Transportation Alternatives Statement After Driver of Large Vehicle Kills E-Bike Rider in Hit-and-Run

Crashes have killed 21 people riding bikes so far this year. New York City is on track to have the second deadliest year for bike riders in 40 years of recorded history.

140 people have been killed in crashes this year — 28% more than 2018, the safest year under Vision Zero.

BRONX, NY — Early Wednesday morning, the driver of an SUV or small truck struck and killed a person riding an e-bike in Hunts Point near Tiffany and Barry Streets. Neither street has protected bike lanes.

In Council District 17, where this crash took place, just 1.64% of streets have protected bike lanes — well below the city average of 4.23%.

The district has the third-most traffic fatalities and eighth-most traffic injuries out of 51 council districts, according to Spatial Equity NYC.

The size and weight of a vehicle is the main factor determining whether a person survives a crash, and, between 2016 and 2019, SUV-related injuries in New York City rose 91% and fatalities increased 75%. This year, 93% of bike rider deaths in crashes with vehicles have involved an SUV or larger vehicle — only one involved a sedan.

There have been more bike riders killed by today’s date than any other year under Vision Zero.

Statement from Jada Yeboah, Bronx/Uptown Organizer at Transportation Alternatives:

“We send our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the person killed while biking this morning. For so long our communities of color have been ignored and left to fend for themselves. Nobody should fear death or injury on our streets, and the City of New York failed yet another member of our community today.”

“Inaction is killing New Yorkers of color. Mayor Adams cannot ignore death after death on our streets without this clear indictment: inaction is violence. The administration cannot fall further behind on the NYC Streets Plan’s legal requirements to build protected places for people to bike in every neighborhood of our city. Only five miles of protected bike lanes have been built in the Bronx out of 50 required miles this year citywide. We demand action now.”