Two people were killed in a bike lane crash on the Queensboro Bridge Thursday morning.
It happened at around 8:21 a.m. on the westbound bike lane.
Crash victim remembered
Police say a man, 39, was riding a stand-up scooter when he collided with a bicyclist traveling eastbound in the bike lane. Both the scooter operator and the cyclist, 35, were killed.
Family identified the man on the scooter as Allan Francis Deball, a husband and father of two.
“I want him to know that I’m thinking about him. If he’s up there and he’s listening, I’m here,” friend Rachel Huynh said. “I wanted to see you, but this is the only way I could see you.”
She described Deball as “a great guy, super energetic, always the life of the party.”
The cyclist has not yet been identified.
Traffic along the westbound lower level of the bridge was disrupted while police conducted their investigation.
A balloon, flowers and a candle now mark the entry to the bike lane on the Queensboro Bridge. Late Thursday, police were at the entrance to the bridge, patrolling and ticketing for safety violations.
Just last year, the city moved pedestrians off the path where the crash happened and onto the south side of the bridge, a move intended to save lives.
But the crash is a stark reminder that even in a protected bike lane, a split second can prove fatal.
“It’s fun, but it’s dangerous and, you know, people die or are seriously hurt,” Freyer said.
Scooter was illegal, officials say
The speed limit on the bike path is clearly posted as 15 mph, but witnesses said the scene was so horrific, it looked like the aftermath of a high-speed motorcycle crash.
“The scooter rider and the cyclist were both wearing helmets, but it was just clearly such a dramatic crash that even the helmets couldn’t save them,” witness Kurt Freyer said.
“His bike was in a million pieces, broke in ways that I haven’t really seen before,” witness Matt Masi-Phelps said.
Police have not yet determined the speed of either the bike or the scooter at the time of the crash, but according to the Department of Transportation, the scooter was illegal because it could travel more than 50 mph. Scooters in the city are considered illegal if they are capable of going faster than 20 mph.
Safety advocates say speed is claiming lives.
“We fight so hard to get these protected bike lanes, these protected spaces on our bridges, and to know that even those spaces might be dangerous, it’s absolutely terrifying,” said Alexa Sledge, director of communications for Transportation Alternatives.
“Crashes like these are entirely preventable. Scooters that travel this quickly have no place in our bike lanes. The City Council must move forward with the ‘Ride Safe, Ride Right’ bill to prevent the sale of the most dangerous micromobility devices,” Ben Furnas of Transportation Alternatives said. “Twenty mph is plenty for anything on New York City neighborhood streets, and certainly in our bike lanes. The data is clear: anything faster than 20 mph is especially deadly. Twenty is plenty — no matter who you are or how you’re traveling. Speed kills.”
“I’m heartbroken that two fellow New Yorkers lost their lives today on the Queensboro Bridge. This is a suffering and a pain that no one should know,” said Roz Gianutsos of Families for Safe Streets. We can’t sit by while New Yorkers are riding electric scooters that can travel 30, 40, or even 50 mph.”
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