22 year old cyclist dies from his injuries one week after being struck by a car in East New York

A New York cyclist who was struck by a car died from his injuries one week after the accident occurred. On Saturday November 7th around 1:00 am , Juan Tiu-Caxaj was riding his bicycle on Autumn Avenue. As he crossed Fulton Street he collided with a car heading westbound on Fulton Street. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. He was not charged. The young victim suffered head trauma and was transported to the hospital. His condition was stable but  it deteriorated and he died from his injuries a week later.

According to the police, the cyclist rode through a stop sign just before the collision.  The investigation is still ongoing to find out the exact cause of the accident.

According to Vision Zero studies, East New York is among the most dangerous areas in New York for bicyclists. However so far not much has been done in this neighborhood to promote bicyclists safety compared to other areas of New York City like Manhattan.

Yesterday, was  the “World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims“

Juan Tiu-Cajax is one of the 214 victims who died in New York City traffic accidents in 2020.  Yesterday, members of “Families for Safe Streets” went to City Hall and installed 214 pairs of shoes in front of the entrance of the Mayor’s office to commemorate the victims of crashes in New York City so far this year.

While at the beginning of his tenure Mayor de Blasio had been very pro-active in reducing traffic fatalities, he recently slashed the budget for Vision Zero and for his Green Wave plan. His refusal to apply recommendations from his covid-19 transportation panel to make the streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians alike during the pandemic has led to a record number of fatalities and  has been highly criticized by street safety advocates.