Lefevre Attorney: Change in NYPD Cyclist Policy 'Just Business As Usual'

The New York Police Department pledged to treat bicycle accidents like any other vehicular incident, vowing to use a "long form" to document all bike crashes, according to a Daily News report last week.

However, a lawyer for the family of Mathieu Lefevre called news of the NYPD's move "business as usual" in the wake of a string of fatal bicyclist incidents in recent months, including the Oct. 11 crash that claimed the life of the 3rd Ward art collective member on a dark Brooklyn street last year.

"This long form is already in use," attorney Steve Vaccaro said on Friday. "I don't really know what changes they are talking about."

A case brought by the Lefevre family is currently before the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Along with bike safety advocates, the family claims that the police did not do enough to investigate the crash, which occurred on Meserole Street in East Williamsburg when .

The driver of the truck was not charged in the incident.

NYPD did not return a call for comment on the change in policy.

According to the News, the new reporting and tracking initiative is also designed to track the number of accidents between cyclists and pedestrians, with the paper citing a new study finding 500 pedestrians taken to the hospital after being hit by bikers every year.

Vaccaro said he was unsure whether report of the NYPD's action represented an actual change in policy.

"It is puzzling to me since there was legislation passed last year that called on the NYPD to gather and report data," Vaccaro said.

The Lefevre case is scheduled to be heard by U.S. District Court Judge Peter Moulton on April 19.