Driver Fatally Doors Cyclist in Queens Yet is Not Charged

A Citi Bike rider was killed after being doored on Monday by a Queens motorist — yet the driver was not initially charged for the illegal act.

According to police, Cristian Vazquez, 26 of nearby College Point, was cycling northbound on 108th Street near 38th Avenue in Corona at around 6:40 p.m. when the driver of a 2014 BMW “opened the door to exit the vehicle” and struck Vazquez, ejecting him from the electric Citi Bike and onto the pavement.

The cyclist suffered “severe head trauma,” cops said. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital where he died.

There were no charges, cops said, claiming the investigation is ongoing.

According to New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, a driver is prohibited from opening a car door “until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic.”

The eight-block stretch of 108th Street between Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard is a noticeably dangerous roadway. Last year, there were 45 reported crashes, injuring 28 people, including four pedestrians and five cyclists, according to city stats.

According to the NYPD, so far this year, 19 cyclists, e-bike riders and stand-up scooter riders have been killed, and 5,378 of them have been injured.

Several cyclists are fatally doored every year. Last year, another Citi Bike rider was doored on Broadway in Brooklyn, but was not initially charged (the NYPD said it later issued a ticket for unsafe door opening, or VTL1214). The same thing happened to Kwok Kwan near the Javits Center in 2022 and, again, the NYPD did not initially charge the driver.

The City Council passed a bill last year requiring warning stickers to be placed inside cabs to warn passengers to open their doors into traffic. That rule went into effect on Oct. 25.

This is a breaking story.