A Friday night bike ride through Manhattan’s East Village ended with a Citi Bike crushed beneath a commercial truck and two teenagers rushed to the hospital.
One of them, 15-year-old Daria Serkov, did not survive. The updated report from ABC7 New York identified Serkov Saturday after police initially released limited information from the scene.
The other rider, a 16-year-old girl, was operating the Citi Bike, CBS New York reported, citing police sources. She remained hospitalized in stable condition.
The collision happened during a right turn at East 14th Street and First Avenue. The truck driver remained at the scene, and no arrest had been made as the investigation continued Saturday.
One Right Turn
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The crash happened around 9 p.m. Sept. 18.
Spectrum News NY1 reported that police described the truck as a 2021 Peterbilt commercial vehicle driven by a 58-year-old man.
The truck was traveling west on East 14th Street before turning right onto First Avenue to head north. The Citi Bike was also turning north onto First Avenue when the two collided.
Both teenagers were taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. Serkov was pronounced dead there, while the 16-year-old survived and was listed in stable condition.
Video from the aftermath showed the Citi Bike beneath the truck. ABC7 reported that a shoe was also found underneath the vehicle.
The earliest reporting from the scene contained conflicting information about the surviving girl’s age and who had been operating the bike. CBS later reported that police corrected her age to 16 and identified her as the bike’s operator, with Serkov riding as the passenger.
Built For Digging
ABC7’s footage showed a large Badger-branded vehicle at the scene and described it as an apparent hydro excavation truck.
These are not conventional pickup-sized work vehicles. Badger Infrastructure Solutions explains that its Hydrovac system uses pressurized water to break up soil before a powerful vacuum pulls the resulting material into a truck-mounted debris tank.
The company’s equipment is designed for excavation around underground infrastructure, giving the trucks the large tanks and equipment visible on the vehicle involved in Friday night’s crash.
The truck’s size is relevant to another issue that New York City has specifically addressed with cyclists: visibility around large vehicles.
NYC Department of Transportation guidance warns cyclists not to pass large vehicles while those vehicles are turning because of their substantial blind spots.
That guidance describes a known hazard around large trucks generally. Police have not publicly established that a blind spot caused Friday’s collision.
Still Under Review
The truck driver stayed at the scene after the crash.
NY1 reported Saturday that no arrests had been made. ABC7 said the NYPD Highway Patrol was investigating.
The surviving 16-year-old remained hospitalized in stable condition as of the latest reports.