A Brooklyn pedestrian died this week after being struck by a driver — and cops were quick to blame the victim by saying he had been walking "outside of a crosswalk," when, in fact, there is no painted crosswalk at the intersection in question.
According to the NYPD, the unidentified pedestrian was struck by the driver of a 2012 Nissan at Rockaway Avenue and Somers Street in East New York at around 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 16. The preliminary NYPD report said the 55-year-old victim "was attempting to cross Rockaway Avenue from west to east, outside of a crosswalk."
It's unclear why the NYPD added that detail given that there is no crosswalk at that intersection. Other relevant information, such as the speed of the driver or whether he was distracted by his phone or a passenger, or whether he had a prior record of speeding was provided neither in the police statement about the crash nor in a subsequent call with Streetsblog.
The driver remained on the scene and was not charged, despite causing body trauma so severe that the pedestrian died two days later at Brookdale Hospital.
Studies show that death rates from crashes by drivers going below 25 miles per hour are low, but rise exponentially as speeds rise.
Whenever it’s said that “speed wasn’t a factor” in a deadly crash, what they really mean is that the car involved wasn’t TECHNICALLY speeding. It presumes that the speed limit wasn’t too high to BEGIN with.
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) November 17, 2019
When it comes to death from collisions, speed is ALWAYS a factor. pic.twitter.com/jhnhXIOPNd
It's not the first time the NYPD has highlighted the victim's failure to use a crosswalk at an intersection that doesn't have one. Last month, cops said the same thing after a fatal crash near the Nostrand Houses in Brooklyn.
The 73rd Precinct is one of the most dangerous places to be a pedestrian, cyclist or driver. Last year alone, there were 2,465 crashes in the precinct, which comprises parts of Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville. Those roughly seven crashes per day ended up injuring 47 cyclists, 149 pedestrians and 719 motorists, with one cyclist and five drivers dying.
And there were 17 crashes in the direct vicinity of the fatal collision alone, with five crashes occurring at the intersection in question.
The city overall is increasingly deadly. Before this death was recorded, Department of Transportation statistics show that overall road deaths are up 8.5 percent this year versus the same period last year. Ninety-six pedestrians have been struck and killed, up from 94 over the same period. Twenty-eight cyclists* have died, up from 10 all of last year.
* The Department of Transportation uses the number 27 because one of the killed cyclists was the victim of a homicide, according to police, when he was intentionally struck by a car driver.
