Cyclist dies in Marine Park crash
Advocates blame city after SUV fatally strikes bicyclist attempting to cross Ave. U
abandoning people on bikes
here and never taking serious
measures to improve the bike
network or cycling safety,” the
group said in a statement.
Another advocacy group,
Transportation Alternatives,
laid blame squarely on the
mayor for the absence of bike
lanes in Kings County’s traditionally
car heavy neighborhoods
like Marine Park, which
lacks any dedicated cyclist
paths on neighborhood roads,
according to the DOT’s bike
lane map.
“This is a tragedy which
Mayor Bill de Blasio could
have easily prevented with
protected bike lanes installed
as part of a complete network
of cycling infrastructure,” said
the group’s advocacy director
Thomas DeVito. “Despite the
huge percentage of New Yorkers
who ride bikes, and the
proven lifesaving capability of
protected bike lanes, Southern
Brooklyn residents have little
to no access to streets safe for
cycling, and they are being disproportionately
impacted.”
DECEASED: Advocates are lamenting the lack of bike lanes after a 29-year-old cyclist was killed by a car in
Marine Park on May 12. Photo by Steve Solomonson
Still Jewish Family owned
and Independently operated
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Pro-bike advocates are condemning
the city for unsafe
road conditions in Southern
Brooklyn after the driver of
an SUV fatally struck a bicyclist
in Marine Park on Sunday
night.
The deceased biker, 29-yearold
Robert Sommer, was attempting
to cross Avenue U,
near E. 33rd Street, when the
driver of a 2014 Toyota Highlander
hit him shortly after 8
p.m. on May 12, police said.
First responders took the
cyclist to nearby New York
Community Hospital, where
doctors pronounced him dead.
Sommer’s death marks
the eighth bicyclist killed in a
car accident this year, and the
fourth in Southern Brooklyn,
according to advocacy group
Bike South Brooklyn, which
used the tragedy to lament the
lack of bike lanes in the area.
“That half of the fatalities
have occurred in Southern
Brooklyn is the entirely predictable
result of the city government
and local offi cials
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