Driver fatally hit 91-year-old man on Rhinelander Avenue
A 59-year-old woman driving a Hyundai sedan west on Rhinelander Avenue hit 91-year-old Simone Canepa as he raked leaves near his Morris Park home, and he died the next day.
What We Know
Simone Canepa, 91, was raking leaves near his Radcliff Avenue home in Morris Park when a 59-year-old woman driving a Hyundai sedan west on Rhinelander Avenue hit him, police told amNY. The city crash record lists the crash at 5:20 p.m. on Nov. 11, 2022, while police told amNY it happened about 5:30 p.m. Canepa suffered severe head trauma and was taken to Jacobi Hospital, where he died the next day. The driver remained at the scene and was not injured. The official record listed unsafe speed as a contributing factor, and the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad was investigating, according to amNY.
Police said Canepa was raking leaves when the driver hit him
Police told amNY that Simone Canepa was raking leaves by his Radcliff Avenue home when a 59-year-old woman driving a Hyundai sedan west on Rhinelander Avenue hit him. The city crash record says the driver in a sedan was going straight ahead before the impact.
The official record lists the crash at 5:20 p.m. on Nov. 11, 2022. Police told amNY the crash happened about 5:30 p.m.
Canepa died at Jacobi Hospital the next day
Canepa, 91, suffered severe head trauma and was taken to Jacobi Hospital, where he died the following day, amNY reported. The official record identifies him as a pedestrian killed at the intersection.
The Hyundai driver remained at the scene and did not suffer injuries, according to amNY.
Rhinelander Avenue has seen repeated crashes since 2022
The crash happened at Rhinelander Avenue and Radcliff Avenue in the Morris Park section of the Bronx.
CrashCountNYC location data for Rhinelander Avenue in the Bronx shows 156 crashes, 90 injuries, one serious injury and one death from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.
The official record listed unsafe speed
The city crash record listed unsafe speed as a contributing factor for the collision. The same record also contains a traffic-control-disregarded factor in the pedestrian record; the reviewed news story did not report that detail or explain it.
amNY reported that the NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad was investigating the crash.
The death drew attention to senior traffic risk
amNY reported Canepa's death in the context of a Department of Transportation finding that seniors make up less than 15 percent of New York City's population but more than 45 percent of its traffic fatalities. In the Bronx, the report found, seniors are 12 percent of the population and 31 percent of traffic deaths.