June 24, 2006
West Side Bicyclist in Critical Condition
The bicyclist hit by a police tow truck yesterday on the West Side is in critical condition. Dr. Carl Nacht, a physician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt, had been taking a late night bike ride with his wife on the West Side bike path when a tow truck hit him as it was making a right turn at West 38th (the truck was headed for the impound lot at Pier 76). Nacht was not wearing a helmet during the collision. According to the Daily News, he "was thrown from his bike and propelled a dozen feet into the air. He smashed into a parked tow truck, striking his head against its hood." He suffered serious head trauma. The tow truck driver, a civilian member of the NYPD, was not charged or given a summons. As many of our commenters noted yesterday, there are lights to warn drivers and bicyclists, but the sad truth is that many drivers do not pay attention.
Nacht, a "marathoner and avid bicyclist," is currently at Roosevelt, after treatment at St. Vincent's. Here are bike safety tips from the city.
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He's a doctor and he's not wearing a helmet. Damn.
Pray for him anyway.
it should be noted that bicyclists have the right of way there.
Where's that idiot who always posts about the lack of benefit a bicycle helmet provides?
I hope he recovers. SLRH has helped my family many times and was where my grandchildren were born.
I try to get my son in law to wear a helmet but he won't listen.
A friend was hit in the head with a 2 X 4 by a guy trying to steal his bike. He fought back and the thief ran away. He was wearing a MSR Helmet. This was in the eighties when helmets were large and had more coverage.
A bike helmet on the greenway? If you are a good rider and aware you don't need a helmet unless you are on the streets. Sadly, the west sidehighway has some really wonky traffic lights. It's like you come up to a bike stop sign but the cars don't get a green light for another 20 seconds so you are standing waiting for the car to make the turn in but it takes a long time so you get tempted to just make a break for it. The Traffic department should make the traffic lights correlate more with each other. And I always slow down when I get near a traffic stop and then go full blast on the long stretches. I don't understand why people go so fast on the traffic stops. SLOW DOWN! Give yourself time to visualize what's happening at that stop and make the right adjustment. Being 5 minutes late in your commute is better than being early 5 minutes to heaven. And you aren't saving that much time. I usually have people who zoom right by me when I slow for the traffic stop but I catch them again on the long stretches and then leave em in the dust.
Simple physics should tell you that when your bike stops suddenly your body keeps moving. Usually over the handlebars. The first thing to hit the ground? Head and hands. Don't think you need a helmet? Just make sure you have someone to feed you and wipe you the rest of your paralyzed life.
Ummm... it is COMPLETELY ridiculous to believe that if you are a "good rider" you don't need a helmet. Because guess who you cannot control when you are on your bike: everyone else on the road. You can be as aware as you want, the fact is, other people aren't.
My father was almost killed by a 14 YEAR OLD GIRL ON A BIKE while he was riding a few years ago- and the helmet saved his life. He's a good rider- he rides in tours, races and on a lot of racing teams- never been in a pile up, never was hit or hit anything himself. And some oblivious kid comes along and damn near kills him. (BTW, she was barely injured in the crash, thank heavens.) You ALWAYS need a helmet, regardless of how "good" you think you are.
So it was a lack of a bicycle helmet that has left this person in critical condition? Not the fact that he was hit by a turning vehicle as he was exercising his right-of-way on a BICYCLE PATH. Let's blame the victim - it wasn't the fault of an automobile driver turning into one of the few "bicycle-only" roads in New York City.
Do a quick Google image search for Amsterdam cyclists. How many people in those images are wearing helmets?
And no charges have been filed against the driver. That sounds familiar doesn't it? The driver being a member of the NYPD almost guarantees that no charges will be filed.
Drevo,
Noone's blaming the cyclist. But the guy LANDED ON HIS GODDAMN HEAD. If you don't think a helmet would have prevented some of his injuries, you probably think "seatbelts are for pussies" as well.
One would assume that jackson dole must have not worn a helmet and experienced sever head trauma, as that would explain his stupid notion that "If you are a good rider and aware you don't need a helmet unless you are on the streets."
You need a helmet at all times when you are riding a bike! A helmet has saved me from severe head trauma a few times and also prevented serious injury from a juvenile delinquent's attack on a greenway out of town.
Minor injuries and a broken helmet are a hell of a lot better than getting your head cracked open. To those who don't wear a helmet it is natural selection at work.
Plus you would expect a doctor to be smart enough to wear a helmet.
So if he was wearing helmet, maybe he would not be in critical condition. He might only be in serious condition, with some broken limbs, etc. And that would be okay? And still there would be no charges filed against the driver who turned into the cyclist riding along a bicycle path. And if he was wearing a helmet and he was killed anyway? You can be assured - still no charges would be filed.
Since the parties involved are from a sort of exclusive group. I would hope the Drs. treating cops would do thier job but let's say not with the best beside manner.
Don't quote the hypocratic oath please because we know the DRs. will treat them due to liability reasons.
We all know a doctor can just treat you with minor pain or just do the job as it is in the book.
You know what I'm talking about, oops can't find a vein, sorry can't give you any pain meds, etc etc.
Your choice.
