Cycling advocate killed by truck driver on streets of Brooklyn

Adam Uster was tragically killed on Monday night while cycling on Franklin Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The collision occurred as he was cycling south, passing Lexington Avenue, and a flatbed truck turned into him, resulting in his death. It is important to note that the area where the incident happened, Community Board 3 in Brooklyn, lacks protected bike lanes. Franklin Avenue only has an unprotected, paint-only bike lane.

Things in NYC are in bad shape with the highest number of fatalities, 73 so far, since 2014.

“We are devastated to learn that Adam Uster – a longtime biker, community member, and TA member – was killed by a truck driver in Brooklyn,” said Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris, in a prepared statement. “Adam is the thirteenth bike rider to be killed in 2023, by far the deadliest year for bike riders under Vision Zero. We demand immediate action from our leaders to keep New Yorkers safe — the City must build essential biking infrastructure and Albany must pass Sammy’s Law, to give New York City control of its own speed limits.”

According to Transportation Alternatives, “Traffic violence has killed 13 people riding bikes so far in 2023 — by far the most by this point in any year under Vision Zero, and more than triple the average since 2014,” while only two bike riders had been killed by this point in the three previous years.

An article in Streetsblog explains that on Franklin Avenue, “the less-than-a-mile stretch between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, there have been 111 total reported crashes since 2020, causing one pedestrian fatality and injuries to 15 cyclists, 14 pedestrians, and 33 motorists.”

The image above shows a cyclist in the area in live traffic with zero protection to be seen.

Uster’s mother told Streetsblog that Adam was coming back from getting groceries with a bike trailer when he was hit by the driver.

“The last thing I said to him was, ‘Be safe,'” she said, in the article. “He went out the door, took his bike, went to Wegmans.”