Truck Driver Who Hit Cyclist Kelly Hurley In East Village Arrested, Police Say

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The man who was driving a truck that fatally hit cyclist Kelly Hurley in April was arrested on Wednesday, police said.

Kyung Hyun, 59, was arrested more than two months after 31-year-old Hurley was fatally injured as she biked north up First Avenue. An NYPD spokesman told Patch that Hyun was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian, failure to exercise due care and making an improper left turn. DNAinfo first reported news of Hyun's arrest.

Cycling activists were outraged over Hurley's death, which occurred as the Lower East Side resident entered what's known as a "mixing zone" while biking up First Avenue. She was struck on April 5 when Hyun made a left-hand turn onto East Ninth Street.

Mixing zones are intersections in which a bike lane merges with a left-hand turn lane. Although cars are permitted to make turns, cyclists are meant to have the right of way. After the collision, police said that Hyun cut across four lanes of traffic to make the turn. In the wake of Hurley's death, the activist group Transportation Alternatives condemned the use of mixing zones throughout the city's bike lane network. Cyclists also faulted the city for what they said was lax enforcement on improper drivers but overeager ticketing of cyclists.

"As they have done in the wake of other recent tragedies, the NYPD unleashed a ticketing blitz on cyclists shortly after the preventable crash that killed Kelly," the group's executive director Paul Steely White said in a statement in April. "As the [Department of Transportation] upgrades design to account for widespread lawless driving, the NYPD must redirect enforcement towards the real killers on our streets."

The city's transportation department has pointed to Hyun's lane-cutting left turn as the source of the collision, and said at the time that it did not believe the mixing zone design contributed to Hurley's death.

"Initial investigation of the crash reveals that the driver made a left turn from the right most lane, cutting across four lanes of traffic, before he hit Ms. Hurley. Therefore we believe the mixing zone design was not a factor in this crash," a Department of Transportation spokesperson told Patch in April. "Regardless, DOT has committed to investigating bicycle intersection upgrades and new intersection designs as part of [Vision Zero] Year 4. This process is under way and we look forward to discussing next steps for this study in the coming months."

The city's Vision Zero initiative is working to drastically reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Last year, 18 cyclists were killed in traffic collisions, compared to 14 in 2015 and 20 in 2014, according to Vision Zero data.

A law enforcement source told Patch that Hyun, of Syosset, was issued a desk appearance ticket by police. Such tickets are typically issued for misdemeanors and violations. He is not scheduled to appear in court until August, after which the Manhattan district attorney may choose to pursue additional charges against him. Patch was not immediately available to identify an attorney for Hyun.

Many New York City cyclists were outraged that Hyun was not immediately arrested after the collision, which sent Hurley to the hospital. She died about a week later from her injuries. NYPD Lt. Brian Reynolds said at a meeting in April that he would recommend to prosecutors that Hyun be "held accountable." Reynolds did not specify at the time what he would recommend to prosecutors.

Read previous coverage from Patch:

• Kelly Hurley Dies One Week After East Village Crash
• NYC Cyclists Condemn Intersection Design After Kelly Hurley's Death
• NYPD Wants Driver In Fatal East Village Collision To Be 'Held Accountable'

This story has been updated with additional information throughout.

Lead image via Ciara McCarthy / Patch. Caption: A cyclist approaches the "mixing zone" at the intersection of First Avenue and East Ninth Street.