if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.

The city's continued schizophrenia about bicycles continues, with tragic consequences.  It's obvious the police have not been informed that cyclists have a right not to be killed.  Not all the bike lanes in the world are going to make a difference there.

The driver left a scene of an accident - he should go to jail. 

Drivers have no clue how to to react with cyclists that are not in a separated bike lane. Truck drivers, in fact ALL DRIVERS and should have rules and regulations on how to deal with bikes as part of getting a license. It should also be part of traffic school, cars do not know how to yield for pedestrians or cyclists. Start with truckers and cabs, and anyone union and branch out. 

getting any license should include awareness of things OTHER THAN OTHER CARS

- Turn your body and open a car door with your right hand. This forces the driver to look out the window and behind them before opening a car. 
- Drivers should not stop and drive backwards to find a free spot - doing so should result in a fine. - Blocking a bike lane with a car should result in a fine
- I used to be against big brother, but now, who cares - get cameras everywhere and issue tickets from the cameras. 

NYPD should issue more speeding tickets, traffic and moving violations, jaywalking tickets - the works. Maybe that would earn the city some dough - I see violations all the time and I'm sure that would surely lessen the 'oh cyclists think they are above the law' complaints. Nothing is going to change unless people are fined and prosecuted: this includes non-cyclists. 

What people don't understand is that if a cyclist gets in front of a car or makes a slow pass looking both ways through a red light (which IS legal in many other states as long as the intersection is clear and wide open) it's because the cyclist wants to get AWAY from cars out of safety. 

Do cars or trucks run a red or speed out of safety? I don't think so. 
Do cars or trucks purposely yell at cyclists or drive within 6 inches of them because they care about not hitting them? No, it's because they don't care, and they won't until there is penalty, fines or jail. 
Do cars or trucks double park because it's convenient to someone riding in the bike lane and thinks it is safe to force a cyclist into moving traffic? No, they don't care.
Do people jaywallk, or stand off the sidewalk in the bike lane because it's convenient for cyclists? No!  

No - the answers are the same.  Even if cyclists all over NYC had the best manners, I doubt much would change about the behaviors of drivers and pedestrians until larger bodies intervene. 

RIP Mathieu Lefevre - I never met you, but you died a heartless death because someone wasn't more careful about handling 2.5 tons of metal. 

They do teach how to deal with bikes at traffic school.

He left the scene of an accident because he didn't realize he had been in an accident, which is especially possible in a large truck on Morgan with all its potholes, etc.

Bikers don't run red lights for *safety*. They do it because it takes more energy to start again from a stationary position.

OK I have finally gotten my head together for this one. Assume the victim of this was a little girl walking down the street, who is hit by a stray bullet that was fired up, just to make noise. The killer never intended to kill anyone, never knew the bullet had hit anyone, and never saw the person hit walking down the street, was a crime still committed? If the little girl died then yes, manslaughter was committed. Why then if someone takes a WMD (and motor vehicles are classified as WMD under the Geneva Convention) and kills someone without knowing they killed someone is there no crime unless the operator of the WMD is intoxicated?

You know, after reading the statute I don't see any provision that the driver had to know they hit something before it was illegal for them to leave the scene of a wreck, nor did I see any provision they had to be the at-fault party before leaving the scene of a wreck became a crime. Anyone up for charging the cop that wrote the report as accessory after the fact to a murder?

is this so hard to understand?
Bicyclists, in-line skaters, and operators of non-motorized scooters have the right to share the road and travel in the same direction as motor vehicles.

When driving, approach bicyclists, in-line skaters, and non-motorized scooters with extreme caution. Give them room and slow down as you pass them.

the rest can be found here: [and at your local dmv]
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/d...

I'm sorry a bicyclist was killed. HOWEVER, how many cyclists have to die before they realize that driving laws apply to them too. Stop running red lights.(I see them everyday) Stop at stop signs. Stop weaving in a out of traffic. Because you a cyclist, you are not above the law.

and how many will have to die before drivers realize they are supposed to yield to bicycles and pedestrians?

I bike every day and I can tell you that NYC is not a bike friendly city. Even with all the nicely painted bike lanes people just do not adhere to the rules of the lane. So many times I would be riding in a lane where a car is stopped, people are hanging out in, a door opens into. You have to be EXTRA careful when riding in NYC. It's not like riding in other states or countries.
Especially when riding in BUSHWICK in the middle of the night. Those streets are NOT well lit.and very industrial

I drive down Morgan a few times a week, right by this spot. The condition of the streets in this area are the worst in the city. Probably due to it being a popular truck route. Between the larger than potholes and amount of trucks in the area, I'm always amazed that cyclists would choose these streets. It's so dangerous. I understand that this poor guy used to frequent 3rd Ward and it's right there, but people use this route all the time. You need to be careful. Not only on this road, but all over Williamsburg and and other neighborhoods in BK, cyclists seem to think they own the road. They don't. They are secondary to cars. The streets of NY were not designed with cyclists in mind. Some have been retrofitted, but it is not an ideal situation for bikes. I don't write this as an anti-cyclist, I've spent my whole life riding a bike through the streets of BK and NYC. But when the average car weighs 2 tons and travels well over 30 MPH on the streets, cyclists need to be cautious! This whole thing is disturbing and sad. Another problem is, most drivers are TERRIBLE. They don't pay attention and should be sent back to driving school. Be careful and yield to cars, they will kill you.

