Amazon truck driver stayed after fatal First Avenue bike crash
Police records say a northbound truck driver and a northbound e-bike rider were involved in a crash at First Avenue and East 17th Street that killed the rider; the Daily News reported the Amazon driver stayed at the scene.
What We Know
A young bike rider died after a midday collision involving a northbound box-truck driver and a northbound rider at First Avenue and East 17th Street in Manhattan. The city crash record identifies the rider as a 22-year-old man on an e-bike; the Daily News reported that officials described him as an 18-year-old Citi Bike rider and Stuyvesant Town resident. The Daily News reported that the Amazon truck driver stayed at the scene and was not facing criminal charges. The city record listed pedestrian or bicyclist error or confusion as a contributing factor for the rider.
Northbound movements met at East 17th Street
The city crash record places the fatal crash at 12:39 p.m. on June 16, 2023, at First Avenue and East 17th Street. It records one person killed: a male bicyclist riding north, with a northbound box-truck driver also going straight ahead.
The Daily News reported a slightly later time, shortly after 1 p.m., and said the bike rider was traveling north on First Avenue and making a left turn toward East 17th Street when the collision occurred. The article reported that officials said the bike and the electric Amazon truck were both traveling north before their paths crossed.
A fatal crash on a heavily traveled First Avenue corridor
The crash happened at First Avenue and East 17th Street in Manhattan, along the Stuyvesant Town border described by the Daily News. CrashCountNYC location data for First Avenue in Manhattan shows 2,522 crashes, 1,527 injuries, 137 serious injuries and 12 deaths since 2022.
Sources disagree on the rider’s age and bike type
The city crash record identifies the person killed as a 22-year-old male bicyclist riding an e-bike. The Daily News reported that officials described him as an 18-year-old Citi Bike rider and Stuyvesant Town resident, with his name withheld pending family notification.
The Daily News quoted witness Ash Alavi describing medics trying to resuscitate the rider and calling the scene devastating.
The truck was recorded as a box truck and reported as Amazon electric
The city record lists a 2023 Lion box truck with one licensed New Jersey driver and an e-bike with one licensed New York rider. The Daily News described the truck as a 100 percent electric Amazon truck.
The official record points to rider confusion
The city crash record listed pedestrian, bicyclist, or other pedestrian error or confusion as a contributing factor for the rider. The Daily News reported that witnesses told police the rider had been on the east side of First Avenue, near the bus lane, rather than in the bike lane on the west side of the street, and was not wearing a helmet.
No criminal charges were reported that day
The Daily News reported that the Amazon truck driver stayed at the scene and was not facing criminal charges. The article also reported that the rider was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.