‘Paint is not protection.’ Advocates demand more protected bike lanes following fatal Bronx hit-and-run
Police say the dump truck then turned right and struck Mariano Leonardo Victoriano. The vehicle sped away from the scene. Victoriano was taken to a hospital where he died.
Transportation advocates are angry and frustrated after Wednesday’s hit-and-run of a bicyclist in the Bronx.
Police say Mariano Leonardo Victoriano, 30, of the Bronx, was riding an e-bike on Tiffany Street at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. He was traveling in a shared road-bike lane on the passenger side of a dump truck.
Police say the dump truck then turned right and struck Victoriano. The vehicle sped away from the scene. Victoriano was taken to a hospital where he died.
At the intersection where the crash occurred, Tiffany and Barry streets, there is no protected bike lane. In fact, Transportation Alternatives says less than 2% of streets in that City Council district have protected bike lanes.
The district ranks third in traffic fatalities across the entire city, according to Spatial Equity NYC.
Police told News 12 that they later found the dump truck driver, but he has not been arrested at this time and an investigation is underway.
Statistics show there have been more bike riders killed this year at this point than in any year since Vision Zero started in 2014.
Alexa Sledge, the associate director of communications for Transportation Alternatives, says this is unacceptable and that more needs to be done.
"Paint is not protection. there is no physical infrastructure keeping those biker riders safe from extremely heavy, fast cars,” she says.
Sledge called on the city to finally implement the “streets plan,” a law requiring the administration to build a certain number of miles of protected bike lanes each year.
Bronx residents echoed their support for more protection for bikers.
"It's only a matter of time before an accident like this does happen,” says Robert Willis. “They've got to be more cautious, drivers as well, it's not only the bikers, the drivers too, they've got to be more focused and pay attention."
