Comments on: Two Cyclists Killed in Brooklyn This Morning

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 22:42:00 +0000

Rest in peace, honey. You are loved and missed by many.

By: ericaStar*

ericaStar* — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 06:07:28 +0000

WTF... so many people get killed by trucks!!! I'm so sorry Craig, you didn't deserve to go this way.
NOT like this!
You are missed so much..
I always missed you

By: Ed Ravin

Ed Ravin — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 19:07:11 +0000

1. I'm amazed the cops have charged someone for vehicular manslaughter in a cyclist death. The only other time in recent memory that they've done something even remotely like this (charge a sober motorist with wrongdoing for hitting a cyclist) was that for firefighter knocked down by a bus during the transit strike.

2. In all too many cases of cyclists being killed by motorists, the killer driver is also the only witness. Is it any surprise that they so often report that the cyclist was in the wrong?

By: Brooklynbikeranddriver

Brooklynbikeranddriver — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:41:28 +0000

Cyclists (especially fixed gear ones in the city) please be safe and wear helmets. Blame is constantly thrown onto drivers because they typically do not get hurt when these accidents occur, whether or not they are at fault. I think all parties need to be more aware. Drivers, Cyclists, and Pedestrians.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:42:53 +0000

yo craig,
i know you are rocking the TMNT (illest hat of all time)
and smashing thru M dumplings where ever you are homey.

miss you dog.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:57:33 +0000

Craig, you'll be missed. You were one of the kindest, most giving, big-hearted people I've ever met.

By: luvpuppet

luvpuppet — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:08:08 +0000

This is sad...cyclists be careful!

By: mork

mork — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:10:04 +0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/nyregion/19mbrfs-CYCLIST.html

October 19, 2007
Brooklyn: Driver Charged in Fatal Accident

A Brooklyn man was arrested yesterday after an accident that killed a
bicyclist near the intersection of Fulton Street and Utica Avenue, the
police said. The man, Alfred Taylor, 41, of Flushing Avenue, struck the
bicyclist about 6:21 a.m., the police said. Mr. Taylor was charged with
criminally negligent homicide after it was determined that he had been
speeding, the police said. The police did not name the bicyclist.

If he didn't leave the scene and wasn't drunk, it's pretty significant that negligent homicide charges were levied for "only" speeding.

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:01:06 +0000

What I want to know is how the driver allegedly saw him and still hit him?
Are there witnesses?

By: cristina

cristina — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:41:37 +0000

RIP craig.

By: Dane

Dane — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:55:14 +0000

Police reports on bike and ped fatalities simply can't be trusted. It's almost always presented as the cyclist or walker's fault. The cops empathize with the motorists and approach the scene as "an accident" pretty much no matter what happened.

By: Gwin

Gwin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:40:11 +0000

Well, riding the wrong way down the street AND trying to "beat" a truck = a recipe for disaster. It's just a pointless, tragic loss that could've been avoided.

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:06:49 +0000

Thanks, rlb, I missed the "wrong direction" part. It's more understandable that the driver wasn't charged, then, although it's still not something that people should die for.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:03:44 +0000

There was another pedestrian (bike or leg, I don't know which) struck on 121st Street & Atlantic Ave in Queens last night; he or she suffered a traumatic arrest, which is when your heart stops beating because it's been injured. I heard it come over the EMS radio, but didn't see anything in the newspapers. Jamaica Hospital might know more; I think they took the patient there.

By: rlb

rlb — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:55:20 +0000

"cycling in the wrong direction"
Do you think this means on one-way Ten Eyck or on the wrong side of the street on Union?

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 20:28:06 +0000

He was allegedly trying to beat the oil truck, turning from southbound Union Avenue to Ten Eyck Street, when he was struck.

If he was "trying to beat" the truck, it probably means that he was in the street to the left of the truck, and thus had the right of way. Unless he came up from behind the truck with no warning, the driver should be cited for failure to yield.

If he was riding in the crosswalk, that's exactly the kind of crash that vehicular cycling advocates say is caused by separated bike paths.