The day after a 23-year old cyclist was run over by a truck in the Village, Diana Kuan in Metroblog wonders why New York police continue to go after cyclists. Focusing on the continued police effort against the monthly Critical Mass bike ride, she writes "With gas prices skyrocketing, and the United States going to war because of our foreign oil addiction, there is no worse time to squelch a movement that promotes energy-efficient transportation.'

And cyclists may be more likely to be victims of law breaking by others than law breakers themselves. The Village cyclist, Derek Lake, "apparently fell from his bicycle... as he was attempting to ride over or around a metal street plate that protruded from" a construction site," the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives said. The group charged the plate was in violation of Department of Transportation rules and called upon the city "to ensure that all street construction is performed in a lawful manner."

Another bicyclist, 57-year-old Henry Nacht, died Sunday of injuries he suffered when a tow truck struck him as he bicycled on the West Side bike path Thursday. (Nacht was not wearing a helmet.) His wife, Mary Beth Kelly, told the New York Times that the tow truck unexpectedly turned into the bike lane and did not slow down. ""We thought because we were on a bike path, we were safe," she said.

But, Gothamist notes, "The unfortunate thing, as many recent biking accidents have shown us, there is no such thing as safe. Let's hope the city will embark on campaigns to improve driver education about bikers' rights in the city - as well as reminding bikers of tactics they need to take."