Wednesday, August 3, 2011
News Bushwick Cyclist Killed While Passing Slow-Moving Truck
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 1:50 PM
On Monday morning a 29-year-old cyclist riding along Metropolitan Avenue in Bushwick went to pass a slow-moving delivery truck at the intersection of Gardner Avenue, only to be clipped by the the vehicle's front bumper and run over by it as the driver made a right turn. The cyclist—whose helmet wasn't sufficient to keep his head from being crushed—was pronounced dead at the scene, and police have prematurely assigned blame to the deceased and as yet unnamed cyclist.
The truck driver didn't even notice the collision, and stayed at the scene after being flagged down by another delivery truck driver who saw the accident. That witness told the Daily News: "I stopped the guy... I said, 'You hit the guy.' He said, 'What guy?' He looked in the mirror and said, 'Oh my God.'" The driver was eventually taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center to be treated for elevated blood pressure and a panic attack. He won't be charged.
Meanwhile, an NYPD source tells the Daily News:
The bicyclist was at fault... He should have seen the driver was about to turn. The bicyclist tried to rush by and you can't do that. The driver had to be going about 5 m.p.h.
At no point is it mentioned how exactly the cyclist should have known that the driver was turning—was he indicating a turn? Shouldn't the driver have checked his blind spot before turning? Is he not expected to see other vehicles in the road as well? Shouldn't professional drivers be held to especially high standards of road safety? NYPD reviewed footage from a nearby business's security camera and determined that the cyclist was at fault, though these crucial questions remain unanswered.
Along with Marilyn Dershowitz and Ray Deter, this marks the third cyclist death of the summer.
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