The Post Has Questions. I’ve Got Answers

The editors of the Post ask some interesting questions in their scare-mongering piece on bike share.  My guess is they aren’t really looking for answers, but I’ll provide some anyway.

Question #1:

In New York, governments are included in liability suits because the law says those with deep pockets pay — and whose pockets are deeper than government agencies’?

Answer:

Image via Streetsblog

The Post editors are worried that a hypothetically serious lawsuit against the city could cost taxpayers millions, but they so far have expressed zero concern about the costs accruing to taxpayers from a real-life, frivolous lawsuit filed by millionaires.

Question #2:

Any guesses what happens if a bike-renting tourist gets squashed by a bus?

Answer:

There’s a difference between an accident that could potentially occur with a city bike share program and an accident that’s the responsibility of a private company or individual, but it’s not as if tourists aren’t already getting “squashed” in this city.  If a tourist is killed by a bus, chances are it will be the either driver’s fault or the cyclist’s, not the bike share program’s.  I’ve been in two bike accidents in my life and neither one resulted in me suing Bianchi.

Question #3:

Or a rental cyclist flattens a gaggle of pedestrians?

Answer:

The article doesn’t mention if the car involved in this accident — which flattened a gaggle of people inside a bodega — was a rental.