Two people were killed and three others were left in critical condition Friday evening after an elderly driver lost control of a vehicle and slammed into pedestrians on the Upper West Side, near West 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Emergency crews rushed to the scene as officers closed off the intersection. Police said the victims and the driver had not yet been identified and the cause of the crash was still under investigation.
According to FOX 5 NY, the FDNY received a 6 p.m. call reporting "pedestrians struck" at 996 Amsterdam Avenue. NYPD officers at the scene told the station that an elderly man driving a vehicle hit several people at the intersection of West 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. FOX 5 NY reported that two victims were killed, three were in critical condition, and no arrests had been made at the time of the report.
Where it happened
The stretch of Amsterdam Avenue from roughly West 96th Street up to West 109th Street has a long and troubling record of crashes and pedestrian injuries, driven by heavy cross-town traffic and nearby truck routes. The area around West 96th Street and Amsterdam has previously been singled out as a collision hotspot, according to Patch.
Legal outlook
Police have not announced any arrests and detectives say the investigation is ongoing. Depending on what they find, prosecutors sometimes bring charges when a driver’s behavior is deemed criminally negligent. Under New York law, criminally negligent homicide (Penal Law §125.10) applies when someone "with criminal negligence" causes another person’s death and it is classified as a class E felony, according to FindLaw.
What’s next
As part of the investigation, detectives are expected to review surveillance video, interview witnesses and inspect the vehicle for possible mechanical problems. Neighborhood leaders and local elected officials have for years pushed for traffic calming at busy Upper West Side intersections like West 96th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, backing ideas such as additional traffic agents and redesigned crossings, steps that past local coverage has urged, according to West Side Spirit. The NYPD had not released further details late Friday.
We will update this story as police and city officials provide more information.
