A pedestrian was injured, perhaps severely, at a notoriously dangerous Queens intersection by a milk truck driver who ran a red light — the latest victim in a year that has created more victims than any previous year in the de Blasio administration's two terms.
Horrific video of the incident, initially posted to Reddit, but later disseminated on Twitter, showed the driver of a Creamoland truck on Broadway in Elmhurst blow through a red light at the intersection of Baxter Street at around 7:10 p.m. on Thursday. The light had been red for at least two full seconds when the truck driver entered the intersection without slowing down, the video from another driver's dash cam shows.
Once on the western side of the intersection, the truck slams into the pedestrian, a crash that only the driver of the car with the dash cam video seemed to notice.
"Oh! Oh my god," he screams on the video as other pedestrians go about their business.
The NYPD could not provide preliminary information on the condition of the victim or whether police arrested the driver. The crash was directly in front of Elmhurst Hospital.
The crash comes during a particularly deadly year on New York streets. Through Oct. 14, 209 people have died in crashes, the most ever through this point of the year under Mayor de Blasio.
The intersection of Broadway and Baxter Street is a dangerous one. Since January, 2019, there have been 21 reported crashes in that one spot, injuring one cyclist, five pedestrians and four motorists, according to city stats.
But the roadways surrounding the hospital — which was a crucial facility during the Covid-19 pandemic — are exceptionally brutal for vulnerable road users. Since January, 2019, on just the 20-block stretch of Broadway between Queens Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, there have been 404 reported crashes, injuring 25 cyclists, 47 pedestrians and 49 motorists.
In Elmhurst itself, a roughly one-square-mile zone around the hospital, there have been 3,431 reported crashes since January, 2019, injuring 181 cyclists, 282 pedestrians and 600 motorists. That's an average of more than three crashes every day in one tiny little neighborhood.
After initial publication of this story, the NYPD sent over additional information (after first thanking Streetsblog for sharing the video):
"The pedestrian was removed to [Elmhurst Hospital] conscious and alert prior to the arrival of police," said Det. Sophia Mason. "No arrest or summonses have been issued and the investigation is ongoing. Thank you for the link. I have passed it along this to 110 Precinct Detectives."
