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Some Say NYPD Turns Blind Eye to Bike Deaths
By Alison Bowen
The mother of a Williamsburg artist killed earlier this month while riding his bike spoke outside 1 Police Plaza yesterday, where she blasted cops for letting the driver who hit her son go free. Mathieu Lefevre, 30, a Canadian native who lived in Brooklyn, died Oct. 18 after he was struck by a flatbed truck at the intersection of Meserole and Morgan avenues in Brooklyn. Erika Lefevre, who says the NYPD is not returning her calls, traveled from Canada to speak yesterday, and was joined by advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. TA director Paul Steely White said the NYPD is not aggressive enough in investigating drivers who hit cyclists. The driver left the scene -- cops told Gothamist that he didn't know he had hit anyone -- and no charges have been filed in the case. "There's no criminality," an NYPD spokesman told Metro. "That's why they call it an accident." Lefevre said that, unlike in New York, drivers in Canada are often prosecuted when they hit cyclists. White demanded that the NYPD take dangerous driving more seriously. Five cyclists have died since August after being hit by cars. Nearly 70 percent of fatal car accidents, including instances where cyclists and pedestrians are hit, are caused by a driver who is driving dangerously or illegally, according to a TA analysis of data from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Recently killed Sept. 2: Nicolas Djandji, 24, was hit by an SUV in Williamsburg.
Submitted by joseph on December 22, 2011 - 13:31. categories [ ]
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Transportation Alternatives 127 West 26th Street, Suite 1002 New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-629-8080 Fax: 212-629-8334 |