Florence Ngwu, a beloved mother and nurse who was critically injured in a truck accident in New York City on Sunday morning did not survive. She died on Monday afternoon from her injuries.
The horrific accident took place on Mother’s Day around 8:30 am on 167th Street and 120th Avenue in South Jamaica, Queens, NYC.
10 pedestrians, 8 passengers and 6 drivers died in crashes in New York City in February. No cyclists fatalities were reported to the NYPD during this month. 266 bus accidents, 577 truck accidents and 56 motorcycle accidents were reported among the total 7,261 motor vehicle collisions recorded in February.
Traffic accident fatalities in New York City reached a record high for the month of February with 24 people dying in traffic accidents compared to respectively 10, 17, 12, 16, 13, 18, 15, 12 and 20 in February 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Traffic accident fatalities in the city last February were even higher than what they were in February 2013 before Vision Zero started. The trendline which had been steadily declining during Vision Zero is now almost flat. Since last February ,monthly car accident fatalities have been at the level of the trendline or above which is quite unusual and quite worrisome.
The high number of car accident fatalities in New York City last February is mostly due to a record high number of car passengers fatalities (see category in red in the graph below, click on it for full size). 8 motor vehicle passengers died in crashes last February compared to 5 in January 2020 and 2 in February 2021. Since Vision Zero started and even a year before, the highest total monthly passengers fatalities were 6 in April 2014 and 6 in July 2015.
A man crossing the street in a wheelchair was killed in a truck accident in New York City. The accident occurred on Saturday morning at the intersection of Central Avenue and Nameoke Ave in Far Rockaway, Queens. A video shows the 73 year old victim proceeding to cross Central Avenue in front of the box truck while the driver waits at the red light. As the man slowly crosses in front of the truck, the driver pulls ahead and crushes the man on the wheelchair. The truck driver then continued to drive while dragging the victim and the wheelchair down the block before stopping.
The victim was rushed to the hospital but he could not be saved. Locals who knew the victims said he was a very nice and pleasant man.
The driver was identified as 42 year old Freddy Saquisili from Long Island. He remained at the scene of the accident and police found out that he was driving the 2013 International Harvester delivery truck with a suspended license and should have never been behind the wheel of the truck. He was arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed driving. He was later released without bail after his arraignment. He is facing up to 4 years in prison.
657 pedestrians, 161 cyclists, 870 passengers and 1,429 motorists were injured in motor vehicle accidents in New York City last January. 19 other road users died in crashes the same month, including 11 pedestrians, 5 passengers and 3 motorists. This is the highest number of fatalities for a month of January since January 2019 and the highest it ever got during a month and more than half of them were motorists. Last year during the same month, 13 people were killed in traffic accidents in the city.
The total number of people injured in motor vehicle accidents in January 2022 in the city was a little higher than in January 2021 when it reached 3,028 however this number remained lower than numbers recorded during the months of January before the pandemic. The graph below illustrates well the seasonality of car accident injuries with the month of January being usually a month during which there are less injuries reported than during the summer months. The graph also shows a big drop during the lockdown.
Motorists and passengers are the two categories of road users that usually sustained the most injuries of all auto accidents reported in the city.
A 76 year old pedestrian was fatally struck by a dump truck in the Bronx, NYC, on Monday morning. 76 year old Lola Blair was crossing Enstein Loop around 11:45 am when she was hit by a dump truck making a left turn from the Hutchinson River Parkway service road onto Einstein Loop. The dump truck driver first continued to drive but then returned to the scene of the accident. The woman was rushed to the hospital where she died from her injuries. She was living nearby, in Co-op city.
Drivers, especially truck drivers must exercise due care when driving in residential areas but so far the NYPD did not charge the dump truck driver for failure to exercise due care.
On Friday another pedestrian was fatally struck by a garbage truck in Brooklyn ( see previous blog).
A 62 year old man was killed in a garbage truck accident in Brooklyn, NYC, on Friday afternoon. The accident occurred around 3:30 pm in front of the Atlantic Terminal Mall near the Barclay Center. The pedestrian was crossing Flatbush Avenue at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue when he was struck by a commercial garbage truck belonging to the private hauler Safeway Services Corp. The 37 year old driver remained at the scene of the accident.
