{"id":303140,"date":"2026-07-22T19:34:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/303140\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:34:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:34:49","slug":"drivers-kill-three-brooklyn-pedestrians-over-the-course-of-two-days-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/303140\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivers kill three Brooklyn pedestrians over the course of two days \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooklyn drivers killed three pedestrians in separate crashes over the course of just two days last week, in the midst of a historically-safe year for traffic deaths in New York City.<\/p>\n

The first incident occurred on the morning of Friday, July 17, when a still-unidentified man was struck by a truck while crossing Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police have released conflicting information about the crash. After a preliminary investigation, the NYPD said<\/a> the victim had been struck by one truck heading southbound but survived the collision, stood up, and was immediately struck by a second truck. The first driver fled, they said at the time, but the second remained on the scene until officers arrived.<\/p>\n

\"copOfficers on the scene near 946 Pennsylvania Ave., the scene of the first pedestrian death on July 17. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

But authorities later said the man was hit by the rear tires of a flatbed truck after crossing the median of Pennsylvania Avenue, and did not reference a second vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The victim, whose name has not yet been released pending family notification, was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

Hours later, 79-year-old Yvette James was reportedly resting against a large planter on the sidewalk near the corner of East 92nd Street and Rutland Road in East Flatbush when she was struck by a 62-year-old driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police said the driver, in a Lexus SUV, was turning right from Rutland Road to East 92nd Street when she mounted the curb, slammed into James and then a nearby building, apparently pinning James<\/a> against the wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James, who lived down the block from the scene of the crash, was pronounced dead on the scene. The driver was treated for minor injuries at Brookdale, cops said, and an investigation is ongoing. Witnesses said the driver was speeding at the time of the crash, according to the Daily News<\/a>, but no arrests had been made as of July 21 and an investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n

\"eastA driver turning right onto East 92nd Street jumped the curb and fatally struck Yvette James on the sidewalk. Photo courtesy of Google Maps<\/p>\n

Locals told Eyewitness News<\/a> that James was a long time volunteer at a local church food pantry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A day later, 67-year-old Heriberto Morales was killed in a knock-on effect crash just blocks from his Crown Heights home.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The 48-year-old driver of a Toyota Highlander was headed east on St. Marks Avenue when he struck a Hyundai SUV that was traveling north through the intersection at Franklin Avenue, police said. The force of the crash sent the Hyundai up onto the sidewalk, where it struck Morales and a nearby parked car.<\/p>\n

Paramedics rushed Morales to NYC Health+Hospitals\/Kings County, where he was pronounced dead. Both drivers stayed on the scene, cops said.\n<\/p>\n

As of July 21, no arrests have been made in any of the incidents, and investigations are ongoing.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Advocates said the deaths were unacceptable, and called on the city to act quickly to improve pedestrian safety.
\n\"mamdani\"Advocates called on Mamdani to act urgently to reduce pedestrian deaths. Photo courtesy of Michael Appleton\/Mayoral Photography Office\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re heartbroken and stunned after a weekend of traffic carnage in New York City,\u201d said Alexa Sledge, director of strategy and communications at Transportation Alternatives. \u201cWe will not accept living in a city where three pedestrians are killed by cars and trucks in a single weekend \u2014 two of whom were walking or resting on the sidewalk.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three incidents occurred on roads designated as Vision Zero Priority Corridors due to high rates of pedestrian fatalities, though none have received significant upgrades.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Within a few blocks of the Pennsylvania Avenue crash site, there have been dozens of crashes in the last five years, according to NYC Crashmapper, resulting in injuries of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers alike, as well as two pedestrian deaths.<\/p>\n

Last year, a 68-year-old woman was killed by a driver while crossing the street at the intersection of East 95th Street and Rutland Road, blocks from where James was killed on Friday. At the time, neighbors said they regularly encountered speeding and double-parked cars, according to News12<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024, the city made East 94th Street between<\/a> East New York Avenue and Rutland Road one of the city\u2019s first Regional Slow Zones, dropping the speed limit to 20 miles per hour. The surrounding streets were not impacted.<\/p>\n

\"slowSammy\u2019s Law implemented 20mph \u201cSlow Zones\u201d in several Brooklyn neighborhoods, including on East 94th Street. File photo courtesy of NYC DOT<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for the Mamdani administration to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands,\u201d Sledge said. \u201cWhere is this administration\u2019s Vision Zero Report? What is its plan to end preventable traffic deaths? While advocates are waiting, New Yorkers are dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Hall and the Department of Transportation did not reply to requests for comment.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Pedestrian deaths in New York City were at an all-time low<\/a> through the first six months of the year, according to the Department of Transportation, and 2026 has seen the fifth-lowest number of traffic deaths in city history. As of July 19, total traffic collisions were down 1.14% citywide, and pedestrian deaths are down more than 20%, from 62 to 49.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Brooklyn, pedestrian collisions and deaths are down 4.8% and 60%, respectively, according to city data<\/a>. As of July 19, there had been 1,496 pedestrian collisions, down from 1,572 during the same period last year, and 11 pedestrian deaths, down from 26.<\/p>\n

Several of those deaths, though, involved children. In March, a school bus driver fatally struck an 11-year-old girl<\/a> while she crossed the street in Bath Beach. Two months later, a 9-year-old boy<\/a> was hit and killed by a school bus in Williamsburg, prompting the city to add crossing guards<\/a> and speed the painting of new crosswalks at the intersection where he died.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, as they celebrated decreasing pedestrian deaths, officials said they would continue to work toward Vision Zero.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York City\u2019s streets remain among the safest they have ever been, but Vision Zero means one death is one too many,\u201d said DOT commissioner Mike Flynn said at the time. \u201cUnder Mayor Mamdani we are doubling down on innovative approaches to safer street design, targeted traffic enforcement, and expanded public education, because we must use every tool at our disposal to prevent catastrophic crashes and save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooklyn drivers killed three pedestrians in separate crashes over the course of just two days last week, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[101,98,100,99,5459,12398,8372,114644,473,745,22925,9,24,12,370,63,114893,99314,21989,19860,2023,608,21992,12822,114894],"class_list":["post-303140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-arrest","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-department-of-transportation","tag-east-flatbush","tag-east-new-york","tag-heriberto-morales","tag-hit-and-run","tag-investigation","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-pedestrian-deaths","tag-priority","tag-street-safety","tag-suv","tag-traffic","tag-transportation","tag-transportation-alternatives","tag-vision-zero","tag-yvette-james"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}