Sept 21, 2014 – By Jen Benepe
The NY Post wasted no time in serving as jury, holding the trial and presiding over the guilty verdict of a cyclist in a collision with a pedestrian last week.
It was an extreme example of how poor reporting by the media and the subsequent flash judgment by the public— are becoming an all-too-frequent phenomenon in the days of intense social media.
Jill Tarlov died of her injuries after a collision with a cyclist last Thursday in New York’s Central Park.
We learned today that Jill Tarlov died as a result of her head injuries which she sustained when she collided with the cyclist Jason Marshall on the West Side Drive in Central Park.
To bait the backlash, writers Larry Celona, Erin Calabrese, Kirstan Conley and Bruce Golding wrote like prosecuting attorneys drafting their brief against Mr. Marshall, portraying him as one might describe a killer-at-large, and withholding crucial evidence in their reporting that would have made the collision appear more like an accident.
In creating their report, the NY Post stirred up a hatred and venom against cyclists among New Yorkers who predominantly–you guessed it– don’t ride bicycles.
And they got away with it even though the data for New York City clearly shows that pedestrians and cyclists are the most likely to be struck and injured or killed by motorists than any other type of crash.
Manhattan-based crashes between pedestrians and cars and cyclists and cars represent almost 20 percent of the more than 13,000 crashes in New York County, according to NYS Department of Transportation data. That’s true even though the state average is 4.5 percent.
Jason Marshall swerved to avoid other pedestrians and struck Ms. Tarlov.
In 2012, pedestrians and motor vehicles collided 2,992 times, and cyclists were struck by motorists 1,169 times.
Ms. Tarlov is the second New Yorker this year to be killed in a collision with a cyclist.
Of the 43 people killed in all crashes with motorists in Manhattan in 2012, 6 were drivers, 2 were passengers, 32 were pedestrians, and 3 were bicyclists.
On Aug. 3, Irving Schachter, 75, was killed when a cyclist swerved to avoid crashing into a pedicab driver.
As of March 19, 2014, 45 people had been killed in crashes with motorists this year: 27 pedestrians, 13 drivers, three passengers and two cyclists. These numbers underreport the number of people who are injured and maimed by motorists every day.
But the NY Post doesn’t deal with facts: Using language that immediately attributed blame to the cyclist, they described him as “slamming” into the pedestrian, and “barreling” down the roadway. Under a photo of the two they wrote, “Jill Tarlov was run over by bicyclist.”
And they described Ms. Tarlov’s fall in detail, never mentioning once that the cyclist also had been injured and had been held to give witness testimony prior to receiving medical care.
To further their case against Mr. Marshall, –who is African American– Ms. Tarlov was white– they described him as riding aerobats that were “brakeless:” “Fenton’s pal Tom Longman said Marshall was hunched over the brakeless, triathlon-style “aerobars” attached to the handlebars of his high-performance, yellow and black ride,” they wrote.
However, tri-brakes were directly accessible to Marshall, right next to the aero-bars in a set-up that makes them more reachable. A more logical question would have been, could he have stopped at all –with traditional brakes–given the distance from himself to the pedestrian at any reasonable speed?
The reporters interviewed non-cyclists whose view, that the cyclist was going “fast” could not be either qualified or quantified in any way.
None of them appeared to be in a position to understand how “fast” a bicyclist rides, nor any indication about how “fast” a cyclist might go on that stretch of the roadway, West 63rd St., which is downhill, and would allow a cyclist to pick up to speeds of 20 mph without even pedaling.
They did not interview any other cyclists who might have been riding alongside or have passed Mr. Marshall on the roadway, as we did, even though those witnesses were standing at the scene.
Our witness told Cyclists International that Mr. Marshall was not a fast rider, and was riding at a recreational pace when he passed him. In any event, Mr. Marshall could not have been exceeding the speed limit in the park which is 25 miles per hour, far below the average speed of motorists.
The reporters also left out crucial information, that the cyclist said he swerved to avoid other pedestrians. They never provided data, such as how far he was from the pedestrian when she appeared, and how much time he had to stop. When traveling even at 20 miles per hour, 20 feet is often not enough distance in which to stop: They would have known that if they had ever ridden a bicycle.
The reporters only mentioned in passing deeper in the article, that it was not clear who had the green light. And they failed to mention that when cars are not in the park, cyclists are allowed to use the two right hand lanes for traveling, and must use the far right “car” lane to enter and exit the park.
The reporters also left out important evidence about the nature of cycling in Central Park–how many more cyclists are hurt and injured in the park as they attempt to avoid pedestrians walking out in front of them outside of the intersections, and against the lights. In other words, pandemonium reigns supreme on the park’s roadways.
Mr. Marshall was not charged, though an investigation of the incident is still pending. He has not returned any calls or texts for comment.
In the period of 2001 to 2009, 3,647 people were killed on New York Streets by motorists, which is more than the 3,558 victims of gun homicides during the same period, according to Transportation Alternatives.
In a follow-up article two days after the collision, writers Larry Celona and Laura Italiano also incorrectly said that bicycle bloggers were “trashing” the cyclist by calling him a “Fred,” a term which only neophytes to the cycling world would identify as purely negative but really equates to “beginner who doesn’t ride much,”–and purposefully did not report the unbiased, reports from sites like Cyclists International.