5th Ave. bike horror
19-year-old mowed down by commuter bus
A teenage bicyclist trying to merge into morning rush-hour traffic near Central Park died beneath the wheels of an MTA bus Tuesday before horrified onlookers, according to officials and an eyewitness.
The gruesome fatality occurred shortly before around 9 a.m. as the woman, riding without a helmet, pedaled downtown in the bus lane before clipping the right rear end of a BxM10 bus at Fifth Ave. and E. 59th St., police sources said. The 19-year-old victim, whose identity was withheld pending notification of her family, died at the scene from massive head trauma, police said.
“I don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight,” said shaken eyewitness Reda Ismaeil, 46, a hot dog and pretzel vendor at the corner of Fifth Ave. and E. 60th St. “I’ve never see anything like this in my life. I looked up and I heard the crash and I ran over. The bus kept going because [the driver] didn’t know what happened.”
The death marks the seventh person to be killed on a bicycle in the city this year, a slight dip from the 12 deaths recorded by this point in 2019. Still, advocates worry this year is shaping up to be just as tragic as last year for cyclists, when 29 people died by the end of the year on bikes, the highest number since at least 1999.
The woman apparently veered into the path of the bus as it approached from behind, with the collision occurring as the vehicle drove past the bicyclist, according to officials. The victim then tumbled to her death beneath the wheels of the commuter bus taking riders from the Bronx to Midtown.
The driver continued on for a half-block before stopping and remained at the scene. No charges were immediately filed, and officials said the investigation was ongoing.
Ismaeil said it appeared the bicyclist was attempting to merge into traffic from E. 60th St.
“The bike got stuck under the wheels of the bus,” he recounted. “I think she was trying to cross the street, but the [traffic] light was on for the bus. She touched the wheel of the bus.”
Advocates for bicyclists and pedestrians say the city needs to do more to protect people from vehicles.
“Now more than ever, we need our mayor to rebalance his city’s streets and put safety before parking and moving car traffic,” Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris said Tuesday. “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.”