Most 2014 Traffic Deaths In Bklyn. & Qns.
Two-thirds of the city’s first 100 traffic accident fatalities this year occurred in Brooklyn and Queens, according to a local radio station’s analysis.
WNYC-AM published last Thursday, June 5, “Mean Streets,” an online tracker detailing each of the first 100 fatal incidents that took place on city streets this year. The tracker was created through analysis of data from the NYPD, other city agencies, social media and various standard media outlets.
The Mean Streets tracker comes as the city continues implementing its Vision Zero initiative, a vast combination of new legislation, enhanced NYPD enforcement and street safety improvements aimed at reducing traffic-related fatalities citywide. Launched by Mayor Bill de Blasio in January, Vision Zero has the goal of reducing traffic deaths to zero within the next decade.
However, WNYC cautioned it was difficult to compare the data it compiled to traffic accident figures the city tallied in 2014, as the NYPD and other city agencies had conflicting data.
New York City’s 100th traffic death in 2014 occurred on the 155th day of the year, last Wednesday, June 4, when a truck driver on the Cross Bronx Expressway died after being struck by a dislodged manhole cover that flew through the rig’s windshield. The city is on pace to have 235 traffic-related deaths this year .
Brooklyn registered 34 fatalities so far this year, one more than Queens’ total. Queens had the city’s first traffic death on NewYear’s Day, when Luis Cabrera, 26, died after the car he was riding in struck a median and overturned on the Long Island Expressway near Parsons Boulevard in Kew Gardens Hills.
Fatalities in the Times Newsweekly coverage area listed on theMean Streets tracker included the following:
– VedWadhwa, 56, died on Jan. 3 when the cab he was driving lost control and struck two parked vehicles on 118th Street near 95th Avenue in Richmond Hill.
– Angela Hurtado, 68, was fatally struck by an illegally turning vehicle at the corner of Grand Avenue and 69th Place on Jan. 18. The driver was later arrested for operating a vehicle with a suspended license.
– Martha Tibillin-Guamug, 25, died on Feb. 2 when she was struck by a turning MTAbus while crossing at the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway on the Elmhurst/Jackson Heights border.
– Kaneez Hussein, 73, was killed on Feb. 20 after being struck by a car while walking in the middle of Jamaica Avenue near 131st Street in Richmond Hill. The driver fled the scene and was later arrested.
– Basdeo Mohan, 65, died on Mar. 5 after swerving his vehicle and smashing into a stopped car on Atlantic Avenue near 133rd Street in Richmond Hill.
– An unidentified 25-year-old man was fatally struck by a van as it backed out of a driveway on 60th Lane near Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood on Mar. 6.
– Kumar Ragnauth, 64, was fatally struck by a vehicle that fled the scene at the corner of Northern Boulevard and 40th Street in Long Island City on Mar. 7.
– Vadro Kone, 50, died on Mar. 19 after losing control of his vehicle on an Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge offramp, which then struck another car. Reportedly, Kone suffered a health condition that caused him to lose control.
– Angel Torres, 46, died after being hit by a sedan while bicycling through the intersection of Broadway and Halsey Street in Bushwick on Apr. 9. The driver-whom police identified as Kareem Q. Jordan- remains wanted for questioning.
– William Guevara-Delgado, 26, was fatally struck by a truck on Apr. 23 at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 85th Street on the Woodhaven/Ozone Park border.
– Oscar Pauzhi, 54, died on Apr. 26, after being hit by a car while crossing Atlantic Avenue near 107th Street in Richmond Hill. Reportedly, the driver fled the scene and remains at large.
– Rosa Anidjar, 82, reportedly crossed against the light and was fatally hit by a car on Queens Boulevard near 71stAvenue in Forest Hills on May 3.
– An unidentified 40-year-old man died on May 11 after being hit by a van while bicycling on Rockaway Boulevard near 90th Street in Ozone Park. The driver fled from the scene following the accident and remains at large.
– Elliot Mintzer, 67, died on May 21 when he was hit by a tractor-trailer backing up inside the parking lot of a Key Food supermarket on 64th Road near 108th Street in Forest Hills.
To view Mean Streets, visit the Transportation Nation section of www.wnyc.org.
