The family of a bicycling advocate and community leader in the Bronx, who was killed in a bicycle accident last March, is suing the City of New York for not installing a bike lane on the road where the accident occurred.
57-year-old Megan Charlop was riding a bicycle on her way to a Bronx school to talk about a community gardening project. Charlop had been a highly respected member of the Bronx community for several years. On the day of the accident, she seems to have run into a car door opened by a motorist, who opened the door without bothering to look out for bicyclists. Charlop swerved on her bicycle and into the path of a bus. She suffered serious injuries, and died.
Her family has now filed a lawsuit against the city of New York for failing to install bike lane along Crotona Avenue, even though the city knew fully well that this area was dangerous for bicyclists.
The lawsuit also coincides with the New York Department of Transportation’s “Don’t Be a Jerk” campaign, which includes an online smart pledge in which bicyclists pledge to yield to pedestrians. Bicyclists in New York have been upset at the language used in the campaign, which seems to suggest that bicyclists are unsafe riders. In some communities, there is a hostile atmosphere between motorists and bicyclists. When the Department of Transportation orders bicyclists to stop being “jerks” it reinforces in the minds of many drivers, the feeling that bicyclists do not belong on the road.
The New York bicycle accident attorneys at Godosky and Gentile represent injured victims of bicycle accidents in New York City and around the State of New York.