Statement from Transportation Alternatives after Car Driver Hits and Critically Injures Bike Rider in Bed-Stuy

The cyclist is currently fighting for their life in the hospital.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Bedford and Lafayette Avenues. While there is a paint-only bike lane on several blocks of Lafayette Avenue, it abruptly ends two blocks before the crash site. 

BROOKLYN, NY —  This morning in Bed-Stuy, an SUV driver hit a person on an e-bike, sending him to the hospital in critical condition. The driver was traveling northbound on Bedford Avenue when he hit the bike rider at the intersection of Bedford Avenue and Lafayette Avenue.

The intersection of Bedford Avenue and Lafayette Avenue is deadly. Just last year, a pedestrian was killed at this exact intersection by a hit-and-run driver. Lafayette suddenly expands from one travel lane to two at Classon Avenue, a street design that encourages speeding and passing instead of safety.

Transportation Alternatives’ Brooklyn Activist Committee has been organizing the “Clinton Hill Safe Streets” campaign since 3-month-old Apolline Mong-Guillemin was killed by a reckless driver in 2021. A core safety component of the campaign is the push for protected bike lanes along Lafayette and DeKalb Avenues along this stretch. Today, there are unprotected paint-only bike lanes along both Lafayette and DeKalb, but even the unprotected bike lane ends before Lafayette and Bedford, where this New Yorker was hit.

Statement from Ben Furnas, Executive Director at Transportation Alternatives:
“We’re heartbroken to hear that yet another New Yorker is in the hospital after being hit by a driver on one of our city’s most notorious unsafe streets. Our thoughts are with their friends, family, and community, and we are hoping for a full and speedy recovery. 

“This is exactly the type of crash and injury we fight to prevent every day. We can’t wait any longer for protected bike lanes on DeKalb and Lafayette avenues. These streets are deadly. How many New Yorkers have to be hit and killed or seriously injured for us to see change? 

“Let this be the last crash on Lafayette Avenue, the last hospitalization, the last serious injury. New Yorkers deserve better, and we’re going to fight every day until better is here.” 

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