Traffic violence claimed the life of a 9-year-old child in Brooklyn, New York last week, when the driver of an SUV turned into a driveway and hit the boy, Young An Li, on the sidewalk. According to the New York Daily News, the incident occurred in Sheepshead Bay at approximately 2:35pm on Friday, September 16th.
The 35-year-old driver of the 2020 Nissan Murano reportedly was driving south on E. 12th Street when she turned left into the driveway. She remained at the scene of the incident and was not immediately charged. Neighbors told the Daily News that the driver, a nurse, was turning into her own driveway. Young was taken to Maimonodes Medical Center, where he “suffered medical complications as a result of the collision and died at the hospital,” according to police sources.
An analysis by Streetsblog notes that the deadly incident, which may have occurred as Young was coming home from school, underscores the publication’s previous findings that “New York City’s streets become significantly more dangerous to children” in the before- and after-school hours. “According to that investigation, on school days, streets near schools experience roughly 32 percent more crashes per mile between 2 and 4 p.m. than on the city’s other streets,” Streetsblog explains. “This disparity largely disappears on days when schools are closed.”
Streetsblog also observes that the Sheepshead Bay crash occurred a mere hour after another crash involving a pedestrian in Glendale. In that instance, a 32-year-old driver tried to drive her 2020 Honda Fit around a double-parked truck and instead “lost control, mounted the curb and struck a 25-year-old pedestrian,” per law enforcement officers. Police did not charge the driver the double-parked truck’s operator in that incident either.
More information on the deadly car crash in Sheepshead Bay, Queens is available via the New York Daily News and Streetsblog.