Author Topic: I'm suprised this doesn't happen more often in NY  (Read 1230 times)

InfidelSerf

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I'm suprised this doesn't happen more often in NY
« on: April 22, 2005, 07:49:01 AM »
http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/43085.htm
April 22, 2005 --  A bike messenger whizzing through Midtown traffic miraculously escaped death yesterday when he was squished between a truck and a city bus.

Doucoure Adama, 21, was wedged into an 8-inch space between the truck and the M1 bus after the truck suddenly stopped on Madison Avenue near 40th Street at about 10:45 a.m.

The immigrant from Mali, whose black Raleigh was turned into a pretzel, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was in stable condition. A CAT-scan revealed no broken bones.

"The truck sped up a little bit and then stopped suddenly. When it stopped, it kind of put me in a sandwich," said the messenger, a devout Muslim who prays five times a day.

"I didn't see it coming. It just suddenly happened. The truck [driver] wasn't looking in the rearview mirror and I just got stuck."

John Gomez, 22, a messenger who got Adama into the business, said his friend's survival is "kind of a miracle. It's a payoff for all the prayers he said."

Pinned between the two vehicles, Adama screamed in agony. The bus driver tried to back away, but it only seemed to make matters worse and he screamed even louder, said witness Sidney Morris.

Emergency personnel freed Adama after about 20 minutes by deflating the tires of the bus and truck and using inflatable expanders to push the vehicles away from each other.

The driver of the truck  registered to RM Inc. of Norwalk, Conn., and bearing the message, "Be a Blood Donor. Thanks" in large letters  was too shaken up to comment.

Adama, who lives in The Bronx with a cousin, works for the Cayor Courier Service. Manager Glenn Mann, 42, said Adama is trying to save enough money to build a house in Africa.

"I feel really bad. He's a young kid still. He's always smiling and happy." Mann said.

After Adama was freed, several bike messengers gathered around the mangled remains of his bike.

"It's the street. It's really narrow for an avenue, and then you've got to dodge all these potholes and all these big trucks and buses, too. It's crazy," said messenger Curtis Carr.
The hour is fast approaching,on which the Honor&Success of this army,and the safety of our bleeding Country depend.Remember~Soldiers,that you are Freemen,fighting for the blessings of Liberty-that slavery will be your portion,and that of your posterity,if you do not acquit yourselves like men.GW8/76

RaggedClaws

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I'm suprised this doesn't happen more often in NY
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2005, 08:00:59 AM »
Wow, that's wild!

Those bike messengers are frackin crazy though.  They fly through red lights without even looking to see if its clear, and they yell at pedestrians crossing (when the walk sign is on, mind you) if they get in the way of their red light running.  I wonder if Adama realized that he was breaking the law by riding between the lanes.  Oh yeah, the traffic laws aren't enforced in the city, I keep forgetting rolleyes

I can't tell you how many stories I've heard of people getting injuried by cyclists smashing into suddenly opened cars doors or direction-changing pedestrians.  

Oh and by the way, the sidewalks are for *walking*!  not riding!  If they were for riding, they'd be called siderides.