April 13, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer is calling on the Department of Transportation to increase safety at a Sunnyside intersection that has seen two cyclists injured or killed in the last ten days.
Van Bramer held a press conference today to call on the DOT to implement new safety measures at the intersection of 43rd Avenue and 39th Street, where a cyclist was hit and killed by a drunk driver on April 1 and a cyclist was hospitalized after being hit by a box truck on April 10.
“Two cyclists killed or seriously injured in 10 days in the same intersection is not where we need to be when it comes to realizing Vision Zero,” Van Bramer said. “I am calling on the Department of Transportation to make immediate and vital safety improvements to this dangerous intersection before another cyclist, pedestrian, or motorist is killed.”
Van Bramer was joined by Flor Jimenez, the widow of Gelacio Reyes, who was killed in a hit-and-run at the intersection on April 1 around 3 a.m. on his way home from work. The driver in the incident was arrested and charged for driving under the influence and driving without a license.
On April 11, David Nuñez was hit by a box truck turning right on to 39th Street, and is still hospitalized with serious injuries. The driver in that incident stayed on the scene and was charged with failing to yield to a bicyclist and failing to exercise due care.
“It has become evident from yet another crash at 43rd Ave and 39th Street in Sunnyside that we need swift action to protect cyclists who use the key commuting corridor on 43rd Ave,” said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives.
“Now that Mayor de Blasio has made an additional budgetary commitment to street redesigns, the City needs to move quickly to fix dangerous corridors like 43rd Avenue with protected bike lanes and intersection safety improvements that meet a Vision Zero design standard.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said that the DOT would look in to safety improvements at the intersection, but noted that the two accidents occurred under very different circumstances, and were likely not caused by the same issues, as the first crash involved an intoxicated driver.
“The April 1st fatal crash was the first traffic fatality at this intersection since at least 2009. DOT will study the intersection for potential safety enhancements,” said the DOT spokesperson.
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60 Comments
Eddie g imposter- I’m not your mother , or your sister or daughter
Why don’t you shut up rat lady. Enough already 1 dead, 1 injured and all you do is make comments that aren’t pertinent to this issue.
You must be new here?
All of these comments are by the same person!
You should call Dell computers and report them.
We need more protected bike lanes!
I work on qblvd all day by 65pl, its alot of bikes if you see 25 to 40 bikes over a 10 hr period, well, 23-38 after this week. Give it a few weeks, itll be down to 15 to30, another few weeks it’ll be 3 to about 18, we won’t have many more bikes any longer because they keep getting run over so it won’t matter once theres not many. Bike people are very defensive and stubborn so this will keep happening. As with development, parking, ect things change, queens changed, its overcrowded with way too much congestion, its changed, and it isn’t a place that’s bike friendly. Bikes and bike lanes should be done away with. They are useless
…. by the way, I charge $20 for 30min, $35 for the full hour.VIP
Who cares? WWW 3 is at hand. None of this crap matters
I have a bunker and am taking bids on who will accompany me in survival. Send your donations to trumpstartsww3@gmail.com.
Yet millions of other bike accidents didn’t happen that day. Point being in a city so crowded as NY it’s a law of average, it’s going to happen. Personally I drive for a living and would not let my worst enemy ride a bike in this town.
My god some of you people on bikes are stupid
I’d never be dum enough to get on a bikecycle. A lot of people would think it is because I am sad person, but I sware it is not. I have many friends. My parole officers call me all the time. I have many many problems and I blame bikes for most of them. ALSO people should take personal responsibility.
Sorry, i.d. pouch
I’d pouch too!
Yes you are right, L.A.. now your going to get all the crybaby bike riders complaining that’s not fair. Meanwhile they are too stupid to realize the little bit of money that it’s going to cost is money well spent and could possibly save their lives. Stupid senseless people, they insist the road doesnt belong only to cars, but im not gonna argue whos right or wrong with 3 tons of steel. The bike people should also have to have an i.dont. pouch, that has i.d., name of emergency contacts, and a list of medical conditions, allergies ect. It could possibly save your life. Ignorance!
Barbara, I was only joking!
Bikes are great and a good way to get out, exercise, and reduce traffic. Many major cities that encourage cycling have seen great benefits.
Situation: One cyclist gets killed and another gets seriously injured in the same intersection.
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Cause: Unsafe driving (drunk driving, failure to yield/exercise due care)
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Solution: Crack down on cyclists
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How does this make sense to anyone??????
I suggest that President Trump drop a MOAB bomb on all the stupid-ass bike lanes that our idiot Mayor and councilman put in our neighborhood.
OR
Cyclists need to take a road course, get an eye test, and pay for insurance, just like motorist’ have to. They have to be held to the same rules & laws as motor vehicle drivers are.
If they want equal rights to the road, they need to have proper qualifications.
I think that there must be something … not right.. when you use as an example something as serious as a MOAB bomb .. as a metaphor to show your frustration. think.. before just trolling ugly ugly metaphors and comments.. not cool..
While where at it … everyone that leaves there house should be carefully screened, and monitored.
Saying “MOAB bomb” is redundant. The acronym is Mother of All Bombs. So you’re saying Mother of all Bombs Bomb.
How come right wingers think cyclists are such a danger that require more laws and regulations, yet when it comes to actual weapons of death and disease they scream to strip away any oversight? What is up with that?
Holy Schmokes, yes. All these anti bike people want is more regulations taking away our freedoms. Comparing a 30lb bike to a two ton or more vehicle is just stupid and typical. Binary thinking, I tell you, binary thinking coupled with double standards. Registering bikes is going to do absolutely nothing to reduce cars ignoring bikes and running them over, but is sure as hell makes more rules intended to make bike riding more difficult. That’s the tactic. Squeeze them with rules and regulations until they can’t take it anymore. THAT will reduce bike riders, which in turn will reduce cars running over them. That’s the tactic. Arrogant a holes.
That isn’t true.
I know seniors who are much more frightened of bikes because they are unpredictable and mow down pedestrians who can’t jump out of the way. One in/ particular has been adamant for years that bikers need licenses. I didn’t agree until recently.
I’ve ridden in the city but not for years. Once you past the peak years of reflex speed, it is too dangerous. Traveling around NYC by any mode is more dangerous than it is in many places. It is too damn crowded here already and the REBNY is making it much worse.
Many bikers now have a pugnacious arrogance that just does not blend well into the road culture of a hundred years. Many of you make awful traveling companions.
Anonymous and his Big 3 cronies (PAID??) paint the picture that cyclists are actively aiming at people to hit. Not true, or logical.
People that have to jump out of the way, are standing in the street instead of waiting on the sidewalk for the road to be clear. Take a look at people waiting to cross the street, they stand as close as possible to passing traffic. Or they walk right into it.
We need a law requiring helmets like motorcycles on city streets if they are going to ride in bike lanes like other vehicles are regulated by laws – seatbelts lights etc. Why is this not being addressed, including the colored safety vests like the delivery people are starting to wear.
I would like the police to actually implement the laws on 39th street. Walking across Queens Blv is like playing froggie, hope you don’t get hit by a car. Also there are so many cars that have no license plates and are parked on the fucken sidewalk!! JVB PLEASE HELP! We keep on reporting it but NOTHING ever GETS DONE about it.
Most bikes are the cause of accidents. They don’t know how to drive, that’s why they ride a bike.
Yes it should be more difficult. The test should at least be a test, the current one is a joke. Most people around here come from other countries that have different driving habits. Also, inspect, , register insure, and license test bikes too. You have to know street laws and obey them. Your bike has to be registered and insures, what could it cost, $20 a month?, my apartment insurance is $16 @ month, covers me up to 50k. Bikes would be cheap. It would be a solution to many problems, such as property damage, medical, liability, it would make riders more aware, better bike riders too
it was only a matter of time before JVB showed up –
He’s doing the job that he was elected to do. Are you planning on running for office or will you just sit on the sidelines and make wisecracks, like most people?
if he was doing the job that he was elected to do then why did he not hold a press conference at the “Quality Inn” on queens boulevard when that little girl passed away – oh wait it is mostly a homeless shelter and he does not want any problems — may the poor little girl rest in peace –
Waiting for Jimmy to blame Trump.
JVB blames Trump for everything –
Waiting for tootiestooters. and his many aliases to grow up get a life and stop playing the populist conservative game as outlined in the book The Loudest Voice in The Room and responding to his very own posts with alias’s.
