Here’s an argument against shutting down hospitals: Under its new bicycle-sharing program, City Hall is about to flood the streets with 10,000 more weapons of pedestrian destruction.
What’s the connection?
Seems a new study by two Hunter College professors found that, from 2007 to 2010, 4,121 people in the state had to go to the hospital after being hit by a bike.
And 55 percent of those victims got hit in the five boroughs — a figure that will surprise absolutely no one who’s ever tried to negotiate the streets and sidewalks while in the vicinity of a bike rider.
And which pretty much confirms our long-held view that New York cyclists’ contempt for traffic laws is exceeded only by their refusal to obey them.
Or even to confine their bike-riding to the streets — plenty of pedestrians can testify to having evaded a hell-bent cyclist pedaling furiously along the sidewalk.
Indeed, said co-author Bill Milczarski, an urban planner, that figure is “likely just the tip of the iceberg” because it only includes those who went to an emergency room.
Other victims surely got their injuries checked out by their doctor, or at a walk-in clinic — and they’re not included.
To be sure, most of those injured were treated and released; only about 8 percent were so badly hurt that they had to be admitted for treatment.
Still, those are pretty sobering numbers.
So what does the city Department of Transportation have to say about the study?
Just this: Cars are a lot worse.
“There are nearly 10,000 people who visit the hospital citywide each year after being struck by cars, so this is actually a pretty low number,” said a spokesman.
It’s doubtful that the analogy would stand up to an honest vehicle-mile comparison — but certainly it’s of little comfort to someone who has to sit for hours in the ER after being broadsided by a reckless bicyclist.
And now, of course, Mayor Bloomberg and his bike-happy transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, are gearing up to put 10,000 more threats on the streets through their bicycle-sharing program.
Happily, the NYPD is ratcheting up its enforcement of bike regulations — with summonses issued to cyclists up 48 percent this year.
But the enhanced enforcement is pretty much confined to Midtown — while the problem extends to most of Manhattan and a big chunk of Brooklyn.
So even as Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan remain committed to turning the city into a massive bike lane, the least City Hall can do is step up traffic-law enforcement.