Road warriors’ cries aside, Hub safer than ever

Bicyclist injuries down

You would never know it from listening to City Councilor Tito Jackson and the enraged cyclists he has been enlisting to blast his rival, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, but city streets — despite recent accidents — are safer than they have been in years.

New stats from the city show a plummeting rate of bike-involved accidents — down to 333 in 2016 from 491 in 2012, and so far this year, only 62, putting the city on track for a record low. Pedestrian accidents are down too — to 687 last year from 795 in 2012.

Citing the recent death of a cyclist on Commonwealth Avenue, Tito went political, claiming that Walsh is underfunding needed infrastructure to protect people on bikes and on foot.

“People are literally dying, getting hit and getting hurt in Boston. As mayor of Boston I will own that and come up with solutions, instead of stating what people should do,” Jackson told me on Boston Herald Radio, referring to the grief Walsh is getting for daring to suggest that bicyclists and pedestrians need to share responsibility for their own safety along with motorists.

In a bid for votes, the Roxbury councilor is catering to a rather small, but very loud, community of cyclists — only 2.4 percent of commuters ride a bike in Boston.

“There is $100 million in the parking meter fund ... that can be used for the issue that we are talking about right now. In my administration we will deploy those dollars,” Jackson said.

OK, but Walsh announced last week that he will add an additional $1 million to this year’s budget to help make roads safer for bicyclists under Boston’s Vision Zero plan, bringing the total to $4.1 million. Go Boston 2030, the city’s strategic transportation plan, calls for investing $709 million over five years for safer streets, more predictable transportation and improved transportation access, according to city officials.

Just by asking everyone to be more watchful, Walsh managed to make the biking community even more unhinged than usual.

“People need to be more careful,” the mayor said on Boston Herald Radio.

“Drivers, bicyclists and walkers. I am in the car a lot during the course of the day, and I see a lot of action out there and I see a lot of people walking across the street. And there was a story out there that people in Boston seem to dart across major streets and not go to the crosswalk. There are some problems there. In order to keep our fatalities down we all need to be more cognizant of our surroundings.”

So Marty offers common sense and money, and Tito plays politics.

“We have an opportunity to build infrastructure that is much safer for all,” Walsh said. “As mayor that is what I will do.”

Here’s what the cops have to say about it. Boston police spokesman Lt. Mike McCarthy: “Whether you are a motorist, a pedestrian or a cyclist, all who use the streets owe it to one another to be attentive, respectful and courteous. Roadways are shared spaces and preventing injuries is the obligation of everyone who uses them.”

That sounds like we all — drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians — have an obligation to follow the law and be cautious and polite out there. And it sounds more like it’s about civility, not city politics.