A man was struck and killed in a Queens hit-and-run Sunday night when two different drivers ran over him on a busy roadway and kept driving, according to police.
Police said the victim, who is still unidentified, was crossing Hempstead Avenue at 223rd Street in Queens Village around 8 p.m. when he was first hit by the driver of a light-colored sedan traveling west.
Then, as the man lay in the road, the driver of a light-colored SUV traveling east also struck him. Neither vehicle stopped at the scene, the NYPD said.
First responders found the man with severe body trauma and pronounced him dead at the scene. The NYPD Collision Investigation Squad is looking into the incident.
Hempstead Avenue is particularly dangerous for pedestrians, according to a 2022 safety report by the city’s Department of Transportation. Between 2015 and 2019, the report states about 12 pedestrians, cyclists and motorists were severely injured or killed per mile on the bustling thoroughfare.
During those same years, 34 people were injured at the intersection where the man was crossing, data from the report shows.
The report outlines a number of existing conditions that made Hempstead Avenue hazardous for pedestrians and drivers alike, including long crossings, substandard concrete medians and awkward angles for drivers making turns. The wide road is also a major trucking route connecting Nassau County and New York City.
While some safety enhancements were made at several of the avenue’s intersections from 2016 to 2022, none of the changes affected the 223rd Street crossing, per the report.
Citywide, more than 90 pedestrians have been killed in traffic incidents so far this year, according to data from the NYC Crash Mapper. Last year, more than 130 pedestrians were killed across the five boroughs, out of nearly 270 total traffic deaths.
On Thursday, a 20-year-old Queens man riding a moped was struck and killed by a truck driver in Greenpoint.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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