Moped rider dies after Sunset Park crash with unlicensed driver
Police recorded one motorist killed in a moped-and-sedan crash at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street in Brooklyn; Brooklyn Paper reported that Waki Knight died after hitting the side of a Honda driven by an unlicensed 26-year-old.
What We Know
Waki Knight, a 41-year-old Sunset Park resident, died after a noon-hour crash involving a moped and a sedan on Aug. 30, 2023. The city crash record places the crash at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street and lists one motorist killed. Brooklyn Paper, citing police, reported that Knight was riding north on 3rd Avenue when he lost control, fell from an unregistered Jiajue moped, and hit the side of a passing Honda Civic. The article placed the crash at 52nd Street, one block from the official location. Police said the Honda driver was 26 and unlicensed, and that he was arrested on a charge of driving without a valid license.
A noon crash on 3rd Avenue killed a moped rider
The city record says the crash happened at 12:52 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2023, at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street in Brooklyn, and involved a moped and a sedan. It records one motorist killed and no other injuries.
Brooklyn Paper, citing the NYPD, identified the person killed as Waki Knight, 41, of Sunset Park. Police told the outlet that Knight was riding north on 3rd Avenue when he lost control, fell from his moped, and hit the side of a passing Honda Civic.
The crash was on a dangerous 3rd Avenue corridor
The official crash record places the fatal crash at 3rd Avenue and 51st Street in Sunset Park. Brooklyn Paper reported the location as 3rd Avenue at 52nd Street.
CrashCountNYC’s location review for 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn counted 2,163 crashes, 1,457 injuries, 82 serious injuries, and 10 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Police identified Knight and the Honda driver
Brooklyn Paper reported that paramedics took Knight to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead from severe head trauma. The article said he lived one block from the scene.
Police told Brooklyn Paper that the Honda driver was 26 and unlicensed. The outlet reported that police arrested him on a charge of driving without a valid license.
The records describe a moped and a Honda sedan
The city vehicle record describes Knight’s vehicle as a 2022 Zhejiang Jiajue moped traveling north and going straight ahead before the crash. Brooklyn Paper reported that the moped was unregistered.
The city vehicle record describes the second vehicle as a 2022 Honda sedan traveling west and going straight ahead. Brooklyn Paper described it as a Honda Civic.
Police listed a traffic-control factor
The city crash record lists traffic control disregarded as a contributing factor, and the moped entry carries that same factor. Brooklyn Paper reported that police said Knight lost control before he fell from the moped.
Brooklyn Paper reported that the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad was investigating the crash.