UPDATED: Truck Driver Kills E-Scooter Rider in Brooklyn
A 27-year-old deliveryman riding an electric scooter was struck and killed by the driver of a Kenmore dump truck earlier this morning at the corner of Caton Avenue and East 7th Street in the Kensington section of Brooklyn, police said.
The e-scooter rider and the truck driver both were moving eastbound on Caton Avenue when the collision occurred, cops said. The deliveryman, who suffered severe head trauma, was pronounced dead at the scene. The 42-year-old male truck operator remained at the scene, and the investigation is ongoing. No charges have been filed. The Daily News reported that it was Federico Zaput Palas.
“Today’s crash and death of deliverista Federico Zaput Palas marks another grim milestone in New York City: 500 deaths from traffic violence in Brooklyn since Mayor de Blasio took office,” Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris said in a statement. “Palas’ death, like the more than 1,700 on our streets since 2014, was preventable and the result of Mayor de Blasio failing to quickly and aggressively scale the proven safety solutions of Vision Zero. More than six years after a hit-and-run driver killed a 14-year-old at this exact same intersection, there is no excuse for the lack of significant traffic calming infrastructure at this location.”
The 14-year old was Mohammad Naiem Uddin.
“We extend our condolences to the family of Federico Zaput Palas and the entire deliverista community,” Harris added, noting that Palas is at least the second deliverista to be killed on the job this month.
This year is on track to be the deadliest for traffic fatalities since Mayor de Blasio took office. According to the Department of Transportation, as of July 21, at least 136 people have died because of motorists on city streets so far this year. It’s the most year-to-date fatalities since 2013 — before de Blasio started the Vision Zero program aimed at eliminating road deaths, as some cities have around the globe.
Pedestrian deaths are surging — 68 this year, compared to 43 at this point in 2020, a jump of nearly 60 percent. According to an analysis by Transportation Alternatives, more than 1,700 New Yorkers have been killed by drivers since de Blasio took office in 2014, the same year he instituted Vision Zero. Traffic deaths steadily dropped, although pedestrian deaths began to rise again in 2017. In mid-2020, traffic fatalities jumped, fueled by reckless drivers who began speeding on pandemic-emptied roads.
This story has been updated to reflect more information from the NYPD and TransAlt’s statement.
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