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Dr. Carl Nacht, who was hit by an NYPD tow truck last week while riding on the West Side bike path, died on Sunday. Today, there is a service for Nacht at 2:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Amsterdam Avenue and 110th Street). Nacht had not been wearing a helmet during his Thursday evening bike ride, and when the truck hit him, he was thrown towards another tow truck, his head hitting the hood. The tow truck's driver was not charged, but his wife told the NY Times that the tow truck did not yield to them, as it should have. She also said that her husband, who biked everywhere, "knew what he was doing. We thought because we were on a bike path, we were safe." The unfortunate thing, as many recent biking accidents have shown us, there is no such thing as safe. Let's hope the city will embark on campaigns to improve driver education about bikers' rights in the city - as well as reminding bikers of tactics they need to take.
The Daily News reported that Nacht ran in 29 consecutive NYC Marathons and would bike or run to house calls. A nurse practitioner said, "Henry [sic] always went the extra mile for his patient. They were like part of his family to him."
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when i die, i want to be remembered as henry too..
sad.
(I think Nacht may have gone by his middle name.)
"the truck's driver was not charged.."
Does this sound familiar?
Would there be an investigation and charges if an off-duty NYPD officer was killed by a civilian in a similar fashion?
Shame on New York City and the NYPD for allowing this kind of vehicular manslaughter to continue.
biker's rights? come on now.
Mixed use pathways can actually be one of the *more* crash-prone places to ride because even without automotive cross traffic, you have traffic moving by different means at different speeds.
Damage to your skull is the same whether you get thrown by a taxi, an Ipod-enraptured skater, or, or a six-year-old who darts in front of you from the opposite direction.
Over the years I've personally been put on the pavement by all three of the above.
The other guy may be at fault, but a helmet can make all the differnce in the world. Wear one.
Not that it lets the driver off the hook, but BB is right. A helmet is not guaranteed to save your life, but in this case it seems like it would have made all the difference.
At a low speed or even from a standstill, falling from your bike and hitting your head can cause brain damage or death. Even for casual rides wear a helmet!
BB - it's not about helmets. It's about culpability. A driver ran over and killed a human being. There should be a thorough investigation and charges. Dr. Nacht might still be dead even if he was wearing a helmet. Would you be satisfied with that?
The driver should definitely be held accountable, but holding him accountable is probably less preferable than having Nacht alive and with his wife and family. You're right, a helmet might not have helped, but it couldn't have hurt. Why take the risk?
Please turn your anger into action.
Write the DOT and demand protected bike lanes, better conditions for cyclists.
Commissioner Iris Weinschall
NYC Department of Transportation
40 Worth St.
10th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Come out this Thursday to memorialize these fallen cyclists and all others. We will put out Ghost Bikes at the sites where they fell.
MEMORIAL RIDE
Thursday, June 29, 6:30 p.m.
West Side Greenway at 42nd Street (in front of the Intrepid)
Carl Nacht, 56, was killed by an NYPD tow truck making a right turn across the West Side Greenway. Derek Lake, 23, was killed on Houston Street while trying to maneuver around a construction site. Come out and remember these two cyclists and help draw attention to unsafe conditions for New York cyclists.
Why should the driver be held accountable if the cause was Nacht running the light?
I hate to say it but ride with out a helmet and die,it is natural selection.
Toby - reports indicate both cyclist and truck driver "had the light." The driver was the one who turned, striking Dr. Nacht. The driver is required by law to yield to pedestrians/cyclists.
You would think a doctor would have known the benefits of wearing a helmet. This is very sad.
You would think a licensed truck driver would know the laws of the road. This is very sad indeed, as well as a crime.
no one's saying it isn't a crime, drewo, nor is anyone saying it isn't a tragedy. but wearing a helmet would have given him a fighting chance of surviving the negligence of a city tow truck driver.
recommending harsh prosecution for drivers who don't obey the law and pointing out the benefits of helmets are not mutually exclusive. a $25 helmet could have saved his life and given him the chance to file charges personally against the driver.
The driver AND the rider were at fault.
The End.
No...
The driver is at fault. The rider was merely stupid for not wearing a helmet. One is criminal, the other is a poor choice that unfortunately met up with the driver's negligence.
The truck driver TURNED INTO the Bicylist.
How is this Dr. Nacht's fault???????????
