Few Details From NYPD After Sanitation Truck Driver Kills Woman in Greenwich Village

2:26 PM EDT on May 17, 2017

A sanitation truck driver killed a 60-year-old woman at Greenwich Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and W. Eighth Street. NYPD had few details on how the collision occurred and did not say who the right of way. Image: Google Maps

The driver of a private sanitation truck killed a 60-year-old woman in Greenwich Village last night.

[Update: The victim was identified as Fern Jones. The driver who killed her worked for M&M Sanitation.]

The collision occurred at around 11:40 p.m. at the intersection of Greenwich Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and W. Eighth Street. NYPD told DNAinfo the victim was walking south across the eastern leg of the intersection when the eastbound driver ran her over.

From the Daily News:

Elana Abt, 25, watched in horror as the slow-moving truck hit the woman, pulling her under one of its wheels.
"She basically got pulled underneath and it crushed her skull. You can hear everything break," she said. “I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. There's no words to describe what you feel when you literally watch someone die."

The victim was pronounced dead at Lenox Health Greenwich Village.

NYPD had not released the woman’s identity as of late this morning, and the department’s public information office said it had no further details on the crash.

Police withheld the name of the driver, who was identified only as a 46-year-old man. NYPD normally does not disclose the names of motorists who kill people unless charges are filed.

Private sanitation trucks have the highest pedestrian kill rate of any type of vehicle in NYC, according to “Killed by Automobile,” a landmark 1999 analysis of crash data produced by Charles Komanoff [PDF].

Last summer, City Hall released a blueprint to reform the trash hauling industry that's projected to reduce private carting traffic by as much as 15 million miles annually, or 62 percent. Some private carting companies opposed those policies, which aim to consolidate redundant routes, but the city said it would develop a detailed implementation plan over the course of the next two years. Until reforms are implemented, New Yorkers will face unnecessary risks from this industry.

Drivers of private trash trucks struck and killed four people in NYC in 2016, and three in 2015, according to crash data tracked by Streetsblog.

This fatal crash occurred in the 6th Precinct, and in the City Council district represented by Corey Johnson.

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.

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