Driver fatally injured 88-year-old pedestrian on Northern Boulevard
Police recorded one pedestrian killed at Northern Boulevard and 147th Street, and press reports said a 52-year-old driver leaving a restaurant parking lot hit 88-year-old Thomas Soong, who died three days later.
What We Know
An 88-year-old man died after a driver in a 2018 Honda sedan hit him on Northern Boulevard near 147th Street in Queens on a Friday evening. According to the police report, the sedan was traveling east and continued straight when it struck the man as he crossed outside a crosswalk and without a signal. The pedestrian suffered a fatal head injury and died at the scene on this arterial road.
A parking-lot turn preceded the fatal injury
The city crash record places the collision at 9:25 p.m. on March 11, 2022, on Northern Boulevard at 147th Street in Queens and records one pedestrian killed.
The Daily News and amNY, citing police, reported that Thomas Soong was crossing mid-block when a 52-year-old driver made a left turn out of the Butcher's Cut Korean restaurant parking lot and hit him. amNY reported that the driver crossed the double-yellow line and painted median before hitting Soong in the left-most eastbound lane.
Soong suffered head injuries and was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens in serious condition. Both reports said he died three days later, on March 14.
Northern Boulevard carries a heavy crash burden
The crash occurred at Northern Boulevard and 147th Street in Queens, on a corridor CrashCountNYC tracks as Northern Boulevard - Queens.
Since 2022, that Northern Boulevard corridor has had 3,399 crashes, 2,139 injuries, 137 serious injuries and 11 deaths, according to Crash Finder location context.
amNY described the nearby segment between 146th and 147th Streets as a six-lane stretch with no marked crossings between intersections and several parking lots where drivers enter and leave across the sidewalk.
Thomas Soong was identified as the pedestrian who died
The official person record identifies the person killed as an 88-year-old male pedestrian. The Daily News and amNY identified him as Thomas Soong, 88.
A neighbor told the Daily News that Soong often walked, swam at the YMCA and was a healthy person who went out every day. The Daily News reported that he lived a couple of blocks from where the driver hit him.
Records and reports describe the driver's movement differently
The official vehicle record lists one male licensed New York driver in a 2018 Honda sedan, traveling east and going straight ahead. The Daily News described the vehicle as a 2018 Honda Fit, and both press reports said the driver was 52.
The official entry and the press accounts do not describe the driver's pre-crash movement the same way: the official record says the sedan was going straight ahead, while the articles say the driver was turning left out of the restaurant parking lot.
Police reports cited right-of-way and crossing details
The official person record listed pedestrian error/confusion and failure to yield right-of-way as contributing factors.
Press accounts said Soong was crossing mid-block and outside a marked crosswalk, but amNY reported that a police spokesperson could not say where that piece of information came from.
The driver remained at the scene
The Daily News reported that the 52-year-old driver remained at the scene and was not charged. amNY reported that police had made no arrests.
The Daily News said the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad was still investigating when it published its report.