During a period of just four short weeks, five people have been killed while riding their bicycles in New York. While tragic fatal bicycle accidents in New York City aren’t unheard of, it’s rare that so many happen in such a short amount of time.
The most recent bicycle accident in New York occurred less than two-weeks ago when a 47-year-old man was struck by a vehicle and killed while riding on Rochester Avenue. The driver-a 19-year-old woman-was not charged in the fatal crash.
Earlier in June, a cyclist was killed by a MTA bus while riding a Citi Bike-the first such fatality recorded in the bike sharing program’s existence.
Shortly thereafter, yet another cyclist-this time an 80-year-old enthusiast and safety advocate-was struck and killed by a bus in Chelsea.
Lastly, at the end of May, an elderly man was killed in a bicycle accident in New York after a passenger in an automobile opened their door without looking. The victim suffered in the hospital for 10 days before succumbing to his injuries.
While increased public awareness and re-engineering projects are a good way to shine light on the issue of bicycle/vehicle collisions, all the effort has done little to truly reduce the number of people killed and severely injured while riding on our city streets.
Many advocacy groups do not feel that the NYPD is sympathetic to the bicycle riding population and criticize the way bicycle-involved crash investigations are handled. Whether this is true or not, many times, it is the automobile’s operator that is responsible for the accident. In such cases, victims of bicycle accidents in New York City may be able to seek financial compensation for their injuries against for at-fault driver.
If you’ve been injured by a careless or distracted driver while riding through New York, contact an expert New York City bicycle accident lawyer as soon as possible.