BICYCLE
Any tips for New Yorkers who have just started bike commuting?
Pretend you’re invisible. Think of cars and buses as big, awkward animals that don’t mean any harm but have limited brainpower and eyesight. Watch out for car doors heedlessly opening – I don’t know if there are statistics on what causes accidents involving bicycles, but getting doored is the main thing I worry about. Be nice to pedestrians. They are not the enemy. If you startle one, make eye contact and apologize profusely. Take your time – it’s safer, and you won’t get all sweaty. Your ears are your radar dishes; they help you “see” what’s out of your field of vision. So: no iPods, please, and for God’s sake no cellphones.
— Hendrik Hertzberg, interviewed in Reclaim (the magazine published by Transportation Alternatives)
another eye opens 
March 16, 2011 at 9:12 pm
I don’t ride my bike nearly as much as I used to, but when I did use it for commuting to work in midtown, pedestrians were the biggest menace by far. It did seem that I was invisible.