Truck Driver Kills Tourist at Lincoln Tunnel Access Point in Hell’s Kitchen

Maria Munez-Carna was struck by a flatbed truck driver making this turn from 10th Avenue onto W. 39th Street, toward the Lincoln Tunnel. Image: Google Maps
Maria Munez-Carna was struck by a flatbed truck driver making this turn from 10th Avenue onto W. 39th Street, toward the Lincoln Tunnel. Image: Google Maps

A truck driver fatally struck a tourist in a Hell’s Kitchen crosswalk last Friday.

The crash occurred at around 5 p.m. Maria Munez-Carna, 57, was crossing W. 39th Street with her husband and son when 28-year-old Rance Clyburn hit her with a Freightliner flatbed as he turned left onto 39th from 10th Avenue, according to NYPD and the Daily News.

Munez-Carna, who was visiting the city from Spain, died at Bellevue Hospital.

Police charged Clyburn, of Paterson, New Jersey, with a Right of Way Law violation and careless driving.

W. 39th Street serves as a cut-through to the Lincoln Tunnel entrance on 11th Avenue. Photos of the scene show the truck belongs to S&E Bridge and Scaffold in Carlstadt, New Jersey. It seems likely Clyburn was en route to the tunnel when he hit the victim.

Though it gets tunnel traffic, DOT has not implemented a dedicated turn phase or any other signal treatment — such as a leading pedestrian interval or split phase signal — to reduce collisions at the intersection where Munez-Carna was struck. Instead, traffic signals direct motorists and people walking into crosswalks at the same time.

Drivers have injured four pedestrians at W. 39th and 10th since 2011, according to city crash data.

Maria Munez-Carna was killed in the 10th Precinct, where officers ticket around one motorist a day for failing to yield, and in the City Council district represented by Corey Johnson.

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