Why are so many cyclists dying on southern Brooklyn streets?
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A map of bike lanes around the borough shows that only a few roads in southern Brooklyn are bicycle friendly. Infrastructure, a prominent car culture and a politicized process of approving street safety equipment are all contributing to cyclist deaths in the area, according to bike advocates.
“There have been almost no changes in the past 10 years,” Brian Hedden of Bike South Brooklyn told Brooklyn This Week. “Where there have been changes, it really hasn’t connected one neighborhood to another, it might be a lane on a few blocks of one street. So as such, it doesn’t surprise me, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that half of the fatalities this year have been in southern Brooklyn.”