Turning Truck Driver Critically Injures Woman Biking on 1st Ave — Then NYPD Tickets Cyclists

A box truck driver turning left onto 9th Street critically injured a 31-year-old woman biking north on First Avenue this morning.

The victim was transported to Bellevue Hospital before 8 a.m. The driver remained at the scene and the investigation is ongoing, NYPD told Streetsblog. Their names have yet to be made public and no other details were available.

While the available information suggests the truck driver failed to yield to the cyclist, NYPD officers were seen on First Avenue ticketing cyclists this morning directly north of the crash scene:

First Avenue has a parking-protected bike lane, but at most intersections, cyclists and turning motorists proceed during the same signal phase through “mixing zones.”

Turning drivers are supposed to yield to cyclists at the mixing zone, but the treatment is not as safe as intersections where cyclists and turning drivers have separate signal phases. These “split-phase” signals have a demonstrably better safety record than mixing zones.

Typically, however, DOT limits dedicated signal phases for pedestrians and cyclists to major intersections, while smaller cross-streets like Ninth get mixing zones.

This morning’s crash occurred in the 9th Precinct, and in the City Council district represented by Rosie Mendez.