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Reckless Cycling Leads NYPD, Lawmakers To Announce A Bike Safety Blitz

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman is still recovering in the hospital after being struck by a bicyclist last week. Police are still looking for the man on the bike who didn't stop.

But many say this isn't just an isolated incident, CBS2's Alice Gainer reported.

CBS2 saw bicyclist after bicyclist running red lights, even riding the wrong way against traffic, on Monday.

"It would be nice if they stopped or went in the right direction or actually used the bike lane," Upper East Side resident Judy Stone said.

Many people along First Avenue say it's a problem.

"Yeah, honestly, the food delivery people are generally the worst," Manhattan resident Julie Inglis said.

But some of the bicyclists who do obey the rules say pedestrians are also part of the problem.

"Sometimes we have the green light and we're going across and they don't respect … they're just going across," one cyclist said.

Because of all the reckless cycling going on, police and local lawmakers are hitting the streets announcing a bike safety blitz.

"Handing out educational materials, engaging in traffic calming, asking people to slow down and obey stoplights and doing general education," City Councilman Ben Kallos said.

The councilman and police will be out this week at 86th Street and First Avenue, the site of a bicycle-pedestrian collision last week that sent a woman to the hospital.

A dash cam video shows a cyclist speeding off after running into 67-year-old Mary Grace Belfi and knocking her to the ground. She had just stepped out of a car to pay the parking meter on the other side of a bike lane.

Her daughter said she was in the car and saw it all happen.

"The bicyclist clipped her, kept going and she was unconscious on the ground in just the blink of an eye," Lily Belfi said.

Mary Grace Belfi was diagnosed with brain bleeding, a broken nose and a broken collar bone and as of Monday was still in the hospital.

"If you ever collide with anybody, stop, get off your bike, get out of your vehicle and see if they're OK." Kallos said.

That goes for operating a car or bike, because the same laws apply, Gainer reported.

Councilman Kallos said they'll also be passing out vests, helmets and lights to cyclists over the summer.

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