Bikes are not secondary to cars. They should ride on an equal level, and cars need to learn how to yield. The streets of NYC WERE designed with cyclists in mind, cyclists, pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages. The city is changing and the motorist population needs to accept these changes. I agree there are rogue cyclists, but as a very cautious cyclist who rides to work from Brooklyn every day, I feel like i have to fight for my life. I've already bookmarked lawyers and relayed them to my boyfriend and parents in the case that something ever happens to me, they know who to hire and who to go after...cycling is dangerous, as is skateboarding and in-line skating and even walking but when a car honks at you to move out of the way so it can zoom by and nearly cause you to crash into a pothole, it adds a new spin to a means of transportation where a rider is already vulnerable. As far as rogue cycling goes, the best we can do enforce it ourselves. The NYPD methods are counter-productive and only create hostility. Honestly, there are few more humbling things than a fellow cyclist calling you out your negligence and douchebaggery when running a light or sign.

I met Mat about 7 years ago and am so grateful we became friends. He was an unbelievable, irreplaceable human being. He was smart and funny and caring and spending any amount of time with him was always worthwhile. Whether or not the driver knew he hit him at the time, he knows now and I can't imagine the kind of mental/emotional trauma a person has to go through when they realize they were involved in the loss of another person's life. I'm not really interested in whether or not this one driver is specifically "punished," whatever that is supposed to mean. I'd much rather know that something could be done to prevent something like this from ever happening to anyone else again - whether it means this driver is no longer allowed to drive, or better safety precautions are provided for cyclists in the city, or cops actively attempt to provide a more safe environment for anyone outside of a vehicle (instead of trying to now punish other cyclists, for example) - because this has been one of the most colossally terrible and fucking horrible things to go through. I'm sure it's been worse for those who were closer to Mat than I was, and no one should have to needlessly endure this.

Occupy NYPD! This is ridiculous. Basically, unless you're drunk, it's perfectly legal to kill someone with a car/truck and walk away from the scene. Unbelievable. We should charge these lazy-ass cops for homicide, since they continually permit this kind of thing to happen.

Not to absolve NYPD, but the problem does not rest entirely with the police.  They do not make arrests or file complaints if they know the DA won't prosecute.  And the existing laws make in extremely difficult to prosecute vehiclar "accidents" as crimes in the absence of witnesses.

It is certainly infuriating that the police just fabricate some assertion like "the bike rider ran a red light", which is blatant speculation, and then drop the investigation without any attempt to gather facts beyond the driver's account.  However, change at the level of legislation, or the DA's office, is required to get these "accidents" treated as crimes.  Police like writing violations and making arrests that result in criminal charges.  They do not like getting yelled at by an assistant dist. attorney for bringing bullshit arrests that have to be dismissed.

Not every person who strikes a pedestrian in NYC is going to be criminally charged.  Unless this guy is seen by witnesses getting out of the truck and seeing that he hit someone and then driving away, I don't see how criminal charges apply here.  I don't know how large his flatbed truck is but I have seen some of the tow truck flatbeds up to 30 feet or more in length.  It surely is possible that he didn't realize he hit the cyclist.  I understand that there was a fatality here but that doesn't justify this man's arrest.  Without physical evidence of the driver's knowledge of the incident how would charges apply here?  Cry about the NYPD all you want but you can't make up evidence of a crime here or arrest him because you don't believe the guy.

But he did make up evidence...he said the cyclist ran a red light...The least be can do is write a ticket for the driver running a red light as well. No one is demanding that the driver be indicted for manslaughter, but it's a problem in NYC when basic traffic laws are not enforced. People die because of it, yet it's perfectly acceptable to run a red light, stop sign or honk at a cyclist to get off the road instead of sharing it. I'm from NC and I drove for 10 years and NEVER ran a red light or stop sign. Barely anyone cycled in my hometown, but when there was a cyclist, I would slow down until the opposite lane is clear so I could cut over and ensure I had enough room to get around the bike. Drivers need to do that here as well. Slow down and be cautious...It's NYC traffic, be realistic in knowing that unless your car can levitate, it's not like you're going to go anywhere fast...

A biker makes a mistake, the biker dies. The driver makes a mistake the biker dies. Yet we always blame the biker, unless the driver is clearly drunk. But, the biker is dead and can't tell their story. There is something wrong here. We accept this situation way to easily, and that makes me furious, because I've had WAY too many close calls when I was doing absolutely nothing wrong. The driver was just in a rush. If I were to be killed like that, the NYPD would say "No criminality suspected", and you'd get on this comment board and say, "I don't see how criminal charges apply here", and we'd move on. And then another person would die and another and another.

So true. i'm so tired if hearing things like "cycling in NYC is dangerous and you should know better." Total BS.

It is entirely possible that the truck entered the intersection on a yellow light and the cyclist on a red.  A large flatbed can be 40 feet long.  Assume it entered the intersection as the light just turns yellow.  It pulled to the middle of the intersection and began it;s right turn.  At this time the light turned red, the cyclist, who was to the side and possibly twords the back of the truck enters the intersection after the light turns red, going under the rear wheel.  As there were no witness can anybody state that this is not possible? Or does it have to be homicidal truck drivers with the whole NYPD covering it up