Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bed-Stuy

Family of Lauren Davis Asks CB 3 to Support Classon Ave Bike Lane

The intersection of Classon and Lexington, where Lauren Davis was struck and killed by a turning driver last April.

The intersection of Classon and Lexington, where Lauren Davis was struck and killed by a turning driver last April. Image: Google Street View

The family of Lauren Davis, who was killed biking on Classon Avenue in April, appealed to the Brooklyn Community Board 3 transportation committee last night to support a bike lane on the corridor.

Northbound Classon is notoriously prone to reckless driving by motorists heading to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. It's also a DOT-designated bike route. A 2012 DOT traffic-calming project converted the street from two traffic lanes to one but did not include a bike lane. Instead cyclists are expected to ride in the leftover space of an extra-wide parking lane.

Lauren Davis. Photo: Family of Lauren Davis
Lauren Davis. Photo: Family of Lauren Davis
Lauren Davis was killed by a turning driver on Classon Avenue last April. Photo: Family of Lauren Davis

Davis, 34, was biking on Classon in the direction of traffic on the morning of April 15 when a left-turning driver in a Fiat struck and killed her.

"It's kind of a misconception that that's an area that's available for cyclists, and everyone's using it," Lana Norton Davis, Lauren's mother, told the committee. She said detectives investigating her daughter's death told her that a bike lane on the street would have allowed them to prosecute the driver under the city's Right of Way law.

In August, Lauren's sister Danielle launched an online petition urging community boards 2 and 3 and local council members Laurie Cumbo and Robert Cornegy, Jr. to get behind the idea of a bike lane on Classon. Almost 6,000 people have signed on since, but Borough President Eric Adams remains the only local elected official to express support.

"I sincerely believe that if there had been a bike lane on Classon Avenue, Lauren would have been alive today," Danielle told committee members yesterday. "Building a bike lane on Classon Avenue would do more than define safe, separate spaces for people on bicycles and people driving, it would help prevent the next crash."

The Davises spoke during a presentation by committee member and neighborhood resident Shawn Onsgard, who proposed a painted bike lane, bulb-outs, and automated camera enforcement on Classon Avenue. In Onsgard's conceptual plan -- which he hopes CB 3 will endorse to compel DOT to put together its own proposal -- the bike lane would end at DeKalb Avenue, where BQE-bound traffic increases. Northbound cyclists would be directed to continue to Willoughby Avenue and jog over to Taaffe Place.

Transportation co-chair Greg Glasgow was amenable to Onsgard's proposal, but the committee did not have quorum and thus did not hold a vote. Glasgow said he would instead bring the plan to the CB 3 executive committee when it meets in two weeks.

"It's not a comfortable situation, I know for me as a driver and also for people biking," Glasgow said. "You don't need to mix bike traffic with all of that truck traffic trying to get to the BQE."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Wednesday’s Headlines: When ICE Came to Canal Street

Federal agents swarmed all over the blocks around our office on Tuesday, so we went outside and covered it. Plus other news.

October 22, 2025

Redesign for Brooklyn’s Fifth Ave. Shopping Strip Puts Customers First

"The core takeaway from the small business community on this strip is that they want a pedestrian- and transit-priority street," said the architect.

October 22, 2025

Chinatown Plaza Redesign A Good First Step, But City Must Go Bigger

Almost everyone walks through Kimlau Square – even though most of the space is for cars.

October 22, 2025

The ‘Problem’ With E-Bikes? The Super Fast Illegal Ones

New Yorkers are riding illegal vehicles marketed as e-bikes with little to no-consequences, and it's a safety problem.

October 21, 2025

The ‘War on Cars’ Is Worth Fighting — And Here’s What Life Might Look Like When We Win

A first book from the prolific podcast hosts offers a solid foundation for would-be advocates against automobility — and some new ammunition for veterans.

October 21, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Carnage All Over Edition

Monday's papers were a blood tide of crashes. Plus other news.

October 21, 2025
See all posts