An 18-year-old man was struck and killed by a truck driver Monday morning while biking in a protected bike lane in Sunnyside, according to the NYPD. Photo via Google Maps

7 August 2024 By Bill Parry

According to the New York Police Department, an 18-year-old man was struck and killed by a truck driver while riding his bicycle on a protected bike lane in Sunnyside on Monday morning.

The cyclist was riding eastbound in the protected bike lane on 43rd Avenue at 7:36 a.m. when the 57-year-old driver of a white 2007 Freightliner box truck attempted to turn right from 43rd Avenue onto 34th Street and struck the cyclist with the right front cab of the truck as he made the turn, ejecting the victim into the roadway where he sustained a traumatic brain injury.

Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City responded to a 911 call about a car crash at that location and found the driver unconscious and unresponsive at the intersection.

Emergency services arrived at the scene and pronounced him dead at the scene. His identification is pending until the family has been properly notified.

The driver remained at the scene of the accident. No arrests have been made and the NYPD’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad is continuing its investigation.

The fatal collision occurred in a warehouse district adjacent to Sunnyside Yards, just five blocks from the intersection where cyclist Gelasio Reyes was struck and killed on April 2, 2017, as he rode home to Corona from his job as a delivery driver in Manhattan.

A second cyclist, David Nunez, was struck and seriously injured at the same intersection just two days later. This allowed the city’s Department of Transportation to install the protected bike lane on 43rd Avenue that the 18-year-old cyclist used Monday morning, as well as a second protected bike lane on Skillman Avenue.

Transportation Alternatives is calling on the city to reinforce protected bike lanes with concrete after a cyclist was struck and killed by a truck driver at a Sunnyside intersection Monday morning. Photo courtesy of Transportation Alternatives

Transportation Alternatives, an organization that advocated for the bike lanes, pointed out that while the cyclist was riding in the protected bike lane, the intersection was unprotected because the green paint ended at intersections without raised elements, leaving cyclists still exposed to turning vehicles.

“All New Yorkers have the right to get to their destination safely, and our city’s leaders have failed to protect this cyclist,” said Elizabeth Adams, co-executive director of Transportation Alternatives. “As cars and trucks get bigger, paint and plastic offer no protection. To slow drivers, increase visibility and keep people safe, this administration needs to physically protect pedestrians and cyclists with concrete.”

Monday’s victim was the 14th cyclist killed in a traffic accident in the city and the third to die in Queens so far this year, according to TransAlt.

In addition to the bike lane, the intersection at 43rd Avenue and 34th Street currently features a pedestrian island and daylighting, which improves visibility and reduces crossing times.

“This is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts are with the victim’s family and loved ones,” said a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport. “We are examining the details of the accident.”

He added that the NYC DOT recognizes that there is still more work to be done.

Council Member Julie Won pointed out that Monday’s fatal collision occurred less than three weeks after a truck driver struck and injured a bicyclist near the Sunnyside Library on Greenpoint Avenue near 43rd Street.

“As the number of large trucks and vehicles on our roads increases, protected bike lanes need to be more than green paint and flexi-posts,” Won said. “The Transport Ministry needs to create protected bus lanes with concrete barriers to keep people safe.”

She also called on the city to do more to combat the increasing traffic congestion in her district.

“We also need to ensure that the Ministry of Transport redesigns the route network for trucks to reroute trucks away from densely populated residential areas and heavily used community areas,” Won said.

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