Taxi Passenger Opened Door Before Cyclist Died on 11th Avenue
A 66-year-old e-bike rider died after a Jan. 16, 2022 crash at West 37th Street and 11th Avenue, where police told Streetsblog a taxi passenger opened a rear door that Kwok Kwan hit.
What We Know
Kwok Kwan, 66, was riding an e-bike on 11th Avenue near West 37th Street on Jan. 16, 2022, when police said he hit an open rear passenger door of a 2016 Toyota Prius taxi while a passenger was getting out. Streetsblog reported that Kwan suffered head trauma in the fall, was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital in stable condition and died on Feb. 11. City crash records list one bicyclist killed at West 37th Street and 11th Avenue and identify a bike and taxi as the vehicles involved. The records list pavement defective as a crash-level contributing factor and passenger distraction for the taxi, while the press account focused on the opened passenger door.
Police described a dooring before the fatal fall
The crash happened at about 11:08 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2022, at West 37th Street and 11th Avenue in Manhattan. Streetsblog, citing police and a police source, reported that Kwok Kwan was riding on 11th Avenue when he hit the open rear passenger door of a 2016 Toyota Prius taxi while a passenger was getting out.
Police said Kwan suffered head trauma in the fall from his electric bike and was not hit by another driver. He was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital in stable condition and died on Feb. 11.
Kwok Kwan was the first cyclist death reported that year
The city record identifies the person killed as a 66-year-old male bicyclist. Streetsblog identified him as Kwok Kwan and reported that the Department of Transportation counted his death as the first cyclist death of 2022.
The records and press account point to different factors
City crash data lists pavement defective as a crash-level contributing factor. The taxi vehicle record lists passenger distraction, and Streetsblog reported that neither the taxi driver nor the passenger was summonsed for the dooring at the time of its story.
Police said the 42-year-old taxi driver remained at the scene and was not initially charged, and that the investigation was ongoing.
11th Avenue has remained a high-crash corridor
The crash location is West 37th Street and 11th Avenue in Manhattan. CrashCountNYC’s location context for 11th Avenue in Manhattan shows 620 crashes, 283 injuries, 31 serious injuries and 3 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.