Cycling More Safely Through Clinton Hill Means Using Streets Designated for Cyclists

You've seen and heard about the recent cyclist carnage on Flatbush, Washington And Atlantic Avenues, avenues that aren't designated for cyclists. Why we cyclists continue flirting with becoming another statistic on a government chart is beyond me. Unless it's absolutely necessary to use one of those avenues, do yourself and everyone else a favor and cycle more safely through Clinton Hill by using streets designated for cyclists.

If you're cycling east or west, use Dean and Bergen Streets rather than Atlantic and Putnam Avenues or Fulton Street; and use DeKalb and Willoughby Avenues rather than Gates, Lafayette and Myrtle Avenues; and if must cycle through north Clinton Hill, and you're going east or west, use Flushing Avenue rather than Park Avenue.

If you're up on your pedals going north or south, use Carlton, Franklin and Bedford Avenues rather than Vanderbilt, Classon and deadly Washington Avenues. And again, don't cycle on streets not designated for cyclists unless absolutely necessary. If all cyclists use the designated cycle routes in Clinton Hill, motorists will more readily recognize that those particular streets are where the cyclists ride, since so many more will be using them, and therefore you'll be much safer while cycling through Clinton Hill ( and elsewhere ).

Thomas Tracy, Another Cyclist Killed! Hit by a Bus After Avoiding Driver's Car Door, The Brooklyn Paper, http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/38/dtg_bikerkilled_2010_09_17_bk.html