Two men — one on an electric scooter and another on a bicycle — died the morning of May 28 after they collided in the bike lane on the Queensboro Bridge. According to a report in The New York Times, police officers responded after a 39-year-old man riding a stand-up electric scooter crashed into a 35-year-old bicyclist. The e-scooter driver was traveling west while the bicyclist was going east, police said. Both men were brought to New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Queens where they were pronounced dead. The Times reports that photos taken in the aftermath of the bicycle accident show the bike snapped clean in half with an orange e-scooter lying next to it.
The Danger of High-Speed E-Scooters
The e-scooter involved in the crash was not legal for street use because it was capable of much faster speeds than allowed under city law, officials said. They said it should not have been operated on any city streets or bike paths. The speed limit for electric bikes is 15 mph. An electric standing scooter — one that does not have a seat — is illegal in New York City, if it has the capability of traveling more than 20 mph.
The type of e-scooter involved in this crash reportedly can reach speeds of nearly 53 mph. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office issued a statement saying that high-speed micromobility devices, such as the e-scooter involved in this crash, “have no place on our roadways or bike paths.” Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, a transportation policy nonprofit, told the Times that the speed of the illegal vehicle was most likely the reason for the severity of the crash. He said it’s “like throwing a grenade on city streets.”
Last year, the Department of Transportation redesigned the bridge’s outer roadways, separating bike and pedestrian traffic, and doubling the space for bikes and other micromobility vehicles. This is the first time a bicyclist has been killed on the Queensboro Bridge since 2014, according to Transportation Alternatives, a street safety advocacy group. Between 2022 and 2025, electric scooters have been involved in crashes that have seriously injured 76 bicyclists and pedestrians, the group said. Safety advocates are calling for the passage of a City Council bill that would end the sale of e-bikes that go faster than 20 mph.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bicycle accident or pedestrian accident, or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a negligent (careless) driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. It is in the best interest of injured victims and their families in such cases to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer before contacting the people responsible for the injuries, and definitely before contacting or communicating with any insurance company.
For over 54 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and $2,000,000 in a hit-and-run accident, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. We also recovered $1,500,000 for a lady who was hurt by a bus, although there was only a 1 million dollar insurance policy and we got $500,000 above that insurance policy.
We also obtained $295,000 out of a $300,000 insurance policy in compensation for the victim of a bicycle dooring accident (where a car door opens into the path of a bicyclist). One of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases. Also, we got a $1,400,000 verdict in a motorcycle accident.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury cases, motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, ceiling collapse cases, lead poisoning, paraplegia cases, quadriplegia cases and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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Source:https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/nyregion/queensboro-bridge-nyc-bike-scooter-crash-deaths.html