Bicyclist Run Over in Greenpoint
The North Brooklyn bicycle lane wars took a tragic turn this weekend. Just hours before biking activists staged their mock wake for the painted-over lane in South Williamsburg on Sunday, a popular DJ was run over by a truck on what newspapers are describing as a crowded stretch of Nassau Avenue (though it doesn’t look…
The North Brooklyn bicycle lane wars took a tragic turn this weekend. Just hours before biking activists staged their mock wake for the painted-over lane in South Williamsburg on Sunday, a popular DJ was run over by a truck on what newspapers are describing as a crowded stretch of Nassau Avenue (though it doesn’t look that crowded in this older image from Google Maps) that lacked a protected lane for cyclists. According to newspaper reports, 33-year-old Solange Raulston, who was known as DJ Reverend Soul, was riding west on Nassau Avenue near McGuinness Boulevard at around noon on Sunday when she was struck by a truck; she was taken to Bellevue Hospital where she died. The Post reported that the driver was not charged in the incident.
Soulful DJ Solange Raulston Killed After Being Struck [NY Daily News]
DJ killed on bike in Brooklyn [NY Post]
Cyclist killed by trucker in Greenpoint! [Brooklyn Paper]
DJ Killed In Greenpoint After Struck On Bike [Gothamist]
No, I merely know what’s an excuse and what’s not. I drive, I cycle and I can see cyclists when I drive. If there’s a blind spot in my mirror *I* adjust my behaviour to compensate. It’s *my* responsibility when I drive
I am *not defending* bad cyclist actions, just suggesting that maybe death is not the appropriate punishment for a jaywalking-type offense.
Maybe if more car-drivers also cycle, we’d all do better.
Astral, if you go through the midtown tunnel it is very quick.
Did you live in the Astral Apartments by any chance?
Not really to the point, Bellevue seems like a long way to go in a critical emergency from this location. I’ve lived nearby, and I would estimate that I’d get to Bellevue in about half and hour if everything went my way. There are closer hospitals – even if you’re trying to avoid Woodhull.
Here’s some tips I found on Google written by a governemntal authority previously unaware of the debate on here and not fabricated for the purposes of argumentation.
“The facts about cyclist visibility
•Cyclists who wear dark tops and/or do not use lights when cycling at night can be difficult to see;
•Crashes between cars and bicycles, where visibility is a factor, are more likely to occur when light is poor; and
•Cyclists are most difficult to see when they are approaching a vehicle and the driver is viewing them from the front.
Three easy steps to being seen – day and night
1. Wear a bright top – day and night
It is more likely that you will be seen by motorists if you wear a brightly coloured top that makes you stand out from your background.
2. Use lights at night
Cyclists who do not have bicycle lights fitted to the front and to the rear of their bicycles are very difficult to see when cycling at night.”
For the same reason children are taught not to run out into the middle of the street between parked cars, bicyclists need to understand that they can be hard to see and that they cannot operate in a way which makes their safety dependent upon a driver making a perfect decision.
When the result of a mistake can be death, the issues of whether or not you are right or wrong should take a distant 2nd place to safety.
cmu, you’re an extremist idiot.
Carry on.
it’s everyone’s responsibility. seriously, we all have to stop pointing the finger at everyone else. that kind of mentality is what causes people to be careless / reckless.
Anyone who bicycles in heavy Brooklyn traffic, even on a street with pictures of bicycles painted on it, is insanely risk-tolerant. Half the drivers on the road are aggressive cretins, and that’s not going to change anytime soon; the little pictures of bicycles on the street, curiously, do not impart magical protection from assholes driving trucks or SUVS or other megaton weapons. Every time I see a cyclist in heavy traffic, I wonder how he or she makes it home alive. I love cycling, but I won’t ride anywhere but the park or protected lane in NYC, I’d be terrified.
Jesus, bsd, there are just as many “entitled pricks” in cars, as on cycles.
And it’s “brakes”, not “breaks”, maybe that’s why you can’t stop your cars in time.