Bicyclist Run Over in Prospect Lefferts Gardens
A bicyclist was killed yesterday morning when she was hit by a turning delivery truck in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, the Post reports. She was pronounced dead at the scene; the truck driver stayed at the accident site, near Empire Boulevard and Bedford Avenue, and police say they do not suspect criminality—though when do they ever when it comes to a dead cyclist?
The Post, in fact, blames the cyclist with its language, reporting that she collided with the truck. The commenters are livid. “‘she collided with’? Sounds more like was ‘she was run over by,'” writes one.
“The article headline should read as the text does….’Cyclist crushed by turning truck,'” writes another. “Instead, it implies that the cyclist is to blame. It is the responsibility of turning vehicles, ESPECIALLY professional/commercial drivers, to check their mirrors for approaching cyclists as they turn.”
Others are angry with the police. “Imagine if the NYPD actually did their job and correctly classed many of these deaths as crimes,” another commenter writes. “The crime rate would skyrocket, and they’d have twice as much work to do in the form of investigation and prosecution. Given this, it is obvious why they are so tempted to snap their fingers, declare it as a ‘tragic accident’ and go home. Unfortunately, their complacent attitude to road deaths has nurtured and sustained a savage culture of bad driving on New York’s roads. You have all these selfish, ignorant idiots zipping around without a care in the world, safe in the knowledge that whatever carnage they cause, they’re going to be patted on the back and sent home without so much as a desk ticket. It’s almost like a legalized form of murder.”
