Motorcyclist Killed in NoHo Traffic Accident

At least one person is dead after a traffic accident in NoHo on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
Motorcyclist Killed in NoHo Traffic Accident
A motorcycle and the driver's shoe are seen in the street after it hit a minivan at the intersection of West Houston and LaGuardia Place on Aug. 21. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead on the scene. (Sarah Matheson/Epoch Times)
Sarah Matheson
8/21/2013
Updated:
8/21/2013

NEW YORK—A motorcyclist is dead after a traffic accident at the intersection of West Houston and LaGuardia Place in NoHo on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

NYPD Lieutenant Chris Belmonte said the motorcycle hit a green Chrysler Voyager minivan.

“It was running the red light and ran into the van. [It] t-lined it,” Belmonte said.

The accident happened at about 4:30 p.m. and the motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

The motorcycle struck rear door on the left hand-side of the minivan. Debris from the motorcycle was scattered across the intersection.

Crowds gathered after the accident outside Starbucks and Dos Caminos, a local restaurant, both at the intersection.

One eyewitness standing outside Starbucks said he came close to being involved in the accident. The man, who did not want to give his name, was noticeably shaken.

“I was probably about a second away from it,” he said.

He said he works in a nearby office building and had been hurriedly crossing the intersection when the accident occurred.

“I just crossed and before I got to the other side I heard a crash and turned around and knew that somebody was killed,” he said. “I didn’t make it to the other side of the street.”

He said because of the high speed of the collision the motorcyclist’s clothing and parts of the bike had been spread across the road.

“The helmet was about 20 feet away, his shoe was about 10 feet away,” the witness said about the accident victim. “I feel screwed up and in about another couple of hours I will feel screwed up.”

The man said he was so shocked that he just turned around and ran. “I ran back to my office and told them, ‘Somebody just got killed,’” he said.

He said if the timing of the accident had been a few seconds sooner, he may have been hit by the motorcycle, but the bike was traveling so fast he hadn’t even seen it coming as he crossed the road.

“You didn’t even hear brakes,” he said.

As of early Wednesday evening, the intersection was shut down to traffic and there were at least 18 police vehicles on the scene.

The dead man’s identity had not been released at the time this report was published.

Sarah Matheson covers the business of luxury for Epoch Times. Sarah has worked for media organizations in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, and graduated with merit from the Aoraki Polytechnic School of Journalism in 2005. Sarah is almost fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Originally from New Zealand, she now lives next to the Highline in Manhattan's most up-and-coming neighborhood, West Chelsea.
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