Two men were killed Thursday in a head-on collision between an electric scooter and a bicycle on the Queensboro Bridge, according to the NYPD, raising concerns about speeding and illegal micromobility vehicles on the bridge.<\/p>\n
Police responded to a 911 call just after 8 a.m., reporting the crash in the bridge\u2019s bike lane, authorities said. A preliminary investigation found that a 39-year-old man operating a motorized stand-up scooter was traveling westbound when he struck a 35-year-old man riding a bicycle eastbound, police said.<\/p>\n
EMS rushed both men to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, according to police. The NYPD\u2019s Collision Investigation Squad is investigating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not safe, but I believe it\u2019s people\u2019s behavior,\u201d said Eliza Dos Santos, an Astoria resident who was biking across the bridge Thursday morning on her way to work at Memorial Sloan Kettering. \u201cThey need to stay in their lane. They rush too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lukas Pac, 44, of Maspeth, described the bridge path as chaotic, especially near the Manhattan entrance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sucks. It\u2019s just really bad,\u201d Pac said. \u201cThe riders on the electric scooters, they fly.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that poor lighting can make conditions more dangerous early in the morning and at night.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially when it\u2019s dark, this part of the bridge early in the morning or late at night, pitch black,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t see them coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rafael Herrera, 53, of Jackson Heights, said he hopes police step up enforcement on the bridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople without control, without rules, it\u2019s chaos,\u201d Herrera said.<\/p>\n
Transportation Alternatives, a street safety advocacy group, said the scooter involved in the crash was an illegal vehicle capable of traveling up to 53 mph.<\/p>\n
The group urged the City Council to pass Intro 244, known as the \u201cRide Safe, Ride Right\u201d bill, which would ban the sale of e-bikes and e-scooters capable of exceeding 20 mph.<\/p>\n
\u201cCrashes like these are entirely preventable,\u201d Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas said in a statement. \u201cScooters that travel this quickly have no place in our bike lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n