When I was in my early 20s I once biked down a hill without a helmet and my bike computer timed me at 50 mph. I later bragged of my achievement to a friend who said something I've never forgotten, "A helmet is a lot cheaper than a neurosurgeon." I went looking for a helmet soon after that.
Whether Dr. Nacht was unwise in not wearing a helmet has nothing to do with whether the driver gets charged. One's civil, one's criminal.
Helmets *CAN* make a difference, but they very often do not. They tend to make a bigger difference when there isn't a Huge, fast moving motor vehicle involved.
And the Driver was at fault. Period. There is absolutely no way that a cyclist following the light on a segregated bike path who had the right of way to be at fault for being killed by a truck that turned across the road. None, absolutely not. The fact that the driver was not cited on the scene for at the very least an illegal turn is absurdist.
Even WITH the helmet jmchez, if you did fall you'd be in a world of hurt.
Even the man who was killed yesterday would've gotten killed anyway with a helmet on. Helmets help, but common sense rules above all. (Plus drivers who follow the rules of the road can’t hurt either.)
Truck’s Wheel > Helmet head
I don't think it's the doctor's fault, but why on earth wouldn't you wear a helmet?
There's no question he would have been seriously hurt no matter what, but considering the description of his accident, it seems likely that a helmet would have saved his life. He might have been laid up in the hospital with broken bones, but he might not have died.
robb monn, actually helmets very often do make a difference.
85% of cyclists killed in 2003 (most recent study) weren't wearing helmets. Even if wearing a helmet only increased your chance of surviving by 10%, wouldn't you like to be part of that 10% if you were in an accident?
More stats:
http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm
it seems that the logic some people are using is this:
helmets don't ALWAYS help, so therefore you shouldn't EVER wear one.
great idea. i guess if you're already brain dead wearing a helmet won't help you either way.
Helmets are designed to take the brunt of a 10- to 14-mph collision. That can lessen your injury in a relatively minor crash, but it's not going to save your life in a serious accident.
That said, I wear my helmet every single time I leave my house, even if it's only to ride the 10 blocks to the grocery store. Nearly every time I've been hit, it's been at relatively low speeds, and a helmet definitely helps in those conditions.
This image of a Copenhagen bike lane is from the other thread about the other death-by-automobile incident.
Note the number of bicycle helmets being worn. (Thankfully) not every society is as fear-driven as ours.
drewo, why are you so anti-helmet?
can you give any reasons why someone shouldn't wear a helmet?
sure, no one is wearing a helmet in that picture, but they aren't riding side-by-side with trucks, cabs, and cars.
I'm not anti-helmet, I'm pro-choice. If you are comfortable with a helmet, wear one. However, the helmet will not necessarily stop the truck from running you down and injuring or killing you.
Enforcing laws against dangerous driving will stop the truck. A message should be sent to New York drivers that if they ignore traffic rules and kill a pedestrian or cyclist, they will be charged with a crime. Dr. Nacht was not killed by lack of a helmet, he was killed by a truck that violated traffic laws.
There is a sense of lawlessness on the streets of New York. Automobile drivers know that they can break the speed limit, roll through red lights, intimidate pedestrians when turning into a crosswalk and just plain run over someone - and rarely have to face any penalty.
Seems too simplified. The truck was clearly in the wrong, but the lack of a helmet contributed to his death, much in the same way insufficient body armor or truck plating exposes troops to higher risk of death from roadside bombs in Iraq. Troops aren't to blame when a bomb blows them up, but the tragedy is worsened when you look back and think that simple, inexpensive protective gear could have prevented someone's death.
I'm all for a pro-choice approach to helmet use (no laws necessary for adults) but it should be coupled with common sense. Riding a bike in NYC is dangerous and there are some easy things to do to protect yourself, at least a little.
Even though it's a dedicated bike lane, the West Side path is dangerous. On one ride last week I nearly ran over a kid (about 5 years old) who darted out in front of me. I swerved, fell, and landed on my shoulder and the side of my head. I dislocated my shoulder. Had I not had a helmet on I would have fractured my skull. (My helmet was cracked in two from the impact.) I'm on my bike every day, have ridden multiple long-distance rides, race, and commute, always obeying signs and the law, but no amount of experience on the bike could protect me from the thousands of variables even on a seemingly safe bike path! There's no question in my mind that my helmet saved me from either dying or being left with permanent brain damage. I went to the hospital and the first thing the ER doc asked was, "Were you wearing a helmet?" When I showed him my helmet he said, "Good, because that would have been your head."
