Cyclist carnage surge 3rd killed in week; truck owner shrugs: Too many bikes!
A cyclist in Brooklyn became the 15th killed on city streets this year when she was run down by a cement truck — and the truck’s owner blamed the tragedy on “too many bikes on the road.”
Devra Freelander, 28, was riding north on Bushwick Ave. in East Williamsburg when the truck, eastbound on Boerum St., struck her at the streets’ intersection at about 12:18 p.m., police said.
Freelander had slowly rolled a few feet into the intersection when the fastmoving truck hit her, video from the scene shows. She was dragged underneath the truck. Medics declared her dead at the scene.
The truck’s 70-year-old driver, identified as Alan Vega, stayed at the scene and was not immediately charged. The crash is still under investigation, said police.
The truck belonged to a company called United Transit Mix, which is based a few blocks from the crash scene. “It’s unfortunate. It’s bad for everybody,” said Tony Mastronardi, Untied Transit Mix’s owner.
“Too many bikes, too many bikes on the road,” said Mastronardi.
Mastronardi said it was the company’s first fatal crash in 45 years. But locals said the company’s trucks regularly speed through the neighborhood.
“These trucks think it’s a f——-g race track. They speed here all the time,” said Matt La Rosa, 25, who works nearby. “I rode my bike right over where she was killed this morning. I’m selling my bike.”
“It’s awful just how quickly it can happen,” said Alice Finnerty, 27, who saw the accident. “She was mutilated. It’s a good wake up call. I was thinking about getting a bike.”
Freelander, originally from Ridgewood, N.J., was building a career as a sculptor. She graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio, and had a master’s degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her modern sculptures have been displayed at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens and in Times Square.
She lived about 3/4ths of a mile from the crash scene and was third cyclist killed in the city over the past week. This year’s citywide death toll of 15 cyclists already exceeds the 10 cyclists killed in all of 2018.
Mayor de Blasio five years ago started Vision Zero, a program aimed at eliminating all traffic deaths in the city by 2024. Transportation Alternatives, a cyclist and pedestrian advocacy group, says the jump in cyclist deaths this year shows the program is failing.
“Vision Zero is in a state of emergency and Mayor de Blasio is in denial about his signature program faltering under his neglect,” the group said in a statement. “Today we are in a crisis. It’s up to Mayor de Blasio and the City Council to act.”
“How much more proof do you need that Vision Zero is not enough?” tweeted City Council member Antonio Reynoso, whose district includes East Williamsburg.
De Blasio on Monday said he has asked police to launch “a major enforcement action that will encompass every precinct and crack down on dangerous driving behavior like parking in bike lanes.”
He also said the city Department of Transportation would develop “a new cyclist safety plan to make biking in our city safer.”
“We have to keep pushing the envelope and increasing our efforts until we achieve Vision Zero,” de Blasio said in a statement.
Vision Zero has lately been “more talk than action,” said Peter Flax, a former editor in chief of Bicycling magazine.
“How many more riders have to die before the city takes more substantive action?” Flax asked.
“We are behind on a time line to get more protective infrastructure,” he said. “We need more leadership. Cyclists are just trying to get around, get home, legally, and its unacceptable just how dangerous these streets are.”