Cyclist killed after being struck by tractor-trailer in Brooklyn
EAST NEW YORK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A cyclist has died after being struck by a tractor-trailer in Brooklyn.
Police say the victim was riding his bicycle along Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York Tuesday afternoon when he was struck by a tractor-trailer that was turning onto Linden Boulevard.
The 43-year-old cyclist was later identified as Jarrod Little.
The 52-year-old driver of the tractor-trailer remained at the scene.
Police are still investigating what led up to the fatal crash, but Transportation Alternatives blamed it, in part, on inequitable street design.
The organization said that in the past five years, 128 people have been injured at the same intersection, and a pedestrian was killed at the location in March 2022.
They say both streets are known to be among the city's most dangerous, labeled by the city as Vision Zero Priority Corridors.
Additionally, they say that no other council district had more fatalities in the past two years than the 17 in District 42, where more than three-quarters of residents are Black, 97% are non-white, and more than 25% live below the poverty line.
Despite this, they say the city has not made the 11-lane, 150-foot-wide Linden Boulevard or the 7-lane, 78-foot-wide Pennsylvania Boulevard safer.
There are no leading pedestrian intervals, no turn-calming measures installed, and no bike lanes.
"All New Yorkers should be able to ride a bike without fear of death or serious injury on our streets," Executive Director Danny Harris said. "Yet as long as our streets are designed like highways, prioritizing the movement and storage of private vehicles above all else, people will continue to die. The solutions to the crisis of traffic violence are simple. Prioritize people over cars. Our city's leaders must demonstrate the political will to repurpose space from cars and trucks and build physical infrastructure that protects all street users, and gives every New Yorker safe, equitable and sustainable options to travel around the five boroughs. "
The Department of Transportation released the following statement:
"Every loss of life on our streets is a preventable tragedy. This administration has invested a historic $900 million toward redesigning our streets to support safe transit and bike infrastructure and additional pedestrian space-all with an explicit equity focus to ensure we are delivering this life-saving work to all corners of the city."
The DOT says despite an uptick in traffic deaths this year due to reckless driving, it has been one of the safest years on record for pedestrians and cyclists.
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