A driver fatally struck a cyclist in Williamsburg this weekend before fleeing the scene, the NYPD has confirmed.
32-year-old Alexandra Huggins was traveling southbound on Leonard Street around 2:30 am on Saturday when an unknown Tesla driver hit her and kept traveling west on Meserole Street. Police found Huggins unconscious and unresponsive, with severe traumatic injuries. EMS transported her to NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull, but she did not survive.
The driver who struck her is unknown, though the NYPD said they drove a blue Tesla.
The investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad.
Huggins resided at Myrtle Avenue, according to the NYPD.
The tragedy occurs amid an ongoing debate over protected bike lanes in the community. Many cyclists say the city’s current bike lane infrastructure is inadequate and leaves them vulnerable to injuries and fatalities such as this one. There is a painted bike lane on Leonard Street, but no physical barriers.
CBS News New York cited statistics from the street safety non-profit Transportation Alternatives that “156 people have been killed in traffic crashes citywide so far this year” and that “[f]ourteen of those victims were cyclists.”
While it is tragic that someone has died. Improvements needed to be made by both drivers and cyclists as I do not believe a concrete barrier is fair to motorists. This incident needs to be investigated and more information is needed before we make any snap judgments.
‘Not fair to motorists’…Motorists killing/maiming on a regular basis is why barriers/bollards are necessary. The city needs a lot more of them.
Cyclists are worse than motorists. While it’s not shown in this article, why is the bicycle on the right hand side of the street when there was a bicycle lane on the left hand side of the street? Why was she on the wrong side? If she was in her bike lane she would likely be alive today. Cyclists need regulations but every sad politician will not go near this in fear of losing voters. Strange how nobody saw the accident but do know it was a Blue Tesla.. Hmm … I do hope they catch the SOB
cyclist traveling south. struck westbound vehicle…. perhaps she was in the bike lane on the left (east) side of the street and somehow in the course of getting struck and killed the bike maybe could have wound up on the other side of the street? ️♂️
A cyclist is not required to use a bike lane if they feel it is not safe, perhaps if you ever rode a bike, you would know this.
I saw a blue tesla with a large dent in the front bumper at the intersection of 10th Ave and W 31st St today around noon. wish I’d read this before so I could’ve gotten their license plate number
So sorry to hear that a life was lost, I’m a school crossing guard and every single day there are cyclists who bike right threw my post I have a two way corner with 4 stop signs two on each corner and there constantly going threw night even easing up when they reach my corner ,They do what they want and DO NOT FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE LAW ,,, AND ALOT OF THEM have children with NO HELMETS on
Isn’t that a law,,,, ohhh but they don’t follow these laws anyway
All cyclists and electric-scooters should be required by law to have insurance maybe than they will think twice about obeying the laws
This is way out of hand ,they get hit and the driver gets sued and has to live with that the rest of there lives
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ??? MORE FATALITIES!
Let’s be clear. The actions of one motorist or cyclist have nothing to do with any other person. That noted, my observations have been that some cyclists don’t exercise enough caution. It’s not enough to be right when you’re facing thousands of pounds of metal and you’re flesh and blood only. It’s hard to imagine the priorities of anybody not wearing a helmet. Your indignation won’t save you. Some of not many motorists simply don’t care and will reflexively go into the bike lane, such as on Driggs between the park and the WB Bridge and that needs to stop, when the right side of the lane is partially blocked by an idler or a turner. We all have to do better and blaming a whole class of traveler is inane and actually worse than staying silent, as it just breeds encampment and intransigence.
The level of a$$holery and stupidity in this comment section is astounding and reflects poorly on the Greenpoint community’s intelligence. ‘ . There is no way a tesla driver can hit a cyclist and not know it. The driver most likely fled because they were under the influence, driving without a valid license, stole the vehicle, committed some other crime, or are a callous monster. As an aside, empathy is a trainable skill. Perhaps some of the commenters here can develop that skill, but I doubt they possess the capacity to do so.
Other cyclist’s behavior has nothing to do with this motorist leaving the scene of a fatal collision.