No Charges as Bus Driver Kills Senior at Dangerous Downtown Brooklyn Crossing
A 74-year-old man riding what police described as an electric scooter was run down and killed by the driver of a luxury bus at a Downtown Brooklyn intersection known for major conflicts among pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
According to police, the victim, whose name was not released, was riding his moped or scooter southbound on Jay Street, parallel to a bus driver, at around 8:15 p.m. But the 66-year-old driver of the Prevost bus turned right onto Tillary Street while the man on the scooter intended to continue straight — a direction that would give him, not the bus driver, the right of way.
Nonetheless, the bus driver turned into the senior, causing serious injuries. The victim was taken to Methodist Hospital in Park Slope, where he died. The driver was not charged. A police spokeswoman said he remained on the scene, but a witness told Streetsblog that the scooter rider had the right of way, and onlookers had to chase down the driver and alerted police about the crash.
A Prevost bus weighs 53,000 pounds, according to the manufacturer.
The police spokeswoman declined to comment on the right-of-way issue, but the dangerous dance at the busy intersection of Jay and Tillary is a constant problem, as drivers speed to or from ramps of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, intimidating pedestrians and cyclists.
Southbound traffic on Jay must turn right or left onto Tillary Street because of busway restrictions — and the high number of pedestrians makes drivers impatient. Meanwhile, the protected bike lane on Jay ends and turns into a mixing zone, meaning that cyclists or scooter riders who want to continue southbound on Jay are in harm’s way.
In just the 22 months since January 2023, there have been 70 reported crashes on the single block of Tillary Street between Jay and Adams streets, according to city stats. Those crashes — roughly three per month — have injured seven cyclists, five pedestrians and 31 motorists. Since 2020, 117 people have been injured on that single block.
The NYPD deploys crossing guards at all of the above intersections, but witnesses describe them as waving on cars, even when pedestrians are in the crosswalk.
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