Driver fatally hit 7-year-old girl in Queens crosswalk
Police said a 46-year-old woman with a learner's permit rolled through a stop sign before fatally hitting 7-year-old Dolma Naadhun, whom the official record lists as crossing a marked crosswalk at Newtown Road and 45th Street in Queens.
What We Know
A 7-year-old girl was killed while crossing Newtown Road at 45th Street in Queens. According to the police report, she was walking in a marked crosswalk when a Ford SUV driven by a permit-holder, heading east, hit her with the front center. She died at the scene from internal injuries affecting her entire body. Police recorded driver inexperience as a contributing factor.
The crash at the crosswalk
The official record says Dolma Naadhun, 7, was crossing a marked crosswalk at Newtown Road and 45th Street on Feb. 17, 2023, when she was killed. The driver was traveling east in a 2021 Ford SUV, according to the record.
Gothamist reported that police said a 46-year-old woman rolled through a stop sign before hitting Naadhun.
What officials said about the driver
The official crash record lists driver inexperience as a contributing factor. Gothamist reported that the Department of Transportation said the driver had a learner's permit, was driving alone, and had a legal amount of alcohol in her system.
Newtown Road and 45th Street
The crash happened at Newtown Road and 45th Street in Queens. CrashCountNYC's location context for 45th Street in Queens counted 179 crashes, 85 injuries, 9 serious injuries and 2 deaths since 2022.
A family's push for a traffic signal
After Naadhun's death, her 11-year-old brother, Tsering Tashi Takgye, created a petition calling for a traffic light at the intersection. Gothamist reported that local elected leaders joined the family in those demands, and DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez later announced that the city would install a traffic signal after an intersection control study.
The DOT also said it had already made safety changes at the crash site, including improved crosswalk markings, a curb extension and daylighting.