Sunday, July 13, 2008

Bicyclist Killed in a Collision on 54th and 7th

Sadly, we've had another fatality on the streets of Sunset Park. The most recent update to this story, which happened Thursday night at about 10 PM, is from the NY Post's Police Blotter. It sounds like a bicyclist didn't stop at a stop sign, and he was hit by a livery cab. The cyclist, Pedro Fernandez-Pacheco, was pronounced dead at Lutheran Medical Center. The driver of the car was issued a summons for an improper license, but he stayed at the scene and wasn't ticketed for the accident.

There is a bike lane on 7th Avenue, but apparently the cyclist was riding on 54th, which has a stop sign. 7th Avenue doesn't have any signs or lights at that intersection.

Stop signs, when heeded, do work! Seems like a good time to remind any interested readers to sign the petition to have stop signs installed at the 6th Avenue intersections around Sunset Park. Anyone who has tried to cross 41st or 44th at 6th Avenue to enter or leave the park understands why we need them! Read first, then sign here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is terrible! I have always been worried about the NYC push for more bikes on the road. The one thing we can guarantee we will see is a sharp spike in bicycle related injuries and (God forbid) deaths. More stop signs make so much sense. I never understood why 44th & 6th AVE has no stop sign or speed bump. Having grown up in Sunset Park (since the age of 5) I have seen countless pedestrians hit by speeding cars.