A 34-year-old Manhattan resident was fatally struck by the driver of a cement truck while crossing a notoriously dangerous Bushwick road on Monday morning.
The pedestrian, identified as Jessica Vollman, was run over on Bushwick Avenue between Troutman and Jefferson streets just after 7 a.m., according to the NYPD. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The 49-year-old driver, an employee of Kings Ready Mix Inc, was not charged. The concrete company declined to comment over the phone.
A witness told the Daily News that the truck was "zooming," estimating its speed at 50 miles per hour — twice the speed limit on the street.
While the police investigation is ongoing, a spokesperson for the NYPD told Gothamist that "the female emerged mid-block between two parked cars" on the north side of the avenue. The spokesperson declined to say whether that information was gleaned from video, witness statements, or the driver's own narrative.
Parking is prohibited on weekday mornings from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the north side of Bushwick Avenue between Troutman and Jefferson.
Bushwick Avenue between Troutman and Jefferson
Attorney Steve Vaccaro, who specializes in pedestrian and cyclist cases, said the NYPD's description was consistent with the department's habit of blaming pedestrians and cyclists for their own deaths — often baselessly.
"People shouldn’t have to live through the insult and the pain of having their deceased family member who isn’t even buried held up as responsible for their own death on anonymously sourced information that may end up being completely incorrect," Vaccaro told Gothamist on Monday. "The process is just incredibly broken."
The victim's father, Michael Vollman, told the News that his daughter founded a marketing company, and previously worked for such firms as Mediabistro, International Meeting Managers, Tribeza Magazine and Sony Music Entertainment.
“She was a beautiful hard-working daughter,” he told the tabloid. “She came back home during the COVID crisis and then went back. The last time we saw her was in June.”
The winding stretch of Bushwick Avenue runs between industrial and increasingly residential neighborhoods, placing heavy trucks in close proximity to pedestrians and cyclists. Last summer, the driver of a cement truck fatally struck cyclist Devra Freelander on Bushwick Avenue; a vigil for the 28-year-old artist devolved into a screaming match between safe streets advocates and employees of the cement truck company.
There have been 177 crashes on the eight-block stretch of Bushwick Avenue between Flushing and Myrtle since January of last year — injuring a total of 25 cyclists and pedestrians, and 44 motorists — according to Streetsblog.
New York City is on track to see the highest number of traffic deaths this year since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office. There have been at least 205 road fatalities on city streets and highways this year, compared to 185 at this point in 2019, according to the Department of Transportation.
“Our hearts break for the victim and her loved ones," said Mitch Schwartz, a mayoral spokesperson. "We’re committed to making New York City’s streets safer for everyone who uses them. That means adding infrastructure – we’ve added 15 miles of protected bike lanes this year alone, with more to come – and holding drivers accountable by adding speed cameras and reducing speed limits. But Vision Zero’s goals are clear – and until we reach them, we have more work left to do.”
