QUEENS, NY- nydailynews.com reports that a 9-year-old boy, Giovanni Ampuero, was struck and killed in Queens just outside of his home. The boy was with his mother when he stepped into a crosswalk at 70thStreet and Northern Boulevard and was struck by a Jeep Compass. The driver of the Jeep, 86-year-old Juan Jimenez from Manhattan continued […]
QUEENS, NY- nydailynews.com reports that a 9-year-old boy, Giovanni Ampuero, was struck and killed in Queens just outside of his home. The boy was with his mother when he stepped into a crosswalk at 70thStreet and Northern Boulevard and was struck by a Jeep Compass.
The driver of the Jeep, 86-year-old Juan Jimenez from Manhattan continued to drive after striking the child. Another driver who had witnessed the accident followed Jimenez for about 5 blocks and stopped him at 60thStreet.
Ampuero was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where he died from severe head and body injuries.
Jimenez is facing charges for failing to yield to a pedestrian, failing to exercise due care, and for leaving the scene of an accident.
New York has taken measures to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities in the city. Through the Vision Zero campaign, the city has implemented lower speed limits, increased the enforcement of traffic laws, and designed safer streets. The program appears to be making a difference because New York City reported the city’s lowest number of traffic-related fatalities in more than a century. Pedestrian deaths, in particular, dropped by almost one-third in 2017 from the previous year.
Hit-and-runs have been specifically addressed by New York legislators. A new alert system went into effect for New York City in March of 2018. Police in the state say that they currently only arrest less than half of the hit-and-run drivers involved in fatal accidents.
The new system allows police officers to release information about the driver or vehicle involved so that the public can assist in providing more information and hopefully reducing the number of people who evade the law after committing this crime.
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