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Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

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Another cyclist was fatally struck by a tractor trailer in NYC on Wednesday. The tractor trailer was on a non truck route. The victim was identified as 25 year old Kala Santiago, a mother of 2 children, 2months and 1 and half year old. She was on her way to work and was riding her bicycle on Parkside Avenue near Parade Place in the vicinity of Prospect Park when the fatal accident occurred.

Truck driver blames the victim even though he failed to yield to her

So far the police did not charge  the truck driver who was identified as Saeed Ahmed. He told the police that the cyclist fell under his truck after she hit a vehicle parked on the side of the road. He also said he saw the cyclist in front of him and she seemed nervous. The driver also told Liam Quigley from the NY Daily News (see twitter post below) that he saw the cyclist and overtook her but stopped as soon as he saw she fell under the wheels of the truck.  Pictures of the accident seemed to indicate that Kala Santiago might have been crushed between a parked truck on the right side and the tractor trailer on her left side. Another surveillance video shows that the tractor trailer failed to yield to her and overpassed her with oncoming traffic in the other direction. As a result there was not enough space and the cyclist might have been crushed between the two trucks.

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A beloved and popular truck driver died and his customer suffered serious personal injury in a multiple vehicle crash caused by a drunk driver on the Long Island Expressway in Queens.

The accident occurred last Saturday night around 3:30 am. 47 year old Carlos Santiago (Campy), a tow truck driver working for Knights Towing and the father of 3 children, was sent on a call to help a stranded driver in a Nissan on the Long Island Expressway near exit 19 in Elmhurst, Queens.

Drunk driver responsible for chain collision that ended killing Campy and seriously injuring his customer

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A reckless truck driver fatally struck a NYC pedestrian as he was in the crosswalk with the light in his favor. The truck accident occurred early morning  around 6:30 am on October 4th.

63 year old Benjamin  Berger was crossing the street at the intersection of Flushing Avenue and Bedford Avenue. He was in the crosswalk with the greenlight in his favor when a box truck turning left from Flushing Avenue onto Bedford Avenue literally rolled over him. A surveillance video posted by Williamsburg News shows the truck turning recklessly without slowing down and driving over the victim.  When  paramedics arrived at the scene of the accident they found the victim dead with severe body and head injuries. The man was living just a block away.

The driver was identified as 44 year old Torriez Bailey from Maryland. He was arrested by the police and charged with failure to use due care and failure to yield to a pedestrian.

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17 pedestrians, 4 cyclists, 14 passengers and 22 motorists died in auto accidents in NYC  during the two hottest months of the summer. Truck accidents were close to record highs while bus accidents were slightly lower than usual.

35 people died in car accidents in New York City in July and 22 in August for a total of 57 fatalities compared to respectively 51, 42, 39, 32, 43, 44, 41, 50 and 56 during the months of July and August 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. The number of fatalities was even higher this summer than what it was during the summer of 2013 before Vision Zero started.

The month of July was particularly bad with a record 35 people dying during this month. The only time since 2013 that this number of people were killed in traffic accidents was in September 2020. Since the Covid19 crisis of 2020, traffic accidents fatalities have been much higher than what they were the years before. Among those who died in July were 11 pedestrians, 3 cyclists, 7 motor vehicle passengers and 14 motor vehicle operators. The number of motor vehicle operator deaths in July reached a level never seen since the beginning of Vision Zero except again in September 2020.

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Truck Smart Guide NYCWhile trucks remain essential in new York City, they pose a serious risk to other road users in particular to pedestrians and cyclists.  According to statistics, 67% of  truck accidents involving a cyclist or a pedestrian result in serious injury or death.

The largest the truck, the most dangerous it is

Large blind angles can hide pedestrians and cyclists when they stand in front or on the side of a truck. Additionnally the heaviest a truck is, the longest it will take for the truck to stop.

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Location of the deadly CitiBike accidentA 28 year old woman riding a CitiBike was fatally struck by a tractor-trailer truck in New York.

