E-bike rider killed by hit-and-run driver in Manhattan

A cyclist riding an e-bike was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Manhattan, early Sunday morning.  38 year old Carlos Garcia Ramos was riding his e-bike East on West 24th Street in Chelsea and had just crossed 7th Avenue when the driver of a black Infinity sedan rear-ended him.  The cyclist who suffered severe head and body trauma was rushed to the hospital but he could not be saved. After the accident occurred, the e-bike got stuck in the wheel of the car. Instead of assisting the cyclist, the driver left his car on the side of the road and fled on foot leaving the cyclist dying in the street. He was later on identified as 24 year old Edgar Maeda-Luca. He was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of the accident.  (Read more in the New York Post).

Crosstown streets are dangerous for cyclists as very few of them have protected bike lanes

In Manhattan while most avenues are now equipped with protected bike lanes, crosstown streets remain dangerous for cyclists.  Bike lanes are still rare on crosstown streets and most of them are unprotected. So far, according to a recent article in Streetopia, out of hundreds of them only 8 crosstown streets have a protected bike lane in Manhattan: 12th Street, 13th Street, 26th Street, 29th Street, 52nd Street, 55th Street, 61st Street, and 62nd Street.  According to NYC Crash Mapper, over the last 12 months and including Carlos Garcia Ramos, out of the 5 people who died in bicycle accidents in Manhattan, 3 of them died in bicycle accidents that occurred on crosstown streets, one of them on an avenue with an unprotected bike lane and another one lost control of his e-bike in a bike-lane:

• A pedestrian and a cyclist were fatally struck by a truck on 81st Street
• A Citibike rider was killed in a tractor trailer truck accident on 85th Street
• An e-bike rider died from his injuries after he was doored by a customer coming out of a taxi on 11th Avenue near 37th Street. This is a dangerous segment of 11th Avenue that has only an unprotected bike lane
• One cyclist died after loosing control of his e-bike while riding in the second Avenue bike lane