QUEENS, NY – A shocking crash on Tuesday morning left an e-scooter delivery worker dead after he got run over by a trucker hauling a load of beer in Queens.
From the little information given by local police about the 8:30 crash that happened on Crescent Street near Astoria Boulevard, it is known that a 55-year-old truck driver, whose name has not yet been disclosed, hit and killed 35-year-old Alfredo Cabera Liconia. The deceased was driving an e-scooter while finishing his shift making deliveries.
Police reported that Liconia was to blame for the accident. According to police, as the trucker was making a right turn from Astoria Boulevard onto Crescent Street, Liconia “struck the passenger side” of the truck.
Liconia was transported by EMS personnel to Mount Sinai Queens hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Department of Transportation has recently finished installing a two-way bike lane on Crescent Street. However, local cyclists have been voicing their concerns about the lane’s lack of physical barriers to keep bike riders safe from speeding traffic. The added plastic bollards that are supposed to prevent drivers from riding in the bike lane do not prevent cars and trucks from entering this protected space, locals say.
Since the implementation of the bike lane, a lot of problems have happened. Motorists have been using it as a parking lot, in some instances, they were even instructed to drive onto the green paint of the bike lane. In one instance, a man spat on a cyclist as he tried to get around slower traffic near Queensboro Bridge.
It remains unclear whether Liconia was driving on the protected bike lane. Police have already stated that “it just seems like an unfortunate accident.” Eyewitnesses said Liconia was trapped under the truck, and a video from the scene shows the truck’s front wheels inside the green paint.
“We’ve tweeted @NYC_DOT for weeks that the protection & separation on the 2 way Crescent St bike lane is not enough & that someone will die. And now someone is dead. All because Commissioner Polly Trottenberg designs bike lanes for cars & trucks to drive in. Blood is on her hands,” said Macartney Morris in his Tweet shortly after the accident.
The official police statement says that they did not issue any summons or have made any arrests regarding the accident.
“About a month ago, other Astoria officials and myself wrote to the Department of Transport and demanded that this bike line we so love and appreciate be adequately protected,” said Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the Assembly Member-elect for the 36th district, which represents Astoria.