The fatal collision between the truck and the cyclist occurred last Tuesday around 10:50 AM. 28 year old Carling Mott who lived a few blocks away, in Yorkville, on 84th Street, was riding a CitiBike on East 85th Street near the intersection of Madison Avenue when she was struck by a tractor trailer going in the same direction. The police initially stated she was riding in the opposite direction but corrected their statement later on.  Just before the accident the tractor trailer was waiting for the light to turn green and Carling was riding her bike on the right side of the truck when the driver took off (see video). The investigation is still ongoing as how exactly the accident took place . According to a recent article in the patch, Mott might have felt and gotten crushed by the truck as the light turned green and the driver moved forward. She was rushed to the hospital but she could not be saved.

https://vimeo.com/734040568

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Location of the car, MTA Bus and truck accident7 people were injured in a multi-vehicle collision involving a car, a MTA bus and a truck in New York City during Tuesday rush hour. The accident took place on Ralph Avenue near 66th Street in Old Mill Basin, Brooklyn, NYC around 5:40 pm. The driver of a Toyota Camry was trying to pass a MTA bus on the left lane when he side swiped the bus and careened across the street and into a work truck.

The driver of the car was given CPR by bystanders before being rushed to the hospital

A witness who lived nearby told the NY Daily News that the sound of the impact felt like a gun shot. He ran out of his house and saw the Toyota Camry smoking with the driver inside. Several other witnesses ran to the car and got the driver out of the car. They lied him on the ground and gave him CPR.  6 other people were injured including the driver of the work truck who suffered whiplash according to his brother who was also present at the scene of the accident with the wife’s driver. All crash victims were transported to the hospital to be treated.

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11 pedestrians, 3 cyclists, 4 passengers and 8 motor vehicle operators died in crashes in New York City last May compared to respectively 6,2,0 and 2 in April and 15, 1, 3 and 11 in May 2021. This is the first time that the number of monthly fatalities is above 25 since October 21.

After a drop during the Covid19 crisis in 2020, monthly traffic accident fatalities have been above 25, 8 times during the last 2 years, Before the Covid19 crisis, since Vision Zero started in 2014, fatalities only went above 25 5 times over a period of 6 years. These numbers are very preoccupying.  At the very beginning of May, The Adams administration launched a $4 million campaign urging  motorists to slow down but so far this campaign doesn’t seem to have much effects on car accident fatalities.

New York motor vehicle accident fatalities May 2022
Car accident deaths have been exploding over the last two years in New York City. Last May, as mentioned above, 26 people died in traffic accidents compared to 10 a month earlier and 30 in May 2021. Since May 2015 when they reached 28, monthly car accidents deaths had remained below 20 during the months of April and May. While the trendline since Vison Zero started remains on the decline, the last 2 years have been more deadly than before.

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truckAs more and more truck traffic in the US leads to more and more truck accident fatalities, truck safety activists are pushing for  the government to revise safety regulations and laws related to truck traffic in the US.

5,600 people died in truck accidents in the US in 2021 compared to 4,965 in 2020, representing an increase of 13% from one year to the other.  This is the highest number of truck fatalities ever recorded in the US. Compared to 2010, the number of truck accident fatalities increased by 52%.

The Truck Safety Coalition released a statement pointing at multiple regulations updates that could prevent deadly truck accidents:

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this is where the man on a motorised scooter was fatally killedA 72 year old man on a motorized scooter is the 8th person to die in a traffic accident in New York City in one week

After a student was killed by a drunk driver in Manhattan, a 16 year old was killed by a truck while on her way to school in the Bronx,  a bike rider was killed by a garbage truck in Brooklyn, a delivery man was fatally struck by a van in Brooklyn, two pedestrians were fatally struck the same day in Queens and a mother was fatally struck by a stolen hit and run truck in Queens as well , an elderly man who was trying to cross the street on his motorized scooter was killed by a van in the Bronx on Sunday night just a few hours before a 20 year old driver speeding on the Belt Parkway killed herself and critically injured her passenger after crashing her car in a city truck.

Additionally, on Monday, a 69 year old man was critically injured after being struck and dragged by a box truck in the UES.