Pedestrian Is Killed Along Sunrise Highway Danger Zone in Queens

A reckless driver ran down a pedestrian on a notorious speedway in southern Queens late on Friday — but was arrested on minor charges, most likely because he was unlicensed.

Police said that Renford Tait, 62, was driving southbound on Brookville Boulevard at around 10:20 p.m. and struck the pedestrian as he turned right onto Sunrise Highway, a known speedway. The pedestrian, who was in the marked crosswalk, according to police, was knocked to the ground, where he was run over by another driver, making a left turn onto Sunrise Highway from northbound Brookville Boulevard.

The pedestrian, whose name was not released, was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he died. A police spokesman said he did not have identification on him.

Both drivers remained on the scene, but only Tait was charged. Cops slapped him with the minor charges of failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care — violations that are often not enforced unless there is another factor. In this case, that other factor was that Tait did not have a driver's license, cops said.

There were no charges for the other driver, but the investigation is ongoing.

The highway-like intersection has been a known disaster for years. In 2018 alone, there were 126 crashes at that intersection and within a block on each side of it, resulting in 58 injuries, mostly to motorists.

The crash is also reminiscent of the Thanksgiving 2013 death of Erik Johnson along a similar highway-like stretch of Rockaway Boulevard, which has lots of foot traffic because of its proximity to JFK Airport.