Bicycle Safety

Improper Steel Plate May Have Caused Fatal Crash

The steel construction plate above may have contributed to Derek Lake's fatal bike crash yesterday.

By Aaron Naparstek

10:40 AM EDT on June 27, 2006

The steel construction plate above may have contributed to Derek Lake’s fatal bike crash yesterday.

Transportation Alternatives has issued a press release (PDF file) that says 23-year-old filmmaker Derek Lake’s fatal bike crash may have been caused by a metal street plate that is “in violation of the City DOT’s ‘Highway Rules’ governing the specifications for construction plating in the street.”

The Highway Rules specify that steel construction plates must be “sufficiently ramped to provide smooth riding and safe condition.” Likewise, the steel plates must have “skid resistence surface equal to or greater than the adjacent existing street or roadway surface.”

TransAlt notes that in addition to not having skid-proof surfacing or ramping, the two-inch high steel plate that may have contributed to Lane’s crash was partly covered with loose gravel and construction debris.

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.

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