Young Trucker Backs Over and Kills Senior in Manhattan
File photo: Gersh Kuntzman
A senior citizen was run down and killed when a truck driver backed over him as he drove in reverse through an intersection on Upper Broadway, police said.
Hugo Santana, 81, was hit on Tuesday at around 8:40 a.m. by the 20-year-old driver as he crossed Broadway at 149th Street from west to east. According to cops, "He was struck by a truck that was backing up on Broadway through the intersection." No other details of the crash were provided, but cops said the "investigation" is ongoing.
A police spokesman could not say if Santana was hit in the southbound or northbound lanes of Broadway, which is divided with a median that features pedestrian refuges.
Santana was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he died. The truck driver remained on the scene, police said.
It is unclear why the driver was not issued a citation given that he or she — police did not release the driver’s name — was moving in reverse, which typically puts an even greater legal responsibility on the driver.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than half a million backing crashes happen each year, causing 30,000 injuries and roughly 300 deaths.
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