An 84-year-old driver struck two men who were standing near a food truck in Queens the morning of Aug. 12, leaving the motorist and both pedestrians dead. According to a news report in The New York Times, the fatal pedestrian accident occurred near the intersection of 19th Avenue and 42nd Street in the Ditmars-Steinway neighborhood. Police said the driver was heading north on 42nd Street when the vehicle struck two pedestrians. After the initial impact, the vehicle spun and hit another car that was making a U-turn, officials said.
One pedestrian, a 42-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver who struck the men and another pedestrian, a 70-year-old man, were transported to Elmhurst Hospital where they were both pronounced dead. The driver of the other vehicle that was hit was uninjured, officials said. No arrests have been made, the Times reports. We offer our deepest condolences to the victims’ families.
Crashes Involving Senior Drivers in NYC
In New York State overall, senior drivers (age 65 and older) account for 21% of licensed drivers but only about 11 percent of fatal and personal-injury crashes. However, when involved in a crash, they tend to suffer more severe injuries or fatalities due to physiological and cognitive vulnerabilities that come with age.
In 2022, there were 214 fatal crashes across New York State involving drivers aged 65-plus, marking the highest total since 2013. Key contributing factors to such accidents include failure to yield, improper lane changes, unsafe speeding, distracted driving and instances of medical emergencies such as loss of consciousness.
Recent Fatal Auto Accidents in NYC
This crash is the latest in a series of deadly auto accidents in the city, according to the Times. Last month, a bicyclist and a pedestrian were fatally injured after a stolen rental car jumped a curb near the Manhattan side of the Manhattan Bridge. The pedestrian, 63-year-old May Kwok, had been sitting on a bench when she was struck by the vehicle, officials said. The speeding car also struck a police van.
Its driver, 23-year-old Autumn Donna Ascencio Romero was arrested and charged with two counts of murder, two counts of manslaughter and two counts of vehicular manslaughter, among other charges. In March, a driver crashed into another vehicle in Brooklyn before veering into a crosswalk, killing 34-year-old Natasha Saada and her two young daughters, Diana and Deborah. Saada’s 4-year-old son was also injured. The driver, 32-year-old Miriam Yarimi was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, bicycle accident or pedestrian accident, or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a negligent (careless) driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
Pedestrian accident victims and their families should remember that they can seek compensation for injuries or losses in collisions even if the victim was not walking in a marked crosswalk and even if the driver involved in collision was not charged. Our law firm recovered the full one-million-dollar insurance policy for a girl who was not in the crosswalk when a motor vehicle hit her.
For over 53 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and $2,000,000 in a hit-and-run accident, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. We also recovered $1,500,000 for a lady who was hurt by a bus.
We also obtained $295,000 out of a $300,000 insurance policy in compensation for the victim of a bicycle dooring accident (where a car door opens into the path of a bicyclist). One of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases. Also, we got a $1,400,000 verdict in a motorcycle accident.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury, lead poisoning and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/nyregion/queens-car-crash-food-truck-3-killed.html