A truck fatally struck a man crossing Morgan Avenue yesterday morning.
On August 6, at about 7:58 am, police responded to a call about a vehicle collision near Morgan Avenue and Sharon Street, within the confines of the 90th precinct, an NYPD spokesperson told Greenpointers.Â
The NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad found that a 56-year-old male operating a 2018 Freightliner truck was driving south on Morgan and collided with an unidentified adult male crossing Morgan from west to east, outside of the marked crosswalk.
The pedestrian suffered severe trauma, and EMS pronounced him deceased at the scene. The truck driver remained at the scene. No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The identity of the deceased is pending family notification.
It’s the third traffic fatality on Morgan Avenue in three years. Delivery driver Daniel Vidal was run over by a truck in 2022, and in 2023, a driver fatally struck cyclist Eugene Schroeder before fleeing the scene.Â
The surrounding area has also seen traffic fatalities in the past few years. A hit-and-run driver killed a pedestrian at Withers Street and Woodpoint Avenue in March, blocks away from where yesterday’s incident took place. In 2023, a hit-and-run drump truck driver killed 86-year-old Agustina Muniz at Kingsland Avenue and Richardson Street.
It is terrible, but people also need to stay in the crosswalks and pay attention. I see so many people staring at their phones and just walking blindly into traffic. Morgan is a truck route. Trucks do not have the best view of bike riders or pedestrians. Please pay more attention to where you are walking. I see near misses daily.
I agree with you Oldie G, especially with electric cars which are now even quieter than gas powered cars.
I work as a school crossing guard ,I see many people crossing the street no paying attention ,looking at there phones this person didn’t even cross in the crossswalk it’s unfortunate he passed but this poor truck driver has to live with this now for the rest of his life ….even parents and nanny’s and just walk don’t look ,,,,and than when they get hit of course the poor driver gets sued
Pay attention ,,,,condolences to his family
Regardless of whether the pedestrian was paying attention or not, how fast was the truck going in order to kill someone? Potentially so fast they couldn’t stop in time?
Do you realize that you could be going 20mph and still kill someone? It’s a thousand pound truck against a 150lb person. People need to pay attention and realize that cars and trucks can’t stop super fast or have blind spots.
WOW! So many callus A-holes here blaming a pedestrian and assuming they were walking face buried in their phone.
Agreed Phill. I live in greenpoint and drive around. There are a multitude of different types of bikes flying around, pedestrians walking around, (reminder that we don’t have j walking laws anymore), car doors opening in tight spaces, and many other distractions. Thus, I drive slow and carefully and keep my distance from the cars ahead. Cars and large trucks will honk at me and sometimes actually pass on roads like Manhattan Ave, just to get to a red light quicker, it’s insane. I’ve seen cars driving in the bike lane on McGuinness! I don’t care how righteous and careless pedestrians may be, vehicles have a responsibility to drive carefully in the most congested city in the western world. Save the speed for the highways.
Hi, person who called 9-1-1 here. I didn’t literally see the moment of impact (though I did hear it and saw the immediate aftermath), but I spoke to two other witnesses who did see the moment of impact. Based on what we could gather, all signs point toward the victim intentionally taking his own life by jumping into (under?) the truck as it passed by. Why? I don’t know; we will never know what his mindset was. But IMO this should be used as a moment to spotlight mental health and do what we can to help people who are struggling. That said, highlighting the need to boost traffic safety along Morgan ain’t a bad idea either, since this apparently isn’t the first traffic incident in that area (I sometimes pass by a memorial for a cyclist who was also killed in a vehicular collision).
(I posted a longer message previously, but it seems to have disappeared without approval. I REALLY hope they aren’t just deleting the message.)
Witness to the incident/person who called 9-1-1 here. I hate to say it, but from what I was able to gather from talking with other witnesses, all signs are pointing to the victim committing suicide.
I’m assuming that the city will be promptly removing the truck route from this street in response to this.