Truck Driver Fatally Hits Pedestrian in Queens Village
A 51-year-old box truck driver hit Kevin Thoral, 29, while turning left at 212th Street and Hillside Avenue around 6:20 a.m. Jan. 31, 2025, and police said Thoral died at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.
What We Know
Kevin Thoral, 29, was crossing Hillside Avenue in Queens Village around 6:20 a.m. on Jan. 31, 2025, when a 51-year-old box truck driver making a left turn hit him, police told the Daily News. The official crash record places the crash at 212th Street and Hillside Avenue and records Thoral as a pedestrian at the intersection who was crossing with the signal. The city record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor and identifies the vehicle as a box truck. Police said the driver remained at the scene, no arrests were made that morning, and the investigation continued.
Police said the driver was turning left
Police told the Daily News that Kevin Thoral was crossing Hillside Avenue heading south when a 51-year-old driver in a 2018 white Freightliner box truck traveled north on 212th Street and made a left turn onto Hillside Avenue around 6:20 a.m.
The official crash record identifies Thoral as a 29-year-old pedestrian at the intersection who was crossing with the signal. The record lists the truck driver's pre-crash action as making a left turn.
Kevin Thoral was near his Queens home
The Daily News reported that Thoral was a block from his Queens home when the driver hit him. Responding officers found him in the street with injuries throughout his body, and medics took him to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, where he was pronounced dead.
The crash happened on a corridor with a record of serious harm
The crash happened at 212th Street and Hillside Avenue in Queens Village. CrashCountNYC's location context for 212th Street in Queens shows 331 crashes, 154 injuries, 8 serious injuries and 3 deaths since 2022.
The driver stayed, and police continued investigating
Police told the Daily News that the 51-year-old driver remained at the scene. No arrests were made, and the investigation was still underway Friday morning.