Two men died on Thursday morning after they collided in the bike lane on the Queensboro Bridge, the police said.
The police responded at 8:21 a.m. after a 39-year-old man riding a stand-up electric scooter crashed into a 35-year-old man on a bike. The e-scooter driver was traveling westbound, while the biker was traveling eastbound, the police said.
The men were brought to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Queens, where they were pronounced dead. Photos taken in the aftermath of the collision show a white bike snapped clean in half, with an orange e-scooter lying next to it. The crumpled front tire of the bike rests against the bridge.
The e-scooter involved in the crash was not legal for street use, because it was capable of much faster speeds than allowed under city law, and should not have been operated on any city streets or bike paths, according to Vincent Barone, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation.
The speed limit for bicycles and electric bikes is 15 m.p.h. An electric standing scooter — one that doesn’t have a seat — is illegal in New York City if it has the capability of traveling more than 20 m.p.h.
Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, a transportation policy nonprofit, said the speed of the illegal vehicle was most likely the reason for the severity of the crash.
“This is like throwing a grenade on city streets,” he said, blaming the device manufacturers and suppliers.
Last year, the Department of Transportation redesigned the bridge’s outer roadways, separating bike and pedestrian traffic, and doubling the space for bikes and other micromobility vehicles.
Ben Furnas, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a street safety advocacy group, said in a statement that the crash was preventable, and he renewed calls for the passage of a City Council bill that would end the sale of e-bikes capable of going faster than 20 m.p.h.
“Twenty is plenty — no matter who you are or how you’re traveling,” he said. “Speed kills.”
Christopher Maag contributed reporting.
Claire Fahy reports on New York City and the surrounding area for The Times.
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