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Cyclist Killed on Greenpoint Ave., Driver Fled Scene

July 19, 2012 Staff Report

A cyclist was fatally struck on the corner of Greenpoint Ave. and 39th Place last night, according to police.

The police determined that a dark-colored car traveling eastbound on Greenpoint Ave. struck the cyclist at 9:50 pm Wednesday, killing the 37-year-old man on the scene. The cyclist–Roger Hernandez of 36-11 Greenpoint Avenue– was also traveling eastbound on Greenpoint Ave.

The driver of the auto fled the scene. The police are conducting an investigation.

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22 Comments

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The Seeker

Heheheheheheheheheheh. Driver was caught. Is there a hanging at dusk? heheheheheh

Reply
rikki

And the 3 color ski parka jackets, and our parents even made us put 2 strips of reflective tape on our jackets….

whats the matter with bike riders today??

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rikki

I live 1/2 a block away and let me tell you I am surprised more don’t get killed

The stupid bike riders NEVER have on any reflectors lights and always wear BLACK clothes….and on a black bike……

Stupid Stupid Stupid….dont you remember as a kid we had Bright red or orange and bikes were sold with reflective fenders or in the spokes ….and lights even a horn as standard equipment

Safety was very important but not today….

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Deb H.

Sad beyond words. I hope they catch the driver. I wonder if any stores have video surveillance to see if they can zoom in on the license plate. My prayers go out to his family as they have to live through this tragedy.

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Roger_the_Shrubber

P.S.

Having said that, the person who committed this crime needs to be punished severely so I am in no way trying to mitigate or excuse what he did. I think he should be tried for murder, not manslaughter. Zero tolerance for drunk driving.

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Roger_the_Shrubber

@Larry

There’s a serious question of morality and accountability that is relevant here. Why do some people think they can cause a deadly accident and run away?

Perhaps when they see leaders and other influential and connected people get away with it, it sets a very bad example. That’s not trolling, it’s looking at the underlying causes of tragedies such as this one.

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Larry

@superwittysmitty you got trolled. The person talking about ted kennedy is just trying to get people angry. Remember, “Never Feed the Trolls”!

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SuperWittySmitty

I really do not see the point of mentioning the Kennedy family in this discussion. “Reports” of what happened to Kerry Kennedy are inconclusive, and the Ted Kennedy story is totally irrelevant, not to mentioned idiotic. Does anyone think that there is a connection to what Ted Kennedy did 43 years ago on some country road and this hit-and-run driver?

This isn’t a bar-room conversation. Let’s try to keep it focused and con-structive, and leave these “political” (or whatever these are) references for other types of discussion. Politics has already divided our society enough.

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SuperWittySmitty

I agree, flashing lights are vital – there’s a lot to see when you are driving, and many distractions. I can understand how drivers might not see a person on a bicycle.

I worked for years on 8th by 34th in Manhattan and have seen these inside bike lanes in action. While they are a step in the right direction, pedestrians waiting to cross were oblivious to the fact that they were in a bike lane and I saw many near-misses and they would step off the curb into the path of an oncoming bike. Furthermore, there are millions of men delivering food to office workers and they either ignored these lanes or used them as two-way thoroughfares, in spite of often I would yell at them! 🙂 The police seem unwilling or uninterested in these violations. Everyone, including restaurant owners and delivery men need to be educated and reminded about road safety.

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Volker Detering

I ride Greenpoint Ave on the bike all the time. The 39th Road area strikes me as safer than other areas, in terms of crossing, since the road is a dead end in that school. The car hit him from behind on the Ave though, apparently, mowing the poor guy over. Guys, it’s important to have lights on the bike (of course I don’t know if the victim had any, I’m just saying.) A flashing light can save your life at night. You are dealing with texting drunkards driving heavy cars. I have a friend who has to ride a truck a lot at night, he also confirmed that the flashing lights help him a great deal to watch out for the cyclists.
My condolences, it’s a shocker.

Reply
Snake_Plissken

@JuliaJ

Don’t forget old Teddy Kennedy who let a woman drown in a car he drove off a bridge while he went off to sleep off a hangover and call the family lawyer.

If you wonder where these hit-and-run scumbags get their ideas from, look no further than the political class.

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JuliaJ.

Prayers for the victim and his family. Look what a coward the driver was – fleeing the scene (just like Kerry Kennedy did, according to reports).

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Deniz

A lot of the time people speed through certain streets because traffic lights are rigged in a certain way. There’s nothing like seeing a bunch of greens turning red that prompt these unsafe drivers to gun down their car.

My condolences to the family.

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Roger_the_Shrubber

On 43rd and 50th Ave, I can’t tell you how many cars and trucks I’ve seen go zooming through that intersection heading to the BQE. Last week I saw a truck blast right through a red light. There are a lot of people walking around that area too.

The answer is SPEED BUMPS.

Drivers may not give a damn about the lives and property of others or pay attention to crosswalks and bike lanes – but they damn well do give a damn about wrecking their own cars by hitting a speed bump too fast.

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Mary Caulfield, Phipps

As a driver and biker, I know how hard it is to deal with the other. I can’t tell you how many times I looked, but still did not see the biker. The only solution is separated lanes. I feel sorry for everyone involved.

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Biker

to Craic Dealer: NYC is getting the memo. They have changed the lanes on 8th Avenue to reflect the Amsterdam model. Much better I must say.

The way people drive in Queens is horrible. 39th Avenue through Woodside is like a highway. I think too much red-bull and testosterone makes people drive this way.

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sartke

This will happen again and again and again until we change the speed limits and start policing reckless driving in our neighborhood. This wasn’t an accident – we let this happen and we will let the next one happen.

When the first person actually gets pulled over for going 50 down Greenpoint or Queens Boulevard, this might be a decent place to live.

http://safestreetsfund.org/

Reply
Krissi

Oh that poor man. My condolences to his family.

I can’t believe the selfishness involved for the car driver to flee the scene. There’s a special place in Hell for people like that.

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