Video Shows Horrifying Williamsburg Hit-And-Run On Deadly Day For City Streets

A hit-and-run driver plowed into a woman in Williamsburg on Wednesday, sending her flying through the air and causing her to break several bones in a crash that was caught on horrifying video.

According to police, the 25-year-old pedestrian was crossing with the light at the intersection of Lee Avenue and Middleton Street yesterday afternoon when the driver barreled into the crosswalk.

Surveillance footage, apparently recovered by the Williamsburg Shomrim, shows the woman flipping in the air on impact, then landing in the middle of the intersection about ten yards away. With her belongings scattered across the road, bystanders rush to the aide of the victim, who appears to struggle to get up. Police said she suffered a broken tibia, clavicle and pelvis in the crash, but was likely to survive.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the driver had side-swiped a different vehicle prior to mowing down the pedestrian. The perpetrator's 2007 Chrysler sedan was recovered about a mile away, police said, on Franklin Avenue in Bed-Stuy.

The crash happened blocks from the site of a hit-and-run that killed a cyclist earlier this year (that driver still has not been located), and on a day that saw two other street fatalities across the city.

Early on Wednesday morning, a 93-year-old woman was fatally struck by a driver exiting the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver has not been charged.

A 6-year-old boy was also killed on Wednesday afternoon in the backseat of his family's car, after his mother crashed into a parked vehicle outside their Canarsie home, police said.

There have been at least 68 traffic deaths in New York City so far this year—up 15 percent from the same period in 2018, according to data provided by the Department of Transportation. NYPD data indicates that the disparity this year may be even greater.

On Tuesday, safe streets advocates rallied outside City Hall to demand passage of the Vision Zero Street Design Standard Bill, which would require the city to publicize a list of proven life-saving design elements whenever a street is redesigned.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said this week that he would push for the legislation. Mayor Bill de Blasio has yet to voice his support, and his spokesperson did not immediately respond to Gothamist's inquiries.