A 23-year-old New Jersey man died early Tuesday after a tractor-trailer slammed into his disabled minivan on the Manhattan-bound side of the RFK Bridge, pinning him against the vehicle as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong under the hood. Abdulmateen A. Fagbemi had pulled over around 3:30 a.m. when his minivan broke down, stepping out to pop the hood and inspect the engine before the crash killed him roughly 16 minutes later.
According to PIX11, the tractor-trailer struck Fagbemi's minivan from behind and pushed it into him while he was standing in front of the open hood, according to police. FDNY and EMS crews rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:42 a.m. Police have attributed the account of his death to the MTA Police Department.
The crash forced officials to close all lanes of the bridge in both directions, snarling early-morning traffic in and out of Manhattan. Officials began intermittently reopening a single lane at 5:21 a.m. before all lanes were finally back open at 8:28 a.m., roughly five hours after the collision.
Investigation Still Open, No Summonses Issued
Investigators reviewed video footage from the scene and found no signs of criminal activity, the same PIX11 report notes, though the police investigation remains ongoing. No summonses had been issued as of the report, and officials were still working to determine how fast the tractor-trailer was traveling at the moment of impact.
The circumstances echo another deadly crash on the same span just over two years earlier. In September 2024, a gray Chrysler traveling northbound collided with the rear of a construction vehicle on the RFK Bridge around 3:50 a.m., according to NY1. The 55-year-old driver was ejected from his car and later pronounced dead at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst.
That 2024 crash also triggered a lengthy shutdown, with all lanes closed until 6 a.m., when a single southbound lane reopened; full traffic flow did not resume until just before 8:30 a.m. NY1 reported that the investigation into that crash remained open as of the following Thursday morning, much like the inquiry into Tuesday's fatal collision.
A Dangerous Stretch for Stopped Vehicles
Breakdowns and stopped vehicles on high-speed bridge spans carry particular risk, and the RFK Bridge has now seen two fatal crashes involving a disabled or stopped vehicle in roughly two years. Commercial truck crashes into fixed or stalled objects are also a recurring concern on New York's roadways more broadly — the New York State Thruway Authority has reported 231 bridge strikes on its 570-mile system since 2020, including 56 in 2024 alone, according to the agency's own announcement.
The fatal crash comes even as city officials have touted improving road safety citywide. A recent NYC Department of Transportation announcement stated that traffic deaths had reached historic lows over the first three quarters of 2026. The NYPD also maintains a Vision Zero Crash and Interventions Map tracking monthly traffic injury and fatality data across the five boroughs.
No further details about Fagbemi have been released, and officials have not said whether any additional summonses or findings are expected as the investigation continues.
