Yesterday, a pedestrian was fatally hit by a private sanitation truck in an accident at the Myrtle Avenue and Broadway intersection in Brooklyn. The victim, who was identified by police as a black male in his 60s, was struck by an employee of Yankel's Demolition and Rubbish Removal while crossing the street; he was DOA on the scene, and the driver hasn't been charged with anything. A reader wrote us with this eyewitness account of the accident:
I was there and saw the entire thing happen and was probably the first person to call the police. Granted, he was standing where there wasn't a cross walk, that aside, the driver appeared not to even know he hit someone. People were screaming for him to stop while the man was struck and his body was rolling under the chassis of the truck like a rag doll. He did slow down, practically stop and then continued to drive over and finished the poor guy off. It was VERY gruesome and I am still really distraught about wtf I witnessed yesterday morning.
I was rear ended by a private sanitation truck last year and know too well how carelessness these particular truck drivers are and how they disregard the laws of the road. I see them plowing through residential areas all the time, running red lights and just being careless. Even if hypothetically the pedestrian was at fault, as a driver you still should be paying attention and trying to avoid any kind of accident. How many more people have to die?
According to News12, the victim used crutches because he suffered from back problems, and friends say that he frequented the methadone clinic across the street from where he was hit.
