This morning, we heard reports that a bicyclist had been killed by a truck at West 29th Street and 9th Avenue. Streetsblog got an on-the-scene photograph of the accident, and analyzes the situation, which had the messenger and truck both trying to turn right:
From the photo, it looks like a classic "right hook." The drivers of these big tucks have a big blind-spot along the right side of their vehicle. They can't see anything on that side of the truck. Unfortunately, this does not prevent them from often making fast, aggressive right turns at crowded intersections. The "right hook" is a common way for pedestrians and cyclists to die on the streets of New York.
Streetsblogs also reports that the messenger, who worked for Urban Express, was crushed under the truck's wheels.
It's so frustrating to hear about these accidents. Yes, bicyclists need to be defensive at all times, but drivers are absolutely insane. If it's not paying attention to people on bikes, it's slowly edging through the cross walk at a red light to be a few feet closer to the turn (yes, a car stopped two inches from us when we crossed the street - and we had the light!).
