By Kevin Flynn

Newsday, April 13, 1987

The city has dropped its plan to ban the use of bicycles on three Manhattan avenues because midtown accidents between bicyclists and pedestrians are declining, Transportation Commissioner Ross Sandler announced yesterday.

But citywide, police statistics show, the problem of bicycle accidents has far from disappeared. The number of deaths of pedestrians hit by bicycles increased last year as did accidents between bicyclists and motor vehicles.

The city had been set last August to impose a 90-day ban on bicycling along Fifth, Park and Madison Avenues, between 31st and 59th Streets, during midday hours in an effort to curtail accidents caused by speeding bicycle messengers. The courts, however, blocked the city, ruling it must go through the formal, more lengthy process of amending traffic regulations.

The matter had been in limbo until yesterday when Sandler announced the proposed ban would be discarded until police find there has been a significant rise in accidents. He credited the drop in bicycle-pedestrian accidents to increased enforcement by police, who issued nearly 7,000 more summonses for violations last year than in1986.

Citywide, the number of bicycle-pedestrian accidents dropped from 640 in 1986 to 510 last year. In midtown, there were 30 such accidents during the first three months of this year, down from the 44 accidents during the same period last year. But citywide, accidents between bicycles and motor vehiclesincreased from 2,900 in 1986 to 4,200 last year. And 14 pedestrians died after being hit by bicycles last year, compared to only 9 in 1986.

[CORRECTION-An article in the April 13 issue of New York Newsday contained incorrect statistics for the number of fatal accidents in NewYork City involving bicycles and pedestrians. According to police statistics, an average of two pedestrians died from such accidents each year. (4/21/88 p 2 C)]

Sandler, a bicyclist himself, said the city would push forward with other efforts to curtail accidents, including proposed legislation to regulate messenger companies and their bicyclists through licensing.