Cars Suck!

Andre Anderson, 14, will not be riding his bike any more...

... but his killer, Jose Vicens, will keep driving his Lincoln Navigator.

Andre Anderson, 14, was struck from behind and killed while riding his bike on a neighborhood street near his home in Far Rockaway, Queens, a little after six o'clock on a Saturday evening last September. The man who killed him, Jose Vicens, 23, of Rockaway Beach, has told us quite a lot about himself on the Web. Andre's death falls into recognizable patterns, in accordance with our year 2000 analysis of cyclist deaths in New York.

Right Of Way, with the participation of Andre's family, painted memorial stencils for him and other traffic victims in Brooklyn and Queens last December 18: Pictures, and a report on the event.

Queens district attorney Richard Brown has characteristically shown no interest in Andre's death.

This is the Right Of Way home page. Right Of Way is a group of activists dedicated to asserting the rights of car-free street users -- including pedestrians, cyclists, and skaters -- and fighting back against car domination. Our home base is New York City, but we hope to report on, and help stimulate, action and awareness in other locales as well.

A fuller account of our outlook and intentions is in our manifesto.

We are actively seeking new people to help with our ongoing and future projects; see here.

Our activities to date include:

stenciling street memorials to dead pedestrians and cyclists (since late 1996, we have marked some 250 sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens);
systematically analyzing NYC traffic fatalities to determine who's getting killed, and how, and why;
outreach actions ranging from op-ed pieces to demonstrations; and of course
this website.

The website will contain essays, research, rabble-rousing, and reflections on car culture and the car economy, and on ways to cure these pathological conditions.

Wondering about, or annoyed by, the phrase "cars suck"? Here are some thoughts on the subject.

Inquiries or comments, either about the site or about the project overall, can be directed to either Charles Komanoff or Michael Smith.