»In which we cycle safely

Is New York safe for casual cycling? Even as traffic accidents claim lives daily, some of the more dense, more recently-developed areas of the city receive more attention for different modes of transportation (and recreation!), and "bike boxes" allow for sensible mixing of bicycle lanes, intersections, and auto traffic.

ObRant: Bike lanes suck.

Much of cycling safely comes down to one rather abstract concept: respect. In specific instances, this includes the respect that cyclists need to pay to the rock-and-a-hard-place position we are in, between two-ton juggernauts of steel and the unyielding asphalt; the respect that we merit from drivers, commercial and private, who often fail to understand how a few seconds of their time means a safer, more comfortable road; but, most importantly, the respect due from cyclists to pedestrians and to cars, to all other users of the road. The common resource of the road cannot be shared equitably, but all users must respect that they are not alone on the road. Double-parking is selfishness, and undercuts respect for other users; cycling the wrong way down a street, ditto. Myriad examples I might mention, but all come back to the notion of respect.