Posted on August 13, 2014 at 9:57 pm by West Sider

Irving Schachter, a 75-year-old man, was hit by a bicyclist in Central Park earlier this month and died.

Schachter was running on the East park loop around 72nd street at about 4:50 p.m. on August 3 when he was hit by a 17-year-old on a bicycle, according to Streetsblog. The bicyclist had swerved into Schachter while attempting to avoid a pedicab driver, according to the New York Post. Schachter died two days later of a head injury. The bicyclist has not been charged.

Schachter was training to run a marathon and he was also an avid bicyclist. Irving’s wife Hindy wrote on the New York Cycle Club message board that the bicyclist who killed him had swerved into the pedestrian lane (the city installed separate pedestrian and bicycle lanes on the loop road last year). She tried to remind people that bicyclists need to be more mindful of pedestrians:

“Many of us see cyclists as potential victims of cars. And we are. The city still needs to do much more to secure our safety on Manhattan’s streets. To that end we should support the many Transportation Alternative campaigns. But we are also potential predators. One careless move on a bike and we can take down a runner, a walker, a child skipping along. As we want car drivers to be alert to our rights, so too we must act to protect the rights of other people. Almost a week after Irving’s accident I walked through Central Park and saw many cyclists in the runner’s lane. To one I called, “You’re in the runner’s lane.” He replied “yes, I know,” and rode away. Would he like a car driver to give that answer while he veered his car into the bike lane? We need our rights. We also we need to accept our responsibilities.”

The last time a pedestrian was killed by a bicyclist in New York City was in 2009.

To read Hindy’s full message, click here.

File photo of police tape.