Danielle Davis lost her sister in April. Lauren Davis was biking on Classon Avenue in Clinton Hill when a driver turned left across her path, killing her. Now Danielle is calling on the city to add a bike lane to the street where Lauren lost her life.
With the support of Transportation Alternatives, she launched an online petition yesterday addressed to local City Council members Laurie Cumbo and Robert Cornegy and Brooklyn Community Boards 2 and 3. (Classon Avenue also runs through the district of Council Member Stephen Levin, as well as community board districts 8 and 9.) In just one day, the petition has amassed more than 3,300 signatures.
Lauren, 34, was biking in the direction of traffic at around 8:35 a.m. on April 15 when the driver of a 2015 Fiat turned left off eastbound Lexington Avenue and killed her. Police initially reported that Davis was biking against traffic, an account that was later proven false by an eyewitness.
DOT converted Classon from two moving lanes to one in 2012 but maintained extra-wide parking lanes instead installing of a bike lane. The street remains prone to reckless driving by motorists seeking speedy passage to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Between 2009 and 2014, 119 pedestrians and 84 cyclist were injured on Classon Avenue between Washington Avenue and Flushing Avenue, and two pedestrians and two cyclists were killed, according to Vision Zero View.
In a statement released by TA this morning, Danielle Davis criticized DOT for not including a bike lane in that project. "I started this petition because I believe the most vulnerable people on Classon Avenue and every New York City street should be protected, instead of being forced to fend for themselves, which is disgraceful," she said.
TA Executive Director Paul Steely said DOT has to correct the situation. “We support this petition because we agree that it was a mistake for the DOT to paint a wide parking lane instead of putting a bike lane on a known bike route -- out of fear of community board opposition,” he said.