To die simply because it's not cool or comfortable to wear a cheap piece of plastic and styrofoam seems so pointless.
As much as we all want to see this driver punished, you can't argue fault when you're dead.
Be careful out there...
jen, he went by carl professionally, and henry to his friends. and as mary beth said at the funeral, its senseless to be mad at the driver for what happened, or to question why - its a tragedy and you can't turn back time. henry was an amazing man and its a shame what happened.
Wait a minute - did the editing staff at Gothamist have the brass balls to use [sic] when their own writing is littered with mistakes?
A helmet would not have saved Henry's life. His injuries were concentrated at the brain stem. He did not die because he wasn't wearing a helmet. He died because he was hit by a tow truck and thrown into a parked tow truck. He was an experienced cyclist and an incredible athlete. Henry was an amazing man and will be missed by countless people.
All,
Yes, as Jenny wrote, a helmet would not, I repeat, would not have saved his life. When you are thrown 12 feet in the air into a parked tow truck and the impact is centered at your brain stem.....you die. The helmets, as they are designed, don't protect that part of the head. And his Dr agreed, saying that had the impact been anywhere but there, the great Dr would still be here today. We should all try and be more like Dr Carl Henry Nacht....or Uncle Henry to me.
Perhaps I missed it, but where is the evidence or witness that blames the tow truck driver for the violation and concludes the victim didn't blow the light? Are we sure? 11:30 p.m., no helmet, (bike light?).....I'm pro-choice too, but I've worn a seat belt long before there was a law and I wear a helmet, hot and clunky as it is, because it's a smart thing to do.
chris, Dr. Nacht's wife was right next to him when he was hit. She has said that they had the right of way and the tow truck driver should have yielded to them. Apparently, there will be no 'evidence' or 'witness' as such because the City does not deem it worthy of investigation.
Pedestrians/bicyclists always have "right of way"...the driver of that truck driver should be prosecuted.
It's nice to know there are a number of fellow Gothamist readers who were acquainted with Dr. Nacht...he was our doctor for the last 12 or so years, and even though we didn't see him often, he always seemed to remember our hobbies and interests...and we always asked about his marathon endeavors. One of the few around these days who still worked in the old tradition of doctor as caregiver, the question of why he didn't wear a helmet seems so much less significant than why he was taken from us so soon.
Dr. Nacht will certainly be missed by me, my sister, my mom, my cousins, my aunt,...it was a family affair. I, along with my family members, have been a patient of the Great Dr. Nacht for over sixteen years. This is such a shock, I only found out a few minutes ago, when my cousin called because she received a letter from Dr. Nacht's office about the tragedy. The last time I saw Dr. Nacht was actually in June. I was actually surprised that he saw me since I called in that very day and asked to see someone.I'd a minor swelling on my arm and of course I thought it was extremely serious. He saw me for about 8 minutes, where he asked me a few questions, smiled and said call me on Monday, I don't think it's serious. Of course, he was right, the pain and swelling had dissappeared within a day, without medication and his famous rememdy of a warm compress. Dr. Nacht was also an advisor for me immediated family. When my mother, sister and I would disagree, Dr. Nacht would find out about it from my mother, due to her high blood pressure when ever a conflict arose in the family. Upon my next visit to Dr. Nacht, he would then ask about my family and he would advise me to sit down and work out without issues I was having with my mother, so that her blood pressure would stablize. Thank you Dr. Nacht.
I've got to ask some of the people in this discussion if they wear helmets when they're walking. Afterall, commonsense asked why a cyclist wouldnt't wear a helmet. We hear of people getting hit and killed by cars almost everyday on Gothamist. Commonsense -- I have to assume you wear a helmet when you are out walking. Why wouldn't you?
I was very saddened to originally read about Dr. Nacht's death in the "New Yorker" in an article about the hazards of biking in NYC. He was my physician for the seven years I lived in New York, and it was he who told me that I had HIV in 1987. He was a compassionate, giften physician, and I still have his business card, despite not having been his patient for 15 years.
I recently passed the ghost bike set up on the West Side Highway marking the spot where Carl Nacht died.
This is such a sad story. Apparently even if the doctor had been wearing a helmet he would not have survived, but after reading this I plan to wear my helmet from now on regardless.