Out of curiosity is he in Critical Condition due tio Head or Neck Injuries??
Either way, Hope he mkes it.
The poor guy was not "hit" by the tow truck. The truck turned into the bicycle's path, the bicyclist couldn't stop in time, hit the truck, and vaulted forwards.
drewo,
Actually, it would definitely be better. There's an old maxim among helmet advocates: limbs heal, brains don't. Even if you were to lose a limb, life would go on. Not quite so easy if you lose your brain.
You bring up Amsterdam, but there are significant differences. Their roads are better maintained than ours. They ride at much slower speeds and their speed limits for cars are ridiculously low (
Damn shame this had to happen to someone who should know so much better. Especially so soon after that motorcycle accident with the football player last week.
Better perhaps. But acceptable? Again and again we read about pedestrians/cyclists who are hit by/forced into/impeded by automobiles that results in the injury or death of the pedestrian/cyclist. And over and over we read that charges were not filed against the drivers. To me the story is not about helmets. Rather it's about the sense of lawlessness on the city streets these days, where drivers are not held accountable for their actions. Where the death or injury of another New Yorker is dismissed as an accident, instead of being labeled more accurately as carelessness or negligence.
Helmets are for homos! they look so damn gay.
drewo,
Don't you think you're presuming a little here? According to the Times article, the police have not assigned blame in the case. What if it turns out that it was the doctor at fault? Then your entire rant against careless drivers becomes irrelevant. In the final analysis, regardless of whether it's the driver's fault or cyclist's fault, a helmet can save you from serious, possibly debilitating or even fatal injury.
The cyclist wasn't at fault; bikes have the right of way on the bike paths.
There are many comments here I would like to respond to, but I'll go for the end here and hopefully impart some fraction of respect the good doctor deserves. Thank you Gwin- I think this is simply best stated by "he was on a bicycle path- they have the right of way." He was a respected doctor, marathon runner and father. He lived in the city nearly his entire life. He was not ignorant of the statistics or imagery of bicycle accidents, nor the rules and ways of traffic. From what I read of the accident, he never saw the truck coming, his wife swerved to avoid its speed, and a helmet (lets say it was perfectly positioned after a long bike ride- which is not usually the case: yes, helmets can help people, but what people don't hear about are all the accidents where its swayed a bit to the side; it was HOT out, I can only imagine a ride in the heat under a helmet wouldnt have been enjoyable- g-d forbid the man enjoy a night ride with his wife around the neighborhood.) I know the point of these posts are not to say what an incredible man he was (to say the least, he was); but to provoke discussion for improvement. But if he had been wearing a helmet, what about his chest? Should he have been wearing a bubble? He was PROPELLED in the air 12 feet. One can imagine the scenarios this could have unfolded. Pray for his family, get outside and enjoy the city...and if you drive and get perturbed by pedestrians along the way, remember they could all be in cars and then what a drive you'd have!
Dr Nacht was my physician, a fellow runner and an amazing man. He passed away yesterday from his head injuries. I wish he was wearing a helmet, but not sure it would have made a difference... if he had wound up paralyzed, it would have been worse for him, I think, as he was the ultimate free spirit and adventurer. I will miss him. Please pray for his family and keep his children in your thoughts. He deserves that respect.
A Sad Patient, I'm sorry for your loss. While you had a direct connection to him, it is truly a loss for all of NYC as each time a bicyclist is run down, and the driver of the vehicle goes unpunished, it becomes harder out there for all of us, pedestrians included. I will have Dr. Nacht, as well as the kid killed today in my thoughts.
http://transalt.org/press/releases/060626cyclistkilled.pdf
THIS WAS MY MOTHERS DOCTOR FOR OVER 10 YEARS, SHE IS HEARTBROKEN ABOUT THIS.YES HE SHOULD HAVE HAD HIS HELMET ON, BUT WHEN IS THE POLICE EVER GOING TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE ULTIMATE DEATH OF THIS WONDERFUL MAN!
DR. NACHT WAS AN INCREDIBLE MAN IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD. HE WILL BE SORELY MISSED BY MANY WHO WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY HIS KINDNESS AND GENTLE SPIRIT.
I was a patient of Carl's for the past 20 years.
There is a memorial service today (Tuesday June 27, 2006) at 2:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine at Amsterdam Avenue and 110th Street.
Dr. Nacht was my doctor for the past 12 years. I knew he was a truly caring, compassionate and skilled doctor but unfortunately I didn't know how much else he had accomplished in his life until I heard the people speak at his funeral yesterday. This is a tremendous loss for the City in many many ways. :(
Henry was truely a wonderful person. He was the type of person to help anyone without excepting anything in return. With that being said helmet on or not on it would not have saved his life. He was pronounced brain dead once he arrived at the hospital and only kept on life support until his family could say their fairwells. In the words of his wife, who was right by his side to witness the accident, she is not mad at the driver and neither should anyone else. She believes it was a tragic accident and she was just the lucky one. Please just pray for his family - they lost their bestfriend, companion, & father. Also keep in mind that the driver needs to live with Henry's death for the rest of his life and if Henry's family could find kindness in their hearts to forgive the driver than that is a request that should be honored by all.