Archive for reference

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NYPD called on to "commit to a Vision Zero policy for traffic fatalities"

A letter from local business owner Steve Hindy appeared in Transportation Alternative's magazine about changing the NYPD's approach to investigating bike accidents. The whole letter is worth a read, but a key excerpt is below:

Early on August 6, 2008, [Greenpoint resident] Rasha Shamoon was riding east on Delancey Street when she was struck and killed by an SUV traveling northbound on Bowery. Police interviewed the 21-year-old driver and his two young passengers who blamed the unconscious and dying woman. No other witnesses were interviewed, even though several people reported the crash to 911. No skid marks were measured. Remarkably, although the SUV driver had six prior motor vehicle convictions, he was allowed to leave the scene after giving a statement. Shamoon, 31, a lecturer at Hunter and City colleges, was the daughter of a physician who fled tyranny in Iraq in the late 1970s. She was by all accounts a wonderful person and responsible bicyclist. Her bike had front and back running lights and was swathed in reflector tape.

Photo from mlendo