MTA Bus Driver Runs Over 15-Year-Old Girl in Brooklyn Crosswalk [Updated]
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
Friday’s Headlines: Canal Street Follies Edition
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine isn't happy. Plus other news.
Daylight Again: Bronx Community Board Backs Parking Ban at Intersections
The Boogie Down is down with daylighting!
Community Board Wants Protected Bike Lane on Empire Blvd.
Brooklyn Community Board 9 wants city to upgrade Empire Boulevard's frequently blocked bike lane, which serves as a gateway to Prospect Park.
The Brake: Why We Can’t End Violence on Transit With More Police
Are more cops the answer to violence against transit workers, or is it only driving societal tensions that make attacks more frequent?
Report: Road Violence Hits Record in First Quarter of 2024
Sixty people died in the first three months of the year, 50 percent more than the first quarter of 2018, which was the safest opening three months of any Vision Zero year.
