New York, NY — January 14, 2026, a bicyclist was injured in a truck accident at about 6:15 a.m. in the 1000 block of 2nd Avenue.

Authorities said a 2006 Kenworth semi-truck was turning south from East 57th Street when it hit a bicyclist.

The bicyclist, a 46-year-old woman, suffered serious injuries in the Upper East Side crash, according to authorities. Her name has not been made public yet.

The truck driver was not injured.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the New York County crash at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear that a semi-truck hit a bicyclist in the early morning hours on a busy Manhattan street, they likely wonder: How could something like this happen? Was the truck supposed to be there? And most importantly, was this preventable?

At the moment, we know a few things. The crash happened around 6:15 a.m. as a Kenworth 18-wheeler turned from East 57th Street onto 2nd Avenue and struck a woman on a bicycle. Reports say she was seriously hurt, but we don’t yet know the full extent of her injuries, or what exactly caused the truck to hit her.

That last point is key. Right now, there’s no public information about whether the truck had a green light, whether the bicyclist was in a protected lane or even which direction she was coming from. Depending on how the intersection was configured, and how both the driver and bicyclist approached it, very different legal questions could be in play.

Was the driver making a tight right turn across a bike lane? Was the bicyclist attempting to cross with the light? Was visibility an issue? Without answers to these questions, it’s impossible to draw firm conclusions about who’s responsible.

What can be said is that any serious investigation should start by examining the tools and data most people don’t see, because that’s where the real answers often are. Did the truck have in-cab cameras or blind-spot detection systems? Was the driver properly trained for urban deliveries, where pedestrians and cyclists are everywhere? Was this a routine route or one the driver hadn’t taken before? Those are all questions worth asking.

The truck’s engine control module, the black box, may show the vehicle’s speed, brake use and steering inputs in the moments before the crash. If the driver was distracted, a phone record check could reveal it. And dash cam footage, if available, could show whether the driver kept a proper lookout, or if the cyclist was somewhere they weren’t supposed to be.

Even if it turns out the truck had the legal right of way, that doesn't automatically excuse the crash. A commercial truck has wide turning radiuses and known blind spots. Drivers are trained to compensate for those. If a cyclist was in a blind spot, that only matters if the driver checked, or didn’t. If the turn was made too fast, too close to the curb or without signaling, those are all signs of preventable driver error.

There’s also the company’s role to consider. Did they provide adequate training for city driving? Were delivery schedules so tight that the driver had to rush? In past cases I’ve handled, we've seen how trucking companies sometimes put drivers in impossible situations, and then everyone pays the price when something goes wrong.

Until more information comes out, there are too many unanswered questions to say who’s at fault. But it’s clear that the evidence needed to find out exists, and someone needs to go after it.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s unclear from public reports who had the right of way or how the collision occurred.
• Critical evidence likely exists in black box data, dash cams and cell phone records.
• The truck’s turning behavior and the company’s driver training policies may be key issues.
• Determining fault requires a detailed investigation beyond what police typically release.
• The question isn’t just whether a law was broken, but whether this crash was preventable.