Brooklyn Senior Run Down and Killed — Driver Not Charged

An 81-year-old woman who was run down just a few blocks from her Bensonhurst home has died — and her killer was not charged, the NYPD said.

Police said the 42-year-old driver of a 2013 Infiniti JX35 Sport SUV was cruising along Bay Ridge Avenue approaching the intersection of 20th Avenue at around 8:40 a.m. on April 19 when she struck Maria Zuardo in the north crosswalk as the driver made her left turn onto 20th Avenue.

EMTs found Zuardo lying in the intersection with head trauma and took her to Maimonides Hospital, where she died the next day. She lived two blocks from where she was hit.

The driver — who allegedly violated Zuardo’s right of way for making a left turn into a pedestrian — remained at the scene and was not charged. A police spokesman confirmed on Friday that there were still no charges as of May 7.

The Daily News had scant details about the crash, but left out the most important thing: The roadways of Bensonhurst are among the most dangerous places to be. In 2019 (the full last year for which good statistics exist), there were 2,933 reported crashes, injuring 67 cyclists, 202 pedestrians and 550 motorists (killing one cyclist and four pedestrians).

That’s an average of eight crashes per day in just one small area of Brooklyn.

Over the same period on just the 10-block stretch of 20th Avenue between 65th Street and Bay Ridge Parkway, there were 48 crashes injuring one cyclist, one pedestrian and 11 motorists.