The NYPD has started tracking bicycle accidents, the Daily News has learned.
The move took effect Thursday and is designed to help track the growing number of bike crashes, and tangles involving cyclists versus pedestrians.
About 500 pedestrians wind up hospitalized each year after accidents with cyclists, a recent study showed. At the same time, the city continues plans to install 1,800 bike lane miles by 2030.
“It’s not like shootings or robberies, but people are getting hurt,” a source said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly now views bike accidents like any other traffic collision or crime.
The top cop wants them documented and analyzed for trends, a source said.
Whereas the NYPD used to fill out a short information cards for bike-involved accidents, the new rules dictate that cops complete a full collision report.
“This reporting process will allow the department to track bicycle accidents like typical car accidents,’’ said Inspector Kim Royster, an NYPD spokeswoman.
City Councilman Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn) called it “a small step in the right direction.”
Last month, Levin proposed a bill that would force police to send collision investigators to all bicycle-versus-car accidents that result in serious physical injuries, not just those in which someone was killed or is considered “likely to die.”
“There have been several cases not properly investigated by police because the victim wasn’t likely to die,” Levin said, “including one in which a woman broke her back.”