Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Bypassing Courts, NYPD Says Video Cleared Lefevre Hit-and-Run Driver
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Court documents reveal that NYPD decided not to charge the hit-and-run driver who struck and killed Brooklyn cyclist Mathieu Lefevre based on video of the crash. While it’s not clear how video footage can prove that the driver didn’t know he had hit Lefevre, it was apparently sufficient evidence for the department’s Accident Investigation Squad. […]
Eyes on the Street: More Bike Cops? More Bike Cops!
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Here’s another shot of the NYPD bike corps in glorious action. Our tipster says this driver was nabbed after running a red on Ninth Avenue near 34th Street. As the saying goes, twice is coincidence, three times is a trend. A Streetfilms t-shirt to the next reader who sends in a pic of pedal-powered NYPD […]
Husband Says NYPD Wrecked Case Against Driver Charged for Wife’s Death
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Last week we reported how the botched NYPD investigation into the death of Brooklyn cyclist Stefanos Tsigrimanis was initially compromised due to a department policy that keeps the Accident Investigation Squad from working cases unless the victim is believed likely to die. When an emergency room doctor told police that Tsigrimanis was not fatally injured, AIS […]
Eyes on the Street: NYPD Bike Patrol Takes Care of Business
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Submitted by Streetsblog reader Hilda, this was the scene at Eighth Avenue near West 44th Street this morning. Writes Hilda: “And I will note that the cop on the bike HAD TO LEAVE THE BIKE LANE to go around the cab before pulling out his ticket book.” We can only assume none of his colleagues […]
Adriano Espaillat Was for Cut-Through Traffic Before He Was Against It
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I nearly spit out my coffee when I saw that Adriano Espaillat had signed on in support of the Inwood slow zone application. See, while he endorsed Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, the state senator from Upper Manhattan adamantly opposes placing tolls on Harlem River bridges, preferring that Inwood remain a bypass for toll-shopping motorists […]
How NYPD Botched a Bike Fatality Investigation and Blamed the Victim
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One of the appalling revelations at the City Council hearing on NYPD traffic safety policies was the rarity of full-scale investigations into crashes that injure or kill people. Unless the victim dies at the scene or is deemed likely to die, the police who are trained to look into traffic crashes won’t take the case. […]
The Lorax Enlists School Children to Get Parents Into Mazda Showrooms
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In case you needed more motivation to save the Lorax… Mazda and Universal couldn’t leave awful enough alone. In addition to the odious television spots featuring the defender of Truffula trees shilling for SUVs, Mazda is attempting to lure children and parents to showrooms with the promise of a Lorax encounter. And now the coup de […]
Lappin Bill Would Make E-Bike Riding Twice as Pricey as Killing With a Car
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Is it worse to ride an electric bike than to kill someone with a car? If a bill by City Council Member Jessica Lappin becomes law, it will be. On Tuesday, Lappin announced legislation that would raise the fine for riding an electric-assisted bike to $1000. Though the bikes are already illegal, and the current […]
Rental Helmets, Coming Soon to a Bike-Share Station Near You
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With the rising popularity of bike-share systems around the world, one inevitable issue is the availability of helmets. This is particularly true in the United States, where a bare-headed cyclist is considered a daredevil miscreant who’s practically begging for trouble. Enter HelmetHub, a bike helmet vending system developed by students at MIT. Spurred by a […]
Waiting for Raymond: 7 Pedestrians, 1 Cyclist Killed in Last 16 Days
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The crashes that killed two pedestrians since Wednesday morning follow a string of incidents last week that resulted in the deaths of five vulnerable street users. In all, seven pedestrians and one cyclist are known to have died in New York City traffic since February 7. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, meanwhile, couldn’t be troubled to […]
Is There Really a “Rule of Two”?
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Conventional wisdom has it that in the state of New York a motorist must be breaking at least two traffic laws at the time of a crash to be charged with criminal negligence. As Nassau County ADA Maureen McCormick told Streetsblog: “It is believed that if a defendant commits two simultaneous traffic violations in the […]
TSTC Alerts Drivers to Costs of Transit-Free Tappan Zee
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The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is looking to enlist car commuters in the fight for transit on the Tappan Zee Bridge. Two radio spots sponsored by Tri-State are airing on 1010 WINS this week, in advance of draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) hearings scheduled for February 28 and March 1. Here’s the copy: It’s now or never […]