Brooklyn motorcycle accident kills safety-conscious rider

A recent fatal accident in Brooklyn combines several familiar elements: motorcycles, city vehicles, illegal fireworks and sad irony. A motorcyclist was killed while enroute to a memorial service for a friend killed one year ago in a motorcycle accident.

The accident occurred in Bedford -Stuyvesant at Monroe Street and Marcy Avenue, about one block from the rider’s home. He collided with a fire truck; witnesses said the motorcyclist’s body flew off the bike. He was wearing a helmet.The fire truck from Ladder Company 111 was heading toward a fire at 315 Nostrand Avenue that was caused by illegal fireworks. The truck had its sirens and lights on.

Friends and family said that the victim was a careful rider who prided himself on being safe. They wondered how such an accident could have happened. They noted that he was knowledgeable about rules of the road as they apply to motorcycles, always wore a helmet and never cut corners when it came to safety. One of his riding friends said, “If the speed limit was 45, he’d go 35. We would always have to pull over and wait for him.”

The fire truck was involved in another accident earlier this year. In March it collided with another vehicle on Bedford Avenue while going to a fire. That accident left 10 people, including six firefighters, injured.

A teenager was arrested and charged with using illegal fireworks, according to FDNY.

Source: New York Times, “Brooklyn Motorcyclist Killed by Fire Truck Headed to Blaze,” July 2, 2012.