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Mopeds Taking Over Bike & Pedestrian Lanes on Queensboro Bridge

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By: Benyamin Davidsons

The Queensboro Bridge on 59th street is becoming increasingly dangerous for pedestrians and bikes due to the invasion of mopeds illegally using the lane.

As reported by the NY Post, the narrow, two-lane strip earmarked for pedestrians, bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters now have mopeds zipping by on them. Motorcycles, mopeds and other vehicles which require DMV registration are actually banned from using the lanes but this hasn’t stopped the influx.

On Dec. 14th, Queens mother and nursing assistant, Alison O’Reilly , 54, was walking on the Queensboro Bridge to her job in Manhattan when a moped smashed into her. “I flew like a rag doll,” said O’Reilly. “If something happened to me, I’m a widow. It unnerved me a little bit.” The NY Post counted over 36 mopeds and motorcycles crossing the bridge alongside bikers and walkers in just one hour, on a recent morning. The day after, the paper recorded 31within an hour.

The problem has attracted the attention of the NYPD former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who repeatedly vowed to crack down on the dangerous intrusions. Still, there is not even a sign on the Queens-side entrance of the lane to indicate that motorcycles and mopeds must use the main road.

Last year, the bridge endured 11 reported crashes involving “bicycles or other e-devices”, as per NYPD data. Also, a lot of crashes go unreported. There were 11 deaths involving illegal moped riders on city streets in 2021, up from three deaths in 2020, and just one in 2019.

“It’s really dangerous,” one Sunnyside resident told the Post, referring to motorcycles and mopeds on the bike lanes. “They’re not supposed to be there, but they always are.” Jennifer Paras, another resident, noted that mopeds zoom by at 40 miles per hour, sometimes in the wrong direction, while bikers reach just seven to 10 miles an hour in the uphill sections. “They yell at you. They aren’t even wearing helmets,” she said of the moped drivers. A friend of hers was hit while biking on the bridge, and required brain surgery due to the accident.

An NYPD spokesperson said in a statement that “the Transportation Bureau has conducted “extensive outreach and education” at the Queens entrance of the bridge. Earlier this month, the NYPD posted pictures on its Twitter of an outreach team dispatched at Queens Plaza North educating people about the bridge rules. “Extensive enforcement initiatives were performed and will continue at this location in 2022,” the spokesperson added.

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