Brooklyn Parents Say Bicyclists Are Not Stopping For School Buses
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Parents in Brooklyn are fighting against bikers who they say don't stop for school buses and even crash into children.
Now, they're calling on law enforcement to act.
School bus driver Zalmen Isenberger's job is to keep the kids safe, but he said that's getting harder as more cyclists break the rules of the road.
"The kids come down from the bus, and the bikers almost kill the kids!" he told CBS2's Jessica Layton.
Surveillance video shows a child run off a bus and get run down by a person on a bike, who blew past the bus's flashing stop sign.
"Bikers need to abide the laws," said community activist Gary Schlesinger, who's been leading a social media campaign that highlights bikers behaving badly in Brooklyn. "Passing a stopped school bus that's a terrible thing, because it's almost impossible not to hit a child."
In May, another bicyclist sped through a bus's stop sign and hit a child; another raced through a red light and crashed into a woman pushing a baby stroller.
"People feel frustrated at so many accidents happening," Schlesinger said.
So frustrated, in fact, they've begun taking matters into their own hands. One bus nearly hit a bicyclist trying to block him from going past.
"That is absolutely dangerous," said Schlesinger.
Parents and drivers Layton spoke with said they're concerned that if the NYPD doesn't step up enforcement fast, a child might get seriously hurt.
Bicyclists who abide by the law say that reckless reputation isn't fair and car drivers are even more dangerous.
"People don't realize, they're not looking out for bikers," cyclist Mandel Levine said. "There needs to be more awareness about that."
Bottom line: If they're sharing the roads, it's a shared responsibility to respect the rules and protect kids in the community.
CBS2 reached out to the NYPD to ask how it plans to enforce the rules and if it plans to step up its presence there, but did not hear back.
