Statement from Transportation Alternatives after Pickup Truck Driver Hits and Kills Bike Rider During Police Chase

This is the third person killed in a police chase this year. Police chases have repeatedly proven to be deadly, and are banned by the NYPD.

This woman is the 207th person killed in traffic in 2024, and the 61st person killed in Queens. 

QUEENS, NY — Yesterday, three men in a pickup truck fleeing the police hit and killed 36-year-old Amanda Servedio while she was riding a bike at the corner of 37th Street and 34th Avenue Astoria. The men in the pickup truck allegedly burgled a home several blocks away, and were then chased by the police up to and after the crash. 

Police chases are dangerous and against NYPD policy, but happen regularly. The number of police chases doubled from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. Three people have been killed in police chases this year, and many more have been injured. In July, a bike rider was critically injured by a NYPD vehicle just blocks away from this fatal crash.  

Statement from Elizabeth Adams, Interim Co-Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives:

“We send our love and condolences to everyone who knew and cared about Amanda. She deserved better, and we are heartbroken over another devastating and preventable loss.”

"Driving any vehicle at high speed puts everyone on the street at risk, and police chases are no exception. Despite a ban, the police regularly put New Yorkers at risk with these deadly, unnecessary chases. This is the third New Yorker killed by a police chase this year alone. It’s time for the City to ban police chases in writing and in practice – maintaining the status quo will kill more of our neighbors. We need top leadership at the NYPD to commit to ending police chases now.”