Addie Smock, a librarian in Kingston, recently survived being hit by an SUV in Kingston. The crash happened this past March, when the offending vehicle took an illegal right-on-red turn at the corner of Cornell Street and Broadway, while Addie had the right-of-way in the bike lane.
Although the crash was not reported by local news outlets, I just happened to hear about it from John Grossbohlin of the Kingston Complete Streets Advisory Council, who came upon the scene in its aftermath. I was able to track down Addie and she agreed to share her story. Here is my interview with Addie, lightly edited for length and clarity. I thank you, Addie, for sharing your powerful story.
Ella: Unfortunately I heard that you were in a crash recently, can you tell me about what happened?
Addie: Thanks for saying crash, not an accident. I was heading to an exercise class downtown after work; I was riding in the bike lane on Broadway. I saw that on Cornell Street a car was pulling out to make an illegal right on red, and that the car [driver] was looking in the direction of oncoming traffic, and did not see me. So I was stopping as this happened, but unfortunately I was hit by the car. Thankfully I was not run over, my bicycle was not run over. We both came out physically unharmed. I was - my voice is kind of shaking right because it was very upsetting, to put it mildly. Feeling the feelings right now - so if I start crying, that’s why.
Ella: It’s okay. It’s a traumatizing event.
Addie: It really was, it really really was. I got up and I screamed at the driver. Later on my phone I got a loud noise alert, because it’s damaging to your hearing; I was screaming at him at 90 decibels, which is the volume of a lawnmower, because I was very upset. He was completely blasé about it, did not seem to be really affected. He did ask me if I was okay, and I was so upset, I said “How dare you ask me that, you could have killed me.”
It was at the shift change of the EMT house that’s right over there. One of the people who got out and was listed as a witness on the police report was an EMT who was just off work, and was super super helpful and kind to me. You know, took me by the arm, and I’m not a touchy person, and I thought at that moment, I normally don’t want this, but this is really nice right now. I was shaking and hyperventilating. It was right in front of Tubby’s where that bench is, so he sat me down and using his nice calm voice, “breathe in and out.” He was really nice, his name was Steve and I was like “ Steve, thank you so much, you’re really good at your job, I really appreciate you right now.”
Another pedestrian who actually turns out to be my neighbor, so I met my neighbor out of this, who saw the whole thing, stopped and called 911. The police came and my neighbor stayed with me and walked home with me. I had calmed down, and I was still really kind of shocked, and put my jacket back on and my hat.
The responding officer, after everything was said and done, leaned out of his patrol vehicle and told me, “Bike lanes don’t always work, be safe out there.” Which was incredibly re-traumatizing, because I did everything right. I always ride with a helmet. If I’m on my bike, my lights are on - day or night, it does not matter. I have a red light flasher on [the back of] my helmet, and a white light flasher on my front. At night, I always wear a reflective ankle strap. [Editor’s note: this crash happened in daylight.] My panniers are reflective, I have reflective tape on my bicycle and my helmet, my bike as you can see is bright pink.
And for the police officer to tell me this… the bike lane did not hit me. My safety equipment did not run me over. None of what I was doing caused the crash. And for him to say that in such a blase manner, and I know he meant well and it was a throwaway comment, but I immediately burst back into tears. Because none of it was my fault. I’m an aware, vigilant cyclist. I’ve been a cyclist for over a decade. I used to live in Brooklyn and cycle into Manhattan ten miles, and then I went to school in Queens, another ten miles. I have never been hit in New York City. Never doored, none of it. And for him to say that to me - I’m shaking right now - is so infuriating.
Ella: Yeah, it’s like victim blaming.
Addie: A hundred percent. And just thinking about it, I’m filled with rage right now. But like, impotent rage, because they tell you, “Oh, you know, be safe, blah blah blah.” I am the epitome of safe!
Ella: I think about when Christine Tarasco was killed [coming out of the YMCA parking lot] and the Y started giving out the reflective gear to people as a response to that. That was also infuriating to me [because more responsibly was being placed on pedestrians and cyclists than on drivers, street engineers and elected officials]…
Addie: I’m a Y member and I was not going to the Y that Monday evening when I was hit, but I’m there 3, 4 nights a week after work and I think about that every single time I ride by there.
The roads are for all of us, and they’re not designed that way. The people who are in charge of our safety have abdicated their responsibilities to the nth degree. If you want to talk about the Road Hero campaign, I can tell you my feelings about that too, because that is 100% victim blaming as well.
Ella: Yes but just going back quickly, you had the light right?
Addie: I had a green bike light. I have seen people make both illegal rights and illegal lefts on red there, and so I’m hyper vigilant. Because I’ve seen people do things that they’re not supposed to, which is dangerous for folks on the road. Like I said, I saw him not see me, I saw that it was coming…
Ella: You saw him not see you, wow that’s really powerful. And he got one ticket out of it, right?
Addie: Yeah, and I don’t know what it is. The responding officer - internalized bias out the wazoo. The police report does not have any mention of culpability. It says that I had the green light, but it does not say that the driver made an illegal right on red, it does not say any of that. It mentions the witnesses and gives their contact information; its does not mention that they corroborated everything about the culpability of the driver. It’s like this thing just happened, which is not how it happened.
