Truck Driver Fatally Hit E-Bike Rider During East New York Turn
A 52-year-old truck driver making a right turn from Pennsylvania Avenue onto Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn fatally hit 43-year-old e-bike rider Jarrod Little on Aug. 30, 2022, according to the city crash record and police accounts reported by amNY and the Daily News.
What We Know
A 52-year-old truck driver was making a right turn from southbound Pennsylvania Avenue onto Linden Boulevard in East New York when he fatally hit Jarrod Little, who was riding south on an e-bike, according to the city crash record and police accounts reported by amNY and the Daily News. Witness and police accounts said Little was hit in the crosswalk and suffered fatal head and body injuries; he was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he died. The driver stayed at the scene and did not immediately face charges. The official record lists a tractor truck diesel and an e-bike, and records view obstruction, improper turning and traffic-control disregard as contributing factors.
A right turn ended in a fatal crosswalk crash
The city crash record places the crash at Pennsylvania Avenue and Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn at 4:25 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2022. It records one cyclist killed and no other injuries.
Police accounts reported by amNY and the Daily News said the 52-year-old truck driver was turning right from southbound Pennsylvania Avenue onto Linden Boulevard when he hit Jarrod Little in the crosswalk. A witness told the Daily News that Little was crushed beneath the rig's wheels, and amNY reported that he suffered head and body injuries.
Medics took Little to Brookdale Hospital, where he died. The driver stayed at the scene, and police did not immediately make an arrest or file charges, according to amNY and the Daily News.
The crash happened on a wide, high-injury corridor
The collision happened where Pennsylvania Avenue meets Linden Boulevard in East New York. amNY described the intersection as the meeting of two busy thoroughfares and reported that the city classified both corridors as Vision Zero priority corridors because of high rates of pedestrian deaths and severe injuries.
CrashCountNYC location data for Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn shows 2,223 crashes, 1,585 injuries, 64 serious injuries and 8 deaths since 2022. amNY also reported that the area around the intersection lacked protected bike lanes and that a 62-year-old woman had been killed there earlier in 2022.
Jarrod Little was remembered as a son and music promoter
Jarrod Little was 43, according to the city crash record, amNY and a later Daily News account. An earlier Daily News breaking story described the bicyclist as 44 before his name was released.
The Daily News reported that Little had left his Ocean Hill home on his battery-powered bicycle around 3 p.m. His parents said he was their middle child, had lived in their home since 1990 and had launched a company promoting local hip-hop and R&B artists.
The official record lists a tractor-trailer and an e-bike
The city crash record lists a tractor truck diesel traveling south and making a right turn, and an e-bike rider traveling south and going straight ahead. amNY described the truck as a Freightliner and Little's bike as an electric folding bike; the Daily News described it as a bicycle with pedals and an electric battery.
The record cites turning, traffic control and visibility factors
The city crash record lists view obstruction or limited view as a contributing factor in the crash. For the tractor-trailer driver, the official vehicle entry lists improper turning and traffic-control disregard.
Those recorded factors sit alongside the press accounts: police accounts said the driver was making a right turn, and a witness told the Daily News that Little was in the crosswalk when the driver hit him.
Advocates called for a street redesign after the death
amNY reported that safe-street advocates demanded that the city overhaul the deadly corridors after Little's death. The same report noted that the surrounding neighborhood had few cycling protections beyond nearby sharrows and painted lanes.