Driver Who Ran Over and Killed a Cycling Advocate Gets Off With a Mere Traffic Ticket
According to the NYPD, Angel Mejia, 19, of Staten Island, was charged this week with failure to yield in the crash that killed Adam Uster, 39, who was biking home on May 1, 2023. Uster was reportedly returning from the grocery store on his cargo bike.
The crash happened at Franklin Avenue and Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Mejia, driving a flatbed truck, was making a right turn into an unprotected bike lane, and failed to yield. The entire scene was caught on camera and is horrible to watch. Mejia remained at the scene.
The charge of “Failure to Yield to Pedestrian/Bicycle” carries with it only a small fine. Streetsblog reports that “on the less-than-a-mile stretch of Franklin Avenue between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, there have been 127 reported crashes since 2020, causing one pedestrian fatality and injuries to 17 cyclists, 14 pedestrians and 37 motorists, according to city data.”
Uster and his wife were set to participate in the Five Boro Bike Tour the day after the crash. Uster was a longtime bike advocate and member of Transportation Alternatives, an organization in NYC aimed at safe, equitable streets in the form of public policy, street design, enforcement, and resource allocation that transforms the city’s streets for the better. Uster was also the father of two children.
Streetsblog reports that Uster’s mother was more focused on preventing more deaths—there have been 22 cyclists killed on NYC streets this year—than punishment. She said, “I can only speak as a mother who lost her son in a horrific way on a Brooklyn street. The driver’s charge by the police will not bring Adam back to his family. Streets that are designed to prevent these collisions between bikers and trucks will prevent future loss of life.
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