Ella: “We don’t know why, we don’t know how.”
Addie: Exactly. I mean, the driver was at fault, and there’s not mention of that. Which is infuriating.
I was not comfortable reading the report until like a week after it happened. And when I saw that there was no culpability, it was like another slap in the face. It’s so demoralizing, because this is 100% a cut and dry issue, and the police report is murky, and it doesn’t say what happened.
Ella: Yeah number one, they were at fault, and number two, it’s kind of giving you the same responsibility as the driver which is… you’re more vulnerable on a bike than a driver.
Addie: And so the car that hit me was a small SUV, what does that weigh, 2000 pounds? [Editor’s note: According to an eyewitness, the vehicle was a Land Rover Discovery, which weighs about 5000 pounds.] My bicycle and I together weigh like 160 pounds. I’m not the one who’s out causing mayhem. I’m not the one who’s going to kill someone. The responsibility is on the person who’s driving, you know.
Ella: And they only got one ticket, so even if they get another ticket, they’re probably going to keep their license.
Addie: And that’s another thing that I’ve been thinking a lot about. So I’m a professional librarian. In New York State, and many other states, being a librarian is a licensed profession. I have to maintain my license by having continuing education, it amounts to about 5 hours every year. I have never once had any sort of continuing education for being a driver. We just let people go and then it’s assumed that they are fine and dandy, until they are older folks with cognitive impairments or visual or response type impairments. There’s nothing, there’s a huge span of a lifetime, from being a teenager, where your brain is not fully developed, and then you’re set loose on the world, in machines that are capable of absolute death and destruction.
And I’m saying this - I’m a driver. I also walk, I use all modes of transportation. Riding my bike is my preferred method but my family lives in the Midwest and South Carolina and we like to go camping and hiking, and the way you get there is in a car. So I’m not “anti-car,” at all. But I mean, I’m a librarian, I’m pro sharing! Really the roads are for all of us, not just cars, in spite of what you know, the transportation safety board, AAA, and many places would have you believe. They’re not just for cars.
So much of our road design in Kingston puts the onus on anyone who’s not a car. Why do I have to press a button to walk across Broadway? Why do I have to wait and hope someone sees the flashing lights and stops and gives me that little piece of mind. Am I not a valuable member of society? Does my life have less value than someone who’s encased in steel and glass? What is that?
I do appreciate the long and heavy lifting that people have done for the bike lane on Broadway, but also it is a poor design. There’s enough room to have in direction bike lanes on either side. What caused that person to not see me is that they were looking in the opposite direction. They are not thinking of vehicles, or me, on my bike, coming from that direction. That kind of two way on one side seems more fitting for a one way street.
Ella: Going back, do you want to talk about the Road Hero Campaign?
Addie: Oh yeah! Well, talk about victim blaming, the Be A Road Hero campaign is trash. You can 100% quote me on that. It is victim blaming… the signs that are directed at cars are too small to be read at legal traveling speeds… A superhero is inherently anti-democratic. We live in a society where we share responsibilities and burdens through the form of elected government. Saying “we need heros to be in charge of this” is a complete abdication of responsibility. My life, my safety, the tools of justice, should not be given to rando individuals.
Truly, it’s mind-boggling that we know how to make roads safe. And being dependent on superheroes does not do that.
I’m not a road engineer, but I know about extending the curb, how to slow people down on the turns. …
Ella: I’m not an engineer and never want to be, but I feel like I know so much about engineering just since I’ve become involved in advocacy..
Addie: And we have so many places to look to that have done this work already. Giant cities, but also small cities. The tools to make roads safe for everyone are out there. We don’t have to invent anything.
Ella: Another analogy with libraries and safe roads, is people say we can’t afford them, it’s too much money. But at the same time, is it just that we don’t have the right priorities in place?
Addie: It’s one hundred percent priorities. Speaking to that, voters like spending money on sharing and safety. Kingston voters passed a 14 million dollar bond to renovate this building. If people are told about it and are aware of it, people want good things for society. People don’t want to be dependent on superheroes. People want to be able to go about their lives without being afraid to cross the street.
[We went on to roast the new roundabout for being unsafe for those with mobility issues and baby carriages.]
Ella: Anything else you would like to see change in Kingston?
Addie: I don’t know how to make people who are not thinking about pedestrians and cyclists start to think about them. I wish that the people who design and enforce the roads were out on bikes and walking and pictured it from everyone else’s perspective.
One last thing. It’s really a bummer that this happened, and I’m truly very lucky that me and my bicycle are fine. I really hope that this does not deter people from cycling. Cycling is the best thing I’ve even done… It’s liberating, it’s healthy. Seeing the world that way, you’re able to knit neighborhoods and places together in this mental map that I never did before… If people are afraid to bicycle, I’m actually trained as a bicycle mentor. They can always reach out to me. My email is reference -at kingstonlibrary dot- org and I would be more than happy to be a one on one bike mentor for anyone.
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Wow, this is another demonstration of how messed up our transit system is. Sorry that happened to you, Addie! Thanks for covering it, Ella!
Raising awareness one article at a time