Pedestrian Critically Injured In Brooklyn Hit-And-Run
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A New York City lawmaker is calling for stronger hit-and-run laws after yet another serious crash.
A 47-year-old man was critically injured early Sunday morning in Brooklyn and police still looking for the driver, CBS2's Christina Fan reported.
The sight of cops and investigators are all too familiar on this particular stretch of Conduit Boulevard in the Cypress Hills section of the borough. People in the area say pedestrians jaywalk all the time. One man who works nearby saw surveillance video, and said the victim, who has not been identified, was not using the crosswalk when he was struck.
"He was coming from this side and when he crossed the road, a car came from the other side very fast. So he hit him and threw him on the tree over there," said Anjum Joseph, who works nearby.
Joseph said the man was bleeding when paramedics rushed him to the hospital, adding the driver never stopped.
"It's very dangerous. The cars are zoom, zoom, zoom. So if you walk in between you bound to get hit," a neighbor named "Valerie" added.
City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez came to crash site Sunday to call for stronger hit-and-run laws. He said the crime has become too pervasive.
"It's a sad day. It's a sad year -- 2019 is the worst year that we have since we have started Vision Zero," Rodriguez said.
The lawmaker said he not only wants the city to design safer intersections; he also wants the NYPD to double the number of officers investigating hit-and-runs.
"There is a lack of resources to investigate and prosecute all those criminal drivers that leave the scene," Rodriguez said.
Police said the suspect car they are looking for is a dark-colored Nissan SUV.
Councilman Rodriguez said the city's Transportation Committee will hold a hearing next week to tackle ways to improve Vision Zero.