Driver in Ford Focus hits pedestrian in fatal Flatlands Avenue crash
A driver in a 2014 Ford Focus hit Vorda Begum near Ralph Avenue on Flatlands Avenue around 9:40 p.m. on June 20, 2022, after she finished a Taco Bell shift; the city record lists one pedestrian killed.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
A driver in a 2014 Ford Focus hit Vorda Begum near Ralph Avenue on Flatlands Avenue as she headed for a bus after a late Taco Bell shift, the Daily News reported. The city record places the crash at 9:40 p.m. on June 20, 2022, and records one pedestrian death; reports said the driver remained at the scene and was not charged at the time.
The crash followed Begum's work shift
The Daily News reported that a driver in a 2014 Ford Focus hit Begum as she crossed midblock near Ralph Avenue just before 9:40 p.m. on Monday, June 20. Streetsblog, citing an initial city report prepared with police, placed her east of Ralph Avenue and said the driver was heading east. The official record lists the crash at 9:40 p.m. on Flatlands Avenue and records one pedestrian death; it describes a sedan traveling east and going straight.
The Daily News reported that medics took Begum to Brookdale University Hospital with head and body injuries, but she could not be saved. Streetsblog also reported that she was taken to Brookdale Hospital and died soon after the crash.
Co-workers and family remembered her
Streetsblog reported that Begum lived in Queens. The Daily News said she was a general manager at a Taco Bell on Ralph Avenue and had just finished a shift when she was walking toward a bus stop. Her co-worker Carlos Tejeda said she had switched from ride-hailing trips to the bus about a month and a half earlier to save money, and described her as more like a big sister than a co-worker.
Her sister, Rida Malik, told the Daily News, “She was my friend.” The Daily News and Streetsblog identified Begum as 25; the official fatality record gives her age as 24.
The block had no traffic light or crosswalk
Streetsblog reported that the crash occurred midblock east of Ralph Avenue, on a stretch of Flatlands Avenue without a traffic light or crosswalk between Ralph Avenue and East 76th Street, including at the entrance to South Shore High School. The area also has a park, a bus stop, and a nearby shopping district.
Citing city statistics, Streetsblog reported 11 crashes on that block in the first six months of 2022, injuring one pedestrian and four motorists.
The driver was not charged at the time
Both news reports said the driver remained at the scene and was not charged at the time of publication. A police spokesman declined to comment to Streetsblog on whether speed, distraction, or intoxication played a role.