Moped rider dies in Sunset Park crash; driver arrested
Waki Knight, 41, was killed Aug. 30, 2023, in a moped-and-sedan crash recorded at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street in Brooklyn, and police told Brooklyn Paper they arrested the 26-year-old Honda driver for driving without a valid license.
What We Know
Waki Knight, 41, was killed on Aug. 30, 2023, after a crash involving a moped and a sedan on 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park. The city crash record places the crash at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street at 12:52 p.m. and lists traffic control disregarded as a contributing factor. Brooklyn Paper, citing police, reported that Knight was riding north on 3rd Avenue when he lost control at 52nd Street, fell from his unregistered Jiajue moped and slammed into the side of a passing Honda Civic. He was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead from severe head trauma. Police said the 26-year-old Honda driver was unlicensed and was arrested on a charge of driving without a valid license.
What police and the city record say happened
The city crash record says one motorist was killed in a crash involving a moped and a sedan at 12:52 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2023. The record lists the moped rider traveling north and the sedan driver traveling west, with both going straight ahead before the crash.
Brooklyn Paper, citing the NYPD, reported that Waki Knight was riding north on 3rd Avenue when he lost control, fell from the moped and slammed into the side of a passing Honda Civic. The article places that sequence at 52nd Street, while the city crash record places the crash at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street.
Waki Knight died after being taken to the hospital
Brooklyn Paper identified the moped rider as 41-year-old Waki Knight of Sunset Park and reported that he lived about a block from the scene. Paramedics took him to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead from severe head trauma.
The crash involved a moped and a Honda sedan
The city record lists a 2022 Zhejiang Jiajue moped and a 2022 Honda sedan. Brooklyn Paper, citing police, described Knight's moped as unregistered and described the Honda as a Civic. The city record also says the Honda driver had no valid license.
Investigators recorded traffic control disregarded
The city crash record lists traffic control disregarded as a contributing factor and assigns it to the moped. Brooklyn Paper reported the NYPD said Knight lost control before the collision. No source in this package describes a crash-related charge beyond the license allegation against the Honda driver.
Police arrested the Honda driver
Brooklyn Paper reported that police found the 26-year-old Honda driver was unlicensed and arrested him on a charge of driving without a valid license. The article said the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.
3rd Avenue has seen repeated harm since 2022
The city crash record places the crash at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street in Sunset Park. Brooklyn Paper's police account described the incident at 52nd Street, one block away.
CrashCountNYC's location context for 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn shows 2,163 crashes, 1,457 injuries, 82 serious injuries and 10 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.