Accident between cyclist and motorbiker kills both Fri night

pwaltman_1972

Some of you may have already seen this news, but a cyclist and a motorcyclist collided at the corner of Greene and Washington in Ft. Greene on Friday night, killing both.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/cousin_of_rapper_common_killed_in_HHkIXImulRi0DW6LZoE16L
http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Julian+Miller
http://fort-greene.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/cyclist-motorcylist-die-in-collision-on-greene/

The motorcyclist was Ajile Turner, the cousin of rapper Common, and the cyclist was the downstairs neighbor of my girlfriend, a man named Julian Miller. My girlfriend is pretty torn up as she and Julian, along with their other neighbors had become pretty close, as they had to deal with a pretty difficult situation in the building (working to get a literal crackwhore removed from the building who had tricks coming to the building at all hours of the day and night).

Although, I only met Julian briefly, he was a good and caring man. From what I've read, so was Ajile. Unfortunately, from the police report, however, it looks like Julian was the cause of the accident, as he was riding the wrong way on Greene (westbound in the eastbound lane, as he was about to make the left turn onto the sidewalk to head to his building on Washington).

If anything positive can come out of this tragedy, I hope it's a warning to other cyclists (I'm one too) to not ride in the opposite lane as it's dangerous not only to yourselves, but to other cyclists as well; motorized too.

Really, really sad news.

hunter.gatherer

I agree completely. I fail to see the advantage in seeing the car that kills you. And yes, I am a cyclist too.

My sympathies to the friends and family of both victims.

arzan

It is really critical that bicyclists realize that going against the traffic is not only breaking the law but also very very dangerous.

isla

What a horrible accident.

My thoughts are with both of their families.

boygabriel

arZan wrote: It is really critical that bicyclists realize that going against the traffic is not only breaking the law but also very very dangerous.

As a regular biker, I agree.

This is a sad tragedy.

boygabriel

Looks like the motorcyclist ran a red light and may have been speeding.

Please, everyone be safe on the roads. You'll take someone else's life.

September 30, 2009, 4:00 pm
A Few New Details in Bike, Motorcycle Crash
By Andy Newman


Here’s our partial reconstruction of the collision that killed motorcyclist Ajile Turner and bicyclist Julian Miller at Greene and Washington Avenues the night of Sept. 18, courtesy of Detective Joseph Cavitolo, a police spokesman. It’s by no means complete, but it’s what we could get. Much of this information has already come out, in dribs and drabs, but here it is all in one place.

*Mr. Turner, the motorcyclist, was riding eastbound on Greene Avenue, in the southern (correct) lane, and ran a red light at Washington.

*Mr. Miller, on his bicycle, was crossing Greene from south to north, just east of the eastern crosswalk at Washington (more on this later).

*Mr. Turner appeared to swerve to avoid Mr. Miller.

*Mr. Turner struck Mr. Miller just east of the eastern crosswalk at Washington.

*There has been no determination made about the speed of either operator.

*Mr. Turner was wearing a helmet; Mr. Miller was not.

The finding that Mr. Miller was crossing Greene from south to north, just east of the eastern crosswalk, could mean a number of things. He may have been pedaling west in the eastbound lane and turning north onto Washington — he lived on Washington in the block north of Greene — against the red light, just ahead of the intersection.

He may have been coming along the southern sidewalk of Greene, rather than the eastbound traffic lane. He may have been coming north on Washington (with a green light), though it’s hard to picture what would have led him to drift east of the eastern crosswalk. He could even conceivably have been pedaling eastbound on Greene and been struck as Mr. Turner overtook him.
Detective Cavitolo said it was impossible to tell exactly where Mr. Miller had been before he was struck.

“Whether he’s on the sidewalk of Greene going westbound and crosses the street, or whether he’s coming north on Washington, I can’t tell you because he’s D.O.A.,” Detective Cavitolo said.

This account comports, at least partly, with several comments we’ve received. Bianca wrote that seconds before the accident, she and other patrons of Speakeasy, a block west of Washington on Greene, had seen two motorcyclists racing eastbound on Greene “at unbelievable speed.” Detective Cavitolo said there was no mention in the report of a second motorcyclist at or near the scene.

“Resident at Greene and Washington” said he heard a witness tell the police at the scene that Mr. Miller had been heading west in the eastbound lane of Greene, and “Margaret” wrote that an officer at the scene told her the same thing.

We’ve asked, again, for the actual report, complete with diagram. If it shows anything new, we’ll let you know.