Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Brooklyn

MTA Bus Driver Runs Over 15-Year-Old Girl in Brooklyn Crosswalk [Updated]

1:19 PM EST on February 13, 2015

Turning MTA bus drivers have killed at least 12 people in the last two years. Image: News 12
Turning MTA bus drivers have killed at least 12 people in the last two years. Image: News 12
Turning MTA bus drivers have killed at least 12 people in the last two years. Image: News 12

Update: NYPD told Streetsblog the bus driver involved in this crash was arrested and charges are pending. Transportation Alternatives tweeted that, according to police, he was charged under the Right of Way law.

An MTA bus driver ran over a teenage girl in a Brooklyn crosswalk this morning.

The 15-year-old victim was walking north across Grand Street at around 8:45 when the Q59 driver, southbound on Union Avenue, struck her while turning left onto Grand, according to NYPD and DNAinfo.

Video from a nearby bodega's camera shows the bus swinging around the corner just as the girl steps into the crosswalk, hitting her and then dragging her out of the frame.

“Oh my God, the lady was crossing the street. He did not see the lady. The people in the street were screaming,” said Jose Aguilar, 48, who owns nearby Grand Gourmet Deli.

"I saw the girl crossing the street. The bus came in fast," said Aguilar's worker, El Mehdi Ouafiq.

He said a woman stayed with the girl when she couldn't pull her from under the tire.

A video Ouafiq shot shows the girl's bright green shoes poking out from beneath the bus' large wheel while a group of people huddle around her trying to help.

The Daily News reported that the victim “was pinned under the left front wheel.”

A spokesperson with the NYPD public information office said the victim suffered a severe leg injury. Reports on social media that the victim died were not true, the spokesperson said, but she had no further information. A tweet for confirmation on the victim's condition to the Highway Department, which investigates traffic crashes, got no response.

If the crash occurred as described and the bus driver failed to yield, he could be subject to a charge under the city's Right of Way law. Of the 18 MTA bus drivers who have killed pedestrians or cyclists in the last two years, 12 were making turns, according to crash data compiled by Streetsblog. Last December the MTA said it planned to equip buses with external audible alarms to warn people on the street when a bus driver is turning, as well as a collision avoidance system to alert bus drivers to nearby vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.

A Streetsblog request to the MTA for information on the crash was unanswered as of this writing.

Update: Here is what we received from the MTA, in full:

At 8:457 a.m., Q59 making left turn struck female pedestrian at Grand St. and Union Av. She is in critical/stable condition with injury to left leg. BO was taken to hospital for trauma.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Maximum Rage: Delivery Workers Protest Low Wages, App ‘Lockouts’

Couriers with bikes and signs urge the city to step in as Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash withhold work, they say.

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Company That Fought McGuinness Safety Project Wants to Seize Bklyn Street for Private Backlot

Broadway Stages to Greenpoint residents: "Street safety for me, not for thee."

March 28, 2024

SEE IT: Hit-and-Run Driver With Fake Plate Seriously Injures Cyclist

The 5 p.m. crash occurred at Flushing and Waverly avenue near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

March 28, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines: Shakira Shakira Edition

Pop superstar Shakira performed for a crowd of 40,000 packed into the Times Square pedestrian plazas. Plus congestion pricing news and more.

March 28, 2024
See all posts