Never heard of those books (I only read REAL news: dredge, brightbart, yayhoo news…) Has it ever occured to you that I side with bullies because i secretly desire being told what to do by an authoritarian, and maybe I vote against my own personal interests, and contradict myself because I am not a critical thinker?
You don’t know who I am, but I know who you are
We don’t need to know who you are, but you’re easily identifiable by your stupidity and less than adequate writing skills.
It’s always blame the motorist.
As a whole bicyclists do NOT observe the rules of the road. Consistently blowing through red lights and stop signs, driving between lanes, darting in and out of traffic, never bothering with the old arm/hand signals to indicate turning and stopping, nearly colliding with pedestrians and mororists alike.
The police need to crack down on bicyclists!
Dont belive me? JUST go to yahoo and search 4 “bikecycle vs car accident statistics” …. you’ll see that bikes account for ALL of the accidents on the road. Think about it, how often do you see a car smashed on the road when there’s not a bike around.??? Put the hole system on trial!
Hey ImposterStyn! How many times have bicyclists clipped or hit and injured pedestrians and then sped without any consquences? If bicyclists want to drive on city streets they should have to register their bikes and have license plates like motorcycles so they can be easily identified and ticketed!
Ugh I am so mad ImposterStyn!! I could look this info up and provide real statistics! But I won’t because the numbers wont’ prove my hypothetical scenario of wild, dangerous packs of cyclists!
Baby carriages need to have liability insurance. I got my tootsie toe ran over by one once ;(
Another thing fake Styn — I could look this info up and provide real numbers. (I won’t, on account of it not supporting my hypothetical scenario of bicyclists being dangerous, when in fact they are very safe)!
Settle down dude. Anyhow, I did change my mind and I am wrong to blame cyclists.
Hey! You should check out this article. Both these incidents were the fault of the drivers. Jeez, talk about victim blaming.
Blame the motorists who were at fault in both these cases. Yep. Rather than victim blaming.
“I had the right of way” will make a wonderful epitaph. Keep passing trucks on the right.
Ain’t I funny!??! If someone close to me is killed, please don’t forget to make an awful joke about it.
Didn’t you hear, poor cyclists don’t have their own lanes, so they are forced to break the rules. If they had their own lanes, they wouldn’t be riding the wrong way, or zipping by cars on red light or ignoring the turn signal the vehicle just indicated, and try to go right pass.
It needs to be more difficult to get a driver’s license. There are way too many drivers out there who have no idea how to drive.
Not looking to start a war here, but perhaps some sort of education/documentation for cyclists might contribute to an amelioration of the problem.
Both these incidents were the fault of the drivers.
Why make such an ignorant and inflammatory statement then? The danger posed by bicyclists is pretty minuscule, while pedestrians and bike riders get killed by trucks and cars on a regular basis. Maybe thinking before posting will ameliorate the quality of the discussion?
Nah, I almost get hit by cyclists who blast through red lights at full speed MINIMUM twice a week. Should be subject to arrest when they do this.
Agreed. There are a few that act like a holes. True. But it’s not endemic to the entire biking community. Making generalizations helps the “cause,” whatever that may be. But I agree they should be subject to some kind of punishment, but how do you enforce it? Mandatory licensing requires money and would effectively oppress those that bike safely and follow the rules, adding an unfair additional expense and more bureaucracy and red tape. Not to mention the black market for false licenses and people obscuring them, trading them, sharing them, etc. Not sure it would solve the problem.
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I usually just fantasize elbowing them into the asphalt when they do that, causing a few missing teeth and a busted jaw. Maybe even paralysis. You put my life in danger, I’m going to do the same to you.
You can’t say JVB is not working on our behalf. I hope they make some changes here to slow the traffic down and keep pedestrians and cyclists safe.
Nice one snowflake! In all seriousness though. JVB does do a good job and is active in the community. I have to admit, I’m not a very good citizen and haven’t really lifted a finger to help my neighbors. For that, I apologize.
JVB only works when it is convenient for him and him alone — that is about all —
how is JVB active in the community we all would like to know !!!!!!!!
Take what you do (absolutely nothing, beyond blaming others and whining), then imagine the opposite