Marcus Hammond was walking home with friends after some pre-Harvard-Yale Game revelry when he came across “the worst thing I’ve ever seen”— a “sudden” bicycle-car accident that could have killed one of New Haven’s top “safe streets” advocates.
Hammond stuck around to help and tell the police what he saw. He saw the whole episode, he said.
The crash occurred at 1:55 a.m. last Saturday.
Hammond was back in town for the annual Yale-Harvard football game. He graduated from Yale College last year; now he’s studying engineering in grad school at Stanford.
He and friends hit some downtown spots including Viva Zapata. Then they walked home to one of the friends’ Wooster Square apartments.
They were heading east between Temple and Church, in front of the 900 Chapel St. tower. “Two bikes came up from behind us” traveling east on Chapel as well, Hammond said.
The cyclists were riding one in front of the other. The cyclist in back would turn out to be safe streets activist and East Rock community organizer David Streever. (Hammond said he never met or knew of Streever, who’s pictured in his hospital bed in the above video.)
“I think it was an SUV that was behind them,” Hammond said. “I don’t know what happened that caused it, but [Streever] turned back over his right shoulder and flipped the bird to the driver of that car.
“He then drifted into the oncoming lane of traffic and hit” an Audi driven by a 31-year-old woman traveling west on Chapel, Hammond recalled in a conversation Friday morning.
“It was pretty much the worst thing I’ve ever seen. It was sudden, unexpected. I’ve never seen someone that vulnerable just get … It was a head-on collision. I think [Streever’s] head really just smashed the windshield of the driver’s side of the car.
“Then he was laying motionless on the side. He was still breathing, though evidently his tongue was very swollen. There was just blood all over the place. He was completely unconscious.”
Ten to fifteen people were near the scene, including bouncers form a nearby bar, according to Hammond. The friend Hammond was staying with, a trained lifeguard, kept people from touching Streever’s body. Hammond called 911. Within minutes, he said, a half-dozen emergency vehicles were on the scene.
Hammond was shaken. He “felt bad” for the woman driving the car, he said. “She was just minding her own business.” And he worried for Streever’s condition. “I hoped the guy was OK. I have in the past commuted to work on my bike in city traffic both in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. I understand the risks.”
The cops interviewed Hammond about what he saw, then took down his name and contact information. He and his friends then left.
The police investigation into the incident continues. “We hope to get it done fairly quickly,” said Lt. Joseph Witkowski, who’s in charge of the investigation.
“We do have that witness in our report,” and his account gibes with other information the police have gathered, according to Witkowski. The woman driving the car was not charged with any offense. She cooperated with police.
On The Mend
Meanwhile Streever — who broke his jaw, and could have been far more severely hurt if he hadn’t worn a helmet — has returned home from Yale-New Haven Hospital.
He spent the first part of the week undergoing surgery and then hooked up to a hospital respirator. News of the crash elicited a flood of comments posted by Independent readers, some of them people with whom Streever has regularly disagreed in lively past debates on the site. The readers wished him a speedy and full recovery, whatever the cause of the crash.
One friend, Ben Berkowitz, made a video of Streever listening to some of the comments read aloud to him at his hospital bedside. Click on the play arrow at the top of the story to watch.
On Thanksgiving day, Streever returned to the online debate world. He posted a comment on the original Independent story thread thanking readers for their “kindness.”
He stated he has no memory of the accident. He asked people for patience, to allow the facts to come out before passing judgment.
“Don’t assign blame to the driver because you like me or to me because you hate bikes: and remember that ‘blame’ is a very legalese term that only means who is financially responsible,” Streever wrote. “Dig?”
Streever offered an email update from his home Friday: “My jaw is wired shut, and I’m able to talk through my teeth: painful and slow. I’m sleeping a little at night, but the pain and discomfort has me awake most of the night. Some generous people brought me a reclining arm-chair and that is making a big difference.”
Read previous stories about David Streever’s safe-streets activism here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Weeeeeelllll, that's unfortunate.
Although, I'm sure many posters will have no problem assigning blame to one person, I say that there are two issues present in this situation.
I don't think automobiles should be gotten rid of, they are practical and useful in moderation. Perhaps the driver was using this car sensibly and just happened to be put in this situation (sounds likely), but ultimately I don't know.
Unfortunately, this will probably lead to a lack of credibility for Streever's opinions, but his work is an important part of rediscovering a good street system and balance for America's landscape. While Streever's apparent actions look horrendous from the article, its unclear how the SUV provoked him (still not an excuse, but an important part). While I dislike him personally, his work is undeniably important and should not be discouraged.