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]
It is very sad when I read these stories about someone being killed or injured. The articles on this recent one don’t really explain how this tragic accident happen so I can’t put blame on anyone.
But – I do walk around town quite a bit and I cringe at the antics and chances I see many many cyclists make. The darting across intersections against lights, not stopping,
earphones, riding too fast for the situation, talking on cellphones, etc,etc,etc. Besides no helmets, lights, reflective gear. Too many of them are daredevils tempting fate.
NOBODY SAID IT’S FAIR but cyclists MUST get deference from drivers.
Posted by: ftgreenepark at December 15, 2009 10:20 AM
How about cyclist MUST behave more responsibly and take the onus responsibity fo their own safety?
If I am going through an intersection on a green light, and a biker runs a red – WTF do you expect me to do expect to hit the breaks and hope for the best?
“NOBODY SAID IT’S FAIR but cyclists MUST get deference from drivers” – Why? Driver, cyclists and pedestrians should follow the rules of the road. Very simple. Stand on the sidewalk when it says don’t walk. Go only on the green. Don’t turn left from the right lane.
Don’t know what the stats are in Toyko, but people there actually wait for the light to change before crossing the street. How odd.
FIRST: bike lanes make a HUGE difference.
SECOND:
“I can’t say how many times I’ve had to sWerve out of a way of a biker turning on a red light, running through a red light, or just driving in-between cars in heavy traffic. ”
I love this defense – as if car drivers follow all traffic rules themselves.
NOBODY SAID IT’S FAIR but cyclists MUST get deference from drivers. The onus is on the driver to watch out for people who can easily be injured but not easily injure…regardless of whether or not they are reckless.
I cringe in fear thinking of the people I know and care about who ride their bikes to work. NOT a good feeling.
“I wonder how many cyclists who have never driven cars realize how invisible they often are. If you’re not wearing reflective clothing or using lights at night you are basically playing russian roulette.”
Exactly – Most accidents involving bikes and cars isn’t because bikes are driving recklessly and breaking traffic rules – it’s because cars are not aware of them on the road. Bike lanes are meant to make drivers more aware of bikes on the road, not provide an inpeneterable forcefield to keep cars from hitting them.
DH – it’s not a defense, but an accusation.
And as implied by dittoburg, cars have nearly perfected the goal of protecting their drivers/passengers. Bikers (just like jay-walking pedestrians) have no such protection, and so they must be more careful.
I wonder how many cyclists who have never driven cars realize how invisible they often are. If you’re not wearing reflective clothing or using lights at night you are basically playing russian roulette.
I realize this accident occured during the day. While cyclists, and motorcyclists, can still be suprisingly hard to see in the wrong curcumstances, we don’t know who was at fault here. If the truck went wide to turn but did not indicate, its the trucker’s fault. However, many a car has been caught trying to cut in on the right because the truck went wide and indicated, but the car didn’t recognize that the truck was turning. When it happens to a car its an inconvenience, when it happens to a cyclist its a tragedy.
This is an INCREDIBLY busy intersection with a history of fatalities. The obligation to obey traffic rules and apply common sense seems to disappear from drivers, pedestrians and cyclists alike when they hit this crossroad.