If you ride your bike on the streets of Manhattan, you already realize the dangers you face while riding. But there definitely are some intersections that are more dangerous than others.
Most notably, the location where a cyclist died after being struck by a semitruck driver is the most dangerous intersection for cyclists in New York City, a report cites.
There have been 21 cyclists injured in auto accidents in Chelsea at the intersection of West 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue. The injuries occurred over five years.
Earlier this summer, a 20-year-old bike messenger was cycling north on West 23rd Street when she was struck and killed when the driver of the semitruck made a turn.
The researcher and urban planner who collected the data observed that “Twenty-third street is wider than streets parallel to it, and it’s the main east-west route for delivery vehicles . . . this multiplies the risks.”
New York City residents are used to seeing bike messengers darting between cars stuck in traffic as they make their ways across clogged city streets with their deliveries. There are a lot of close calls and near misses, and Mayor de Blasio has promised residents to institute a bike-safety initiative. The planned redesign of 50 intersections with higher than average tallies for cyclist injuries and deaths should be implemented by the end of the year.
Manhattan is not the only borough in the city with high injury and death statistics for cyclists. One part-time bike messenger stated that “Brooklyn is where it’s actually dangerous. Drivers there never follow the speed limit, and neither do the bikers.”
The bike messenger was commenting after his friend, 28, was struck and killed in Williamsburg by a cement truck as she rode her bike.
The number two location for dangerous wrecks was a tie — Crown Heights Atlantic and Bedford Avenues intersection and the location where Tillary and Jay Streets cross.
If you are a Big Apple cyclist who was injured in a crash with a motorist, you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries and other damages.
