Gay Lane Bike-Car Crash

A bicyclist was struck by a car in front of the CVS pharmacy in East Hampton Village on Sunday afternoon.

East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen, who was at the scene, said the car had been heading west on Pantigo Road (part of Montauk Highway) when the driver attempted to turn left into the parking lot off Gay Lane. The bicyclist, Thomas Kim, 49, of Brooklyn was traveling east on Pantigo Road when the accident occurred, at about 12:35 p.m.

The driver, Susannah Maher, 43, of West Tisbury, Mass., told police that an eastbound driver had stopped to allow her to make the left turn, and she did not see the oncoming cyclist. Mr. Kim struck the rear passenger door of her 2005 Volkswagen sedan. The occupants of the car that stopped for her told police he had passed their car on the right.

Police initially called for a “forthwith response” from the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association, which usually indicates there are serious injuries. The East Hampton Fire Department also responded. Chief Larsen described the injuries as non-life-threatening; however, Mr. Kim was flown by a medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital, the nearest trauma center. He has since been discharged.

Several bad accidents have occurred over the years at or near the same spot. On a Saturday afternoon in June 2013, a 14-year-old girl from Springs was riding a bicycle on Pantigo Road when she was hit by a car at the intersection of Gay Lane. Anna Mirabai Lytton died at the hospital from her injuries.

Last summer, four people were injured when a drunken driver crashed into a tree on Pantigo Road near Gay Lane. Jungsik Lee of Queens eventually pleaded guilty to two felony assault charges and several alcohol-related charges. He is awaiting sentencing.