities in the age and vehicle of the other negligent drivers, I suggest it is due to overly indulgent parents who don't have a clue that their kids driving these expensive vehicles drive like idiots

Once again, we are saddened by another tragic and horribly senseless death.

We all know the driver is 110% at fault here and hope that he’ll be punished to the full extend that the law will allow. Would it help to get a crowd at the sentencing hearing?

A number of questions were raised form the cyclist’s (our) perspective.

Last Friday night was a very windy evening. I remember garbage flying around all night, (strong winds from the south). A cyclist in good fitness can easily be cruising in the mid to hi 20’s on any bike on the straight sections of the Greenway. The Path would have been deserted at that time with the wind conditions; otherwise the car would have hit someone else before getting to Clarkson St. Even if the car was going 25mph, the collision would have been devastating. How many people do you know drives 25mph with no traffic? The Cyclist probably had little or no time to react to an oncoming vehicle on the narrow path. He would not have heard the car coming because of the wind at his back. As cyclists, we would never expect something coming at us at 50+ mph, especially on an empty bike path.

Picture #4 of the WABC’s slide shows the BMW with only the parking lights on at the time of the photo. Which would make sense if the driver was so S-faced that he thought the dashboard lights meant the headlights were also on. Maybe he was so blind that he turned on something that looked like a road when he heard the GPS announce “turn right “.

HD wrote > and of course it's always necessary to include in the story whether the dead cyclist was wearing a helmet and had reflectors or a light. As if this would have precluded his death. <

It most likely would not have made any difference for the 2 fatalities on the Greenway this year. I know it’s cooler and/or a badge of courage to ride without a lid, but I think there are very few instances where a helmet can increase the severity of trauma. Maybe the NYCC should start a helmet donation program, you know, all the UV compromised ones, or new inexpensive ones with the extra cash from membership dues.

My heart goes out to the loving parent who put safety reflectors on his son’s bike.

Will you be arrested for parading without a permit?