A cyclist was killed on Wednesday after smashing into a pickup truck in Sunset Park, Brooklyn Wednesday morning.
Police say the cyclist, a 49-year-old man whose name hasn’t been released, was riding an e-bike south on 4th Avenue in Sunset Park when a Chevrolet pickup truck driver heading in the opposite direction turned left onto 53rd Street.
The cyclist crashed into the pickup truck at about 9:10 a.m. Police later discovered the man with traumatic injuries to his head and body. He was taken to NYU Langone Hospital but could not be saved.
The 40-year-old pickup truck driver remained on the scene.
Last year, a motorcyclist died and his passenger was injured after striking an SUV just one block away at 4th Avenue and 52nd Street.
The safe-streets advocates Transportation Alternatives has since last year called on the city to reinstate a protected bike lane that has been taken out of service by ongoing capital work on 4th Avenue. They also say the bike lane should extend down into Bay Ridge.
The group contends that the intersection where Wednesday’s crash occurred could be made safer by narrowing the overall road to discourage speeding and implementing “turn calming” infrastructure to slow down those making left turns. The protected bike lane also “vanishes” at the intersection, creating “dangerous conflict zones,” says TransAlt.
“Mayor Adams must immediately finish Fourth Avenue by completing long-promised safety upgrades that slow down drivers and increase visibility at intersections along the entire corridor,” said Elizabeth Adams, TransAlt’s deputy executive director for public affairs. “We can’t afford to wait. We need action now.”
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