Protected bike lane in NYC.
Photo: Andrés Correa Guatarasma / Courtesy
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Carling Mott, a 28-year-old man, was killed when he fell off the Citi Bike he was riding and was hit by a tractor-trailer on a street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in broad daylight.
Mott was heading west on East 85th Street toward Madison Avenue around 10:50 a.m. Tuesday when she suddenly fell off her bike and was struck by a 2017 Great Dane tractor-trailer, the New York police said.
The truck was also heading west on East 85th and was waiting at a red light on Madison Avenue next to Mott when the tragedy occurred. Once the light turned green, the young woman fell off her Citi Bike for unknown reasons and was struck by the truck, authorities said.
Mott lived less than a mile from the scene in the Yorkville neighborhood and was a graduate of Syracuse University, with studies in TV, Radio and Film. She was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center, but she could not be saved. The tractor-trailer driver, who stayed at the scene, did not face any criminal charges as of last night.
Ironically, residents and politicians stopped the installation of a bike lane there six years ago, when the Department of Transportation (DOT) attempted to do so on several blocks on the Upper East Side, including East 85th St, noted New York Post.
The latest data shows that, in general, traffic deaths in NYC are now 29% higher than four years ago. This despite “Vision Zero” (Vision Zero), road safety plan created in 2014 by then-new Mayor Bill de Blasio, promised to make the city safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, with a goal of zero deaths by 2024.
In addition to gun violence, traffic accidents are another big challenge for new mayor Eric Adams, following a dismal legacy from his predecessor. The city of New York had already experienced last April a 35% increase in traffic accidents so far this year, NYPD stated. At the end of that month there was a tragic streak in NYC at an average of one person killed by a run over every day.
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