[UPDATE BELOW] A cyclist was struck by a taxi yesterday morning near Union Square and suffered serious head lacerations. According to a FDNY spokesman, a man in his mid-30s was biking on East 17th Street at 9:50 a.m. when a cab struck him near Park Avenue. The Post's blotter says he crashed into the taxi's windshield but that could not be confirmed. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
When inquiring about this incident, we were reminded by an NYPD spokesman that the department's Accident Investigation Squad does not investigate crashes of this nature that don't involve death or very serious injury. You can read more about the NYPD's procedures for investigating cycling accidents here.
[UPDATE] Redditor v3ra1ynn witnessed the incident shortly after it happened and used his shirt to apply pressure to the cyclist's wounds:
It happened only about 20 feet from where I was, I didn't see it, but it was obvious that someone got hit by a car, and hard. Instantaneously, I put down the bag I had in my hand and ran over to the scene. A few people were already yelling "call 911!" I looked down and saw the male sprawled on the ground, flailing around like a fish out of water...his head was bleeding profusely and there was already a good amount of blood gathering on the ground. Everyone was just staring in fear, what can we do?
As soon as I saw the blood, I knew something had to be done, and quickly. He was losing it fast, he had a fist sized gash in his forehead where his head hit the windshield of the taxi and all of his skin was torn up.
