Deadly Week for Bike Riding Teens

Memorial for cyclist Dan Valle

Two teenage boys have died in less than a week while riding their bikes in NYC. The Post has the grim details: Yesterday afternoon 14-year-old Ferderich Enbre was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer while trying to pedal his bike across a busy Queens street in Maspeth. According to surveillance video, the boy was crushed under the back wheels of the massive vehicle, went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at Wyckoff Heights Hospital. The truck driver stayed at the scene and, surprise surprise, cops say the accident doesn't involve any criminality.

Gas station worker Ron Digi saw the accident and ran to help the boy, but says, "He wasn’t moving. He wasn’t speaking. He looked gone the moment I got over there. The driver got out. He looked, saw what happened, and then he started making phone calls."

And on Staten Island Friday night, 16-year-old Dayshan Geralds was killed by a hit-run driver. He had been riding his bike near his home when he was hit, and died on Saturday. The Post reports that yesterday police arrested the driver, Michael Ryner, 43.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on August 3, 2010 2:03 PM

Comments [rss]

brandonz

Gothamist, you are never going to get bought by Newsday if you don't knock off the immature editorializing by the likes of JDS in particular. Grow up-- I'd read Gawker if I wanted this crap.

thirteen

The "surprise surprise" comment is unnecessary. Especially since you start the prior sentence with "According to surveillance video"

Billiamsburg

Idiot transplants. Am I rite native new yorkers? They should be lucky to be dead in nyc vs alive in Ohio.

Queens

See, here's the thing...it's been reported that the kid in Maspeth was trying to beat the truck making the turn. He took a gamble and paid for it with his life. A bike lane would not have saved him and the truck driver cannot be held responsible for immature thinking on the part of the kid. No traffic laws were broken and maybe it's time people on bikes realize that the drivers of big rigs can't see you down there and you will lose if you take one on.

MAOBrooklyn

gerf is exactly right. Motorized vehicles (usually ginormous trucks) are rarely penalized in these cases. I'm not personally a bike rider, but I support the development of protected bike lanes because it keeps me, as a pedestrian and public transit rider, safer and sends a message that cars and trucks do NOT own this city (something that's easily forgotten when dodging a taxi blowing a red light).

mmarc

john del low brow

NewHCE

So what was meant by the "surprise, surprise" comment?

gerf

They are pointing out how nypd cops are too lax about drivers who kill people. Two other very recent incidents involving running red lights and death come to mind. Of course, no charges in those cases either.

snickerdoodle

It means Gothamist believes that people who are part of a tragic accident should be charged, tarred, feathered, hanged, and sued for all their worth, because all traffic accidents are done intentionally.

Boogie Down

I almost saw another young kid get it yesterday. He was crossing an exit ramp on the Bronx River Parkway on a little BMX-style bike (i.e. not exactly built for speed). Thankfully I saw him clear the area before a driver approached, who likely wouldn't have seen him before it was too late.