Crisis on NYC Streets: Traffic Violence Kills Six New Yorkers in Three Days
Transportation Alternatives Statement After Private Sanitation Truck Driver Kills Bike Rider in Hit-And-Run Crash in Sunset Park and Chevrolet Camaro Driver Kills Pedestrian on the Manhattan’s Lower East Side
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — An unnamed 35-year-old on a bicycle died Thursday morning after being struck by the driver of a private sanitation truck — the fourth dump or trash truck-related fatality in 2022 — on Ninth Avenue near 39th Street in Brooklyn. Raife Milligan, a 21-year-old NYU student, died Wednesday after being struck by the driver of a Chevrolet Camaro — a vehicle which can go 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds — while crossing Houston Street near First Avenue in Manhattan on foot.
Together, the pedestrian and the bike rider are the 74th and 75th people killed so far this year on New York City streets, and their deaths come only one day after Alissa Kolenovic, a 16-year-old walking to school in the Bronx, was killed by the driver of a delivery truck with 125 violations.
The bike rider in Sunset Park was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding on a street with an incomplete and unprotected painted bike lane. In the past 11 years, crashes on this stretch of 9th Avenue – which is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor – injured at least 93 people.
Milligan was hit while crossing the street at the notoriously dangerous intersection of East Houston Street and First Avenue, each a massive road with six travel lanes each. A delivery worker was killed in a hit-and-run just one block away last year. In the past five years, 64 people have been injured, including 10 people biking and 18 people walking, at the intersection.
Statement from Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris
“We send our deepest condolences to the families of Raife Milligan and the yet-unnamed bike rider killed in Sunset Park. We are devastated and furious to hear about more preventable deaths of the most vulnerable road users.”
“Paint is not protection. A person walking or biking stands no chance against a 4,000-pound sports car or a 12,000-pound truck. As more people die on our streets, we need our city and state officials to do everything in their power to protect our most vulnerable road users as they traverse the city.”
“At the city level, we need to fast track the implementation of the NYC Streets Plan and expand traffic calming infrastructure — such as protected bike lanes, protected intersections, and curb extensions with daylighting — proven to slow drivers, increase visibility, and make walking and biking safe. The Adams administration must also ensure no further delays to reforms of the notoriously dangerous waste-hauling industry, after a spike in deaths caused by drivers of garbage trucks in 2022.”
“Our streets are in a crisis that will only be stemmed by immediate government action. Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul must invest in and expand the Vision Zero tools that have proven effective. At the state level, we need the legislature to act this session so New York City’s speed safety camera and red-light camera programs are strengthened, and the entire Crash Victim Rights and Safety Act is voted into law.”
“No New Yorkers should have to fear crossing the street, walking to school, or biking to work. Our leaders must put people first, and scale proven solutions without delay.”
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