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MTA Bus Driver Fatally Hits Cyclist On The Upper East Side
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Jun 16, 2020
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By
Sydney Pereira
Published Jun 16, 2020
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An MTA bus driver fatally struck a woman cycling down Fifth Avenue Tuesday morning just before 9 a.m., according to an NYPD spokesperson.
According to a preliminary investigation, the 19-year-old woman was biking southbound on Fifth Avenue when the bus driver hit her.
She died at the intersection where she was hit, Fifth Avenue and East 59th Street, the police spokesperson said.
EMS transported one other patient to the hospital after emergency responders were called at 8:52 a.m., the FDNY confirmed, but the NYPD did not immediately have information regarding a second injury.
The bus driver, a 50-year-old operating a BxM10 southbound on Fifth Avenue, remained at the crash. The NYPD says the investigation by the Highway Patrol Collision Investigation Squad is ongoing.
Her name has not been released, pending family notification.
Video from the Citizen App shows NYPD presence and caution tape posted in the area. Another video from the app shows a toppled bike with a white sheet on the ground nearby a few officers standing nearby.
The woman is the seventh cyclist to die on New York City streets this year. Among the others include two cyclists who were struck and killed in Mott Haven in separate crashes and an East Village cyclist who died after an SUV driver hit her while backing into a parking space in May.
The number of cyclist deaths is higher than the de Blasio administration's purported goal of zero traffic deaths under the Vision Zero plan. As the city faces the COVID-19 pandemic and financial crises, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed $6 billion in cuts to the city budget—including some Vision Zero programs.
In 2020, fewer cyclists have died compared to this time last year, perhaps due to plummeting traffic and stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus. Through June 15th in 2019, 12 cyclists had died, according to the year-to-date statistics from the Department of Transportation. Overall, 29 cyclists died in 2019.
Through June 15th, 2020, 33 pedestrians, 13 motorcyclists, and 29 motor vehicle occupants have died. Over the same time period in 2019, there were 48 pedestrian, 8 motorcyclist, and 22 motor vehicle occupant deaths.
"While this year's cyclist death toll through today's date is lower than that of 2019, a year in which 29 cyclists were killed on New York City streets, we are on track to see 15 cyclist fatalities in 2020 if the current rate of deaths were to continue," Transportation Alternatives executive director Danny Harris said in a statement.
"There is ample reason to be concerned. We're in the midst of a bike boom, with thousands of would-be transit commuters switching to cycling," Harris said, referencing an uptick in cyclists during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Now more than ever, we need our mayor to rebalance his city’s streets and put safety before parking and moving car traffic. As New York comes back from the pandemic, we must leave behind the days when safe cycling infrastructure was rolled out in fits and starts and subject to a slow political process."
MTA spokesperson Shams Tarek said in a statement: "This is a tragic incident—our hearts go out to the family of the bicyclist and we're cooperating fully with the NYPD which is leading an investigation."
This article has been updated with additional information from the NYPD, Transportation Alternatives, and the MTA.
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manhattan
Cyclist fatalities
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upper east side
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