The pedestrian was struck a few feet away from the faded crosswalk and pictures from the accident scene on social media may indicate that the pedestrian was using a walker. It is not clear if the garbage was driving through the intersection and was on Flatbush Avenue with the light in his favor or if he made a right turn from Atlantic Avenue onto Flatbush and both pedestrians and turning traffic had the green light when the accident occurred. In that case the truck driver should have yielded to the pedestrian. It is not clear either if the garbage truck was equipped with guardrails. The law requires that all garbage trucks above 10,000 pounds be equipped with guardrails by 2024.
18 year old Sara Perez was fatally struck by a by a 16 year old driver in Queens NYC. The accident occurred last Thursday in front of the Northern Lube and Tire Shop at 106 Northern Boulevard near 107th street. A video shows the pedestrian on the sidewalk waiting for the pick up truck to back out of the garage. After the truck moved out of the way, the young woman proceeded to walk again. As she was doing so, the driver of the pick up truck suddenly reversed into drive, accelerated and crashed into her at a high rate speed. She was crushed against a fence in front of several horrified witnesses. One of them got so upset that he opened the door of the truck, pulled the driver out and pinned his hand behind his back.
When EMS arrived Sara was unresponsive. She was rushed to the hospital but she could not be saved and was pronounced dead. The young woman was heading home after buying some food for her 10 kittens. She lived just a block away. Sara was fostering stray cats kittens so they could be adopted. She was planning on becoming a veterinarian. She loved animals. The family of Sara set up a gofundme (picture) to help with the funeral costs and other bills related to the accident.
The driver of the Ford F-150 pickup truck stayed at the scene of the accident. So far he has not been charged or arrested. It seemed that the young man backed the car out into the heavy traffic of Northern Boulevard, almost hitting another car, panicked, reversed into drive, pressed the gas and slammed into the pedestrian.
A 13 year old girl was critically injured in a truck accident in Brooklyn, NYC, yesterday morning. The accident occurred around 7:30 AM in Midwood. The teenager had just come out of a MTA Bus in the vicinity of Avenue J and Coney Island Avenue and was crossing the street when she was struck by a box truck. The driver of the box truck, a 35 year old man, stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. The teenager is the 3rd child to be struck by a vehicle in Brooklyn over the last two weeks. A teenage boy was critically injured in a MTA bus accident last weekend and a 15 year old girl died after being hit by a yellow school bus in Brooklyn the week earlier. (read more in PIX11)
Later on during the day, in the Bronx, a 24 year old pedestrian was hit by a black Mercedes sedan and was critically inured as well . The accident occurred as the pedestrian was crossing the intersection of Edenwald Avenue and Boyd Ave in Wakefield around 4:45 pm. The driver of the Mercedes did not stop. The police found the victim lying in the street with severe head trauma. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The police were able to identify the vehicle and found out it had been reported stolen. (read more in the NY Daily News)
Over the last two weeks traffic accidents killing and injuring pedestrians and cyclists in New York City have been out of control with people being seriously injured or killed by vehicles on a daily basis.
A man on a e-Scooter was fatally struck by a New York City sanitation truck yesterday in Brooklyn. The victim was a 55 year old man who was traveling south on Rockaway Ave in Brownsville. He was struck by the sanitation truck at the Ditmas Ave intersection. The driver of the sanitation truck hit the e-scooter while he was making a right turn onto Rockaway Ave. The driver of the sanitation bus stayed at the scene of the accident while the victim was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately the victim could not be saved. The police are still investigating the accident. (read more in the NY Daily News)
On Monday night, around 6:30 pm, a 75 year old pedestrian crossing McGuiness Boulevard was hit by a 70 year old driver near the intersection of Norman Avenue. McGuiness Boulevard is a very dangerous Boulevard that was supposed to be redesigned under de Blasio Vision Zero but it never happened. According to Streetblog NYC, there were 1,290 crashes reported to the NYPD on McGuiness Boulevard during the de Blasio era including one pedestrian fatality, one cyclist fatality, 198 motorists injuries, 46 pedestrian injuries and 39 cyclist injuries.
Big trucks are dangerous in dense cities like New York. While truck accidents only account for a small percentage of all crashes in New Yok City, they are often deadly or result in severe injuries to pedestrians or cyclists.
E-commerce drastically changed the way New Yorkers are getting their goods delivered and led to a significant increase of trucks in the city while at the same time the city is trying to be more sustainable and encourage people biking, walking or using public transportation.
New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog