Citi Bike rider, 37, killed after colliding with box truck in NYC: cops
A 37-year-old woman riding a Citi Bike e-bike was killed in a smash-up with a box truck in Brooklyn early Tuesday, authorities said.
The woman was pedaling east on Ninth Street near Second Avenue in Gowanus around 7:20 a.m. when she collided with a box truck heading in the same direction, cops said.
The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her name was not released, pending family notification.
The box truck driver, a 39-year-old man, stayed at the scene and no arrests have been made.
Advocacy group Transportation Alternatives said the crash occurred at a known trouble spot.
“At the location of this crash, the design of Ninth Street creates dangerous conditions for bike riders. Ninth Street goes from one car lane and one paint-only bike lane to a turn lane and a shared car/bike lane — prioritizing car volume over people,” the organization said in a statement. “This forces vehicles to merge into the bike lane, which leads to deadly outcomes as occurred today.”
Since 2017, two pedestrians and one motorist have also died within a half-mile of that location, according to the organization.
Seven bike riders have been injured on Ninth Street along the stretch between Smith and Third avenues over the past two years, the group said.
The crash marks the second time a bicyclist has been killed on the streets of the Big Apple so far this year.
Tamara Chuchi Kao, 62, who was also riding a Citi Bike, was the victim of the first deadly collision, cops said.
She was heading east on 24th Avenue near 29th Street in Astoria just after 5 p.m. Thursday when she was fatally struck by a cement truck, cops said.
The truck was stopped at a red light on 29th Street when Kao pedaled between it and cars that were parked on the south side of 24th Avenue, cops said.
When the light turned green, the truck driver turned right — striking Kao with the front of the vehicle, cops said.
Kao was knocked onto the roadway and suffered head trauma. She too was pronounced dead at the scene.
In 2022, 17 bicyclist fatalities were reported across the city, and in 2021 there were 19, statistics from the city Department of Transportation show.
A total of 26 cyclists died in the Big Apple in 2020, and 28 in 2019.
Less than 12 hours before the Gowanus crash, a 32-year-old man riding an e-bike suffered life-threatening injuries when he slammed into a minivan at Union Street and Hewes Street in Williamsburg around 7:45 p.m. Monday, cops said.
He was taken to the Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was listed in critical condition.
The minivan driver stayed at the scene.
“Traffic violence is a public health crisis that needs urgent action,” Transportation Alternatives executive director Danny Harris said in a statement. “We are heartbroken to hear about another person killed on a bike by a truck driver on our roads — the second in less than a week. We send our deepest condolences to her loved ones.”
“While more and more New Yorkers are riding bikes, the City of New York has a duty to keep bike riders safe,” Harris said. “These deaths are the tragic and predictable outcome of failing to protect people on bikes, including the City falling short on the legal requirements of the NYC Streets Plan.”
“Mayor [Eric] Adams and (Department of Transportation) Commissioner [Ydanis] Rodriguez must bring proven street safety redesigns to every neighborhood of New York City without delay. No one should fear death or injury on our roads.”
