Driver in Private Sanitation Truck Fatally Hits Man Near Barclays
A driver in a private sanitation truck fatally hit a 62-year-old pedestrian at Flatbush and Atlantic avenues in Brooklyn on March 4, 2022, and police told reporters the driver remained at the scene.
What We Know
The city crash record says a 62-year-old man walking on Flatbush Avenue at Atlantic Avenue was killed at 3:32 p.m. on March 4, 2022, in a collision involving a dump truck. News reports, citing police, described the vehicle as a private sanitation or trash-hauling truck near Barclays Center. Brooklyn Paper reported that the driver fatally hit the pedestrian in the roadway and remained at the scene, with no arrests made. The Daily News reported a witness said the driver was turning right from Atlantic Avenue onto Flatbush Avenue and that the man was pinned beneath the truck. The official record describes the pedestrian as crossing outside a signal or crosswalk and not at an intersection; Brooklyn Paper reported that police had not determined at publication whether he was in a crosswalk.
A Friday afternoon crash near Barclays Center
The city record says one pedestrian was killed at 3:32 p.m. on March 4, 2022, at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Brooklyn Paper, citing police, reported that the driver behind the wheel of a garbage truck fatally hit the 62-year-old pedestrian in the roadway just after 3:30 p.m.
The Daily News reported a witness account that the driver was turning right from Atlantic Avenue onto Flatbush Avenue before the fatal collision. First responders pronounced the pedestrian dead at the scene, according to Brooklyn Paper.
Flatbush and Atlantic sit on a high-crash corridor
The crash happened at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, near Barclays Center, according to the official record and news reports. Brooklyn Paper described the area as a three-way intersection with multiple car lanes and vehicles often driven at high speeds, and reported that Councilmember Lincoln Restler called it one of the most dangerous intersections in New York City.
CrashCountNYC location data for Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn shows 4,096 crashes, 2,408 injuries, 109 serious injuries and 10 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.
What records and reports say about the people involved
The official record identifies the person killed as a 62-year-old male pedestrian. It records one occupant in the truck, a licensed male driver with a Pennsylvania license.
Police told reporters the driver remained at the scene. The Daily News reported that police questioned the driver, and Brooklyn Paper reported that no arrests had been made.
The truck was described as a private sanitation vehicle
The official vehicle record lists a 2016 KW truck/bus dump truck and records northbound travel and starting in traffic before the crash. News reports described it as a private sanitation, garbage or trash-hauling truck.
The Daily News reported that Safeway, a carting company in Little Neck, Queens, operated the truck, and that a person who answered the company phone declined comment.
Sources differ on the pedestrian's exact position
The official pedestrian record says the man was crossing outside a signal or crosswalk and not at an intersection, and it lists pedestrian error or confusion as a contributing factor. Brooklyn Paper reported that police had not determined at publication whether the pedestrian was within a crosswalk.
The Daily News account adds a witness detail: the driver was turning right from Atlantic Avenue into Flatbush Avenue before the crash. The reviewed sources do not provide a final public investigative finding beyond those accounts.
Local officials called for safety action
Councilmember Lincoln Restler called the death a tragedy and said his heart went out to the neighbor who was lost and his loved ones. He also criticized the Department of Transportation, saying the intersection needed action and that traffic deaths are avoidable.