The cyclist, a 37 year old IT technician was riding north on Mulberry Street. As he arrived at the intersection of Canal he stopped at the red light. As the light turned red for the cars on Canal Street the cyclist peaked to his left – the black Acura who later on hit him is still so far away that it seems obvious that the driver would stop at the light – and waited for the green light on Mulberry to proceed. As he started to pedal through the intersection and 14 seconds after the light had turned red on Canal, the driver of the Acura just drove through the red light and crashed into him. The cyclist screamed and fell on the pavement in agony. He lied in the street for more than a minute until the driver came out of his car and excused himself telling him he didn’t see him because the sun was in his eyes.
The driver was on the phone with 911 and EMTs showed up a few minutes later. The cyclist couldn’t move and mentioned pain in his back and leg.
The police arrived later and did not issue a ticket to the driver who told them he did not see the light was red because the sun was in his eyes.
When the cyclist went to pick up his bike at the precinct, he showed the video to the police and also mentioned that the driver had a history a recklessness with 11 speeding camera tickets and 1 red-light ticket but the police told him the case was closed and he should show the report mentioning that the driver ran the red light to his insurance company.
Read more in Street Blog
Picture of the location of the accident: courtesy of Google Map