Police are still looking to identify a male scooter driver, three days after he was struck and killed by an Amazon delivery truck in Van Nest.

 

On Tuesday, June 22, police spokeswoman, Detective Denise Moroney said the collision took place outside 1230 East Tremont Avenue, between Van Nest Avenue and Morris Park Avenue, at 7:18 p.m., on Saturday, June 19. “Police responded to a call of a person struck by a vehicle,” she said. ” Upon arrival, officers observed a male lying unconscious and unresponsive on the street in front of the location with severe trauma.”

 

She continued, “It was preliminarily determined that the male victim was traveling on a push scooter, eastbound on East Tremont Avenue, when he collided with a van being driven by a 22-year-old male that was also traveling eastbound. EMS responded and pronounced the victim deceased at the scene.”

 

Moroney said no arrests had been made in the case and the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is investigating. She added, “The deceased remains unidentified at this time,” meaning police have either not been able to reach the victim’s next of kin or the victim had no ID on him at the time of the crash.

 

A male resident of East Tremont Avenue told the Norwood News a short time after the crash, “I just went outside and it was actually a fatal accident with an Amazon truck and a scooter rider.”

 

The resident did not witness the crash take place but saw the Amazon driver take a sobriety test afterwards.  He said he was given accounts of what happened as regards the crash itself from other neighbors. The resident has been a source on a series of ongoing crashes around Van Nest Avenue which have involved bollards, 2-foot high devices installed around the City by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to encourage drivers to slow down in efforts to protect pedestrians, as reported by Norwood News.

 

Some residents argue that the bollards have caused more crashes than have saved pedestrians. Norwood News reached out to DOT for a follow-up comment in this regard. A spokesperson said, “I’d just continue to reiterate the fact that the bollards are there to protect pedestrians and stop speeding vehicles from entering into pedestrian spaces. The bollards having a reflective band at the top for visibility.”

 

The spokesperson added that she believed the department’s previous statement still stands, as follows, “As with many of our safety improvement projects, it takes time for motorists to get adjusted to the new street design.” The spokesman concluded, “These types of bollards work to deter speeding and turning vehicles from entering pedestrian spaces, and are at numerous locations throughout the borough and citywide.”

 

Meanwhile, the resident said of the latest crash, “It wasn’t because of the bollard.”  He then went on to explain another problem in the area on the street across from East Tremont Avenue, saying, “It’s crazy. Let me tell you – all night you hear people just racing down the street.”

 

The Van Nest neighborhood falls under the 49th precinct. Norwood News recently reported on other complaints by other residents in the 52nd precinct, regarding noise from illegal dirt bikes and ATVs (auto-terrain vehicles).

 

The resident added that neighbors told him that the Amazon truck had been attempting to make a U-turn at the time of the accident. However, so far, this account could not be corroborated. The resident also said that neighbors told him the victim was riding an e-scooter and traveling at 40-miles-per-hour at the time of the incident. However, police officials, as well as photos from the scene, confirm the victim (the bike rider) was riding a self-propelled scooter, and not a motorized one.

 

The area where the incident occurred is along a long block where there is also an incline. Referring to the difficulties that locals have in terms of crossing the road sometimes but also staying safe, the resident said, “You can only cross at the corners and granted, jaywalking shouldn’t be done, but sometimes cars [double] park across the street and you don’t want to walk all the way to the corner to walk all the way back down.”

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.