Cycle of Rage: One Driver’s Convenience, One Woman’s Death

His convenience, her death.

Espina Bundley made a tiny little error — the kind millions of New Yorkers make every single day — and she paid with her life early on Wednesday morning when Bryan Guashpa Rumipamba, piloting a 4,000-pound SUV at high speed, slammed into her on Second Avenue, cops said.

The 69-year-old pedestrian’s mistake? Starting to cross a wide, highway-like avenue when she thought all the traffic had already passed and the light was about to turn yellow. She was about one-third of the way across the street when the traffic signal did indeed indicate yellow.

But that “caution” light didn’t compel Rumipamba to slow down; instead, he sped up — a decision made by millions of drivers to elevate their convenience over any other concern.

The graphic video below shows exactly what happened:

Rumipamba, who lives in the Rockaways, was arrested about six hours after the crash with leaving the scene, failure to yield and failure to exercise due care. He said he was driving his brother’s car — without the sibling’s permission, according to court papers.

One would think that a person driving a brother’s car without his permission would be extra cautious. But that’s not how drivers think. The 84,000 reported crashes last year involving cars, trucks and other four- (or four-plus-) wheeled vehicles makes that clear.

Rumipamba didn’t merely run the yellow light, but he did so at an exceptionally fast speed. As you can see from the video, when Bundley started walking, Rumipamba’s car, and that of another motorist, were more than a full block away. When she finally realized how fast these two vehicles were traveling, she made an attempt to scurry towards the safety of the curb, but it was for naught.

You’re flat-out nuts if you think e-bikes represent a similar threat to pedestrians than an SUV driver who wants to beat a red.

On Thursday at Bundley’s apartment in Richmond Hill, there was no one to mourn her but her landlord.

“She was a very nice person,” said Felix Labra. “She created a bond with my wife.”

Bundley, whom Labra called Espy, rented a unit in a house that Labra owned for around two years. She lived on the second floor with her husband, but moved into the basement when he died last year.

What was she doing so far from home at 4:30 a.m. on a Manhattan speedway? That’s when she got off one of her two jobs, likely the one at a hotel. Labra said Bundley was usually off on Thursdays, and he only showed up at her house because he was bringing her food.

“My wife knows she’s off on Thursday,” Labra said. “She’s supposed to be here.”

Thirty people have been killed by car drivers so far this year, including 19 outside of the vehicles, city stats show. It’s not even April.

Such numbers undermine any faith that we will ever get to the zero of Vision Zero, as other cities — Oslo, Helsinki, Hoboken — have. Reckless drivers speeding along dangerously wide roads is one flaw in the system; the other is accountability.

Just last week, a drugged-up driver named Kevin Crosby killed a delivery worker and injured four other people as he speed at highway-like speeds on W. 125th Street just as the sun was setting.

Why was Crosby even allowed to drive? According to media accounts and information provided by the Bronx and Manhattan district attorney, Crosby had eight prior convictions and two for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. And the Bronx DA prosecuted Crosby in 2020 for a horrific caught-on-camera crash in which multiple people survived entirely by luck.

Crosby was initially charged with assault, but the charge was lowered to reckless driving and reckless endangerment, to which Crosby pleaded guilty. He was given probation and was required to complete a “Driver Accountability” course and attend a Victim Impact Panel.

His driver’s license was not revoked, despite his record. When he was caught after last week’s crash, his red Hyundai had South Carolina plates, removing one more possible bit of local accountability.

Justice will finally come someday for Kevin Crosby and his victims. But why does it have to wait until someone drives drunk repeatedly, gets convicted another half-dozen times and nearly kills multiple people at high speed in the Bronx?

We can’t wait any longer.

— with Max White

There will be a memorial for delivery worker Darlyn Zacharias, Crosby’s victim, on Friday at 5 p.m. in front of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building (163 W. 125th St).