Derrick Belton
Derrick Belton
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Age: 44
Location:
Albany and Lefferts
Brooklyn , NY
United States
Derrick Belton was hit by a private trash truck on August 20, 2016, he died the next day of his injuries.
Adapted from Streetsblog NYC
A private garbage truck driver struck and fatally injured Derrick Belton, a cyclist at the intersection of Albany Avenue and Lefferts
Avenue in Flatbush last night, highlighting the pervasive public safety
risks in the commercial waste carting industry.
The victim, whom police did not name, remains in critical condition
today, according to NYPD’s public information office. The driver,
Steveson Thanus, received “multiple summonses,” though the police
spokesperson could not specify the violations.
Police arrived at 11:23 p.m. last night to find the victim “laying in
the roadway” with “severe head trauma,” the spokesperson said.
According to NYPD, the cyclist was riding south on the east sidewalk
of Albany Avenue last night when he entered the intersection. The
spokesperson said the driver was “going westbound on Lefferts
approaching Albany” at the moment of impact, and the victim “collided
with the right rear tire area of [the truck].”
The garbage hauler was driving a white Mack dump truck registered to
La Vega Carting Corporation, located on Highland Boulevard in Cypress
Hills, NYPD said.
La Vega is a small company with three employees. Co-owner Edwin
Rosario told Streetsblog the truck had a broken rear light at the time
of the crash. It’s not clear if this contributed to the collision, but
if Thanus was backing up, the equipment failure could have been a
factor.
Police were walking on Albany Avenue early Friday looking for surveillance footage of the crash, according to the Daily News.
The News also made sure to note that “it was not immediately clear if
the victim was wearing a helmet” — as if that would have
prevented bodily harm caused by a gigantic moving vehicle.
Private trash carters handle all commercial waste collection in New
York, and it’s common for the industry’s drivers to cover sprawling
routes in their shifts. Recent reports from the Transform Don’t Trash NYC Coalition [PDF] and the Department of Sanitation [PDF]
have called for a restructuring of the industry to create more
efficient routes, cutting down on truck mileage and reducing incentives
to drive dangerously.
Private trash haulers killed six people in
New York City between 2010 and 2015, according to crash information
compiled by Streetsblog. Of the 21 reported crashes involving private
carters between 2010 and 2014, 86 percent caused physical injury or
death, according to a safety analysis by Sam Schwartz Engineering.
The Transform Don’t Trash report also found widespread vehicle
maintenance violations in the industry. A whopping 48 percent of all
vehicles were taken out of service due to maintenance concerns in a
two-year span, and many drivers reported being forced to drive vehicles
with faulty brakes, bad tires, and broken lights.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Age: 44
Location:
Albany and Lefferts
Brooklyn , NY
United States
Derrick Belton was hit by a private trash truck on August 20, 2016, he died the next day of his injuries.
Adapted from Streetsblog NYC
A private garbage truck driver struck and fatally injured Derrick Belton, a cyclist at the intersection of Albany Avenue and Lefferts
Avenue in Flatbush last night, highlighting the pervasive public safety
risks in the commercial waste carting industry.
The victim, whom police did not name, remains in critical condition
today, according to NYPD’s public information office. The driver,
Steveson Thanus, received “multiple summonses,” though the police
spokesperson could not specify the violations.
Police arrived at 11:23 p.m. last night to find the victim “laying in
the roadway” with “severe head trauma,” the spokesperson said.
According to NYPD, the cyclist was riding south on the east sidewalk
of Albany Avenue last night when he entered the intersection. The
spokesperson said the driver was “going westbound on Lefferts
approaching Albany” at the moment of impact, and the victim “collided
with the right rear tire area of [the truck].”
The garbage hauler was driving a white Mack dump truck registered to
La Vega Carting Corporation, located on Highland Boulevard in Cypress
Hills, NYPD said.
La Vega is a small company with three employees. Co-owner Edwin
Rosario told Streetsblog the truck had a broken rear light at the time
of the crash. It’s not clear if this contributed to the collision, but
if Thanus was backing up, the equipment failure could have been a
factor.
Police were walking on Albany Avenue early Friday looking for surveillance footage of the crash, according to the Daily News.
The News also made sure to note that “it was not immediately clear if
the victim was wearing a helmet” — as if that would have
prevented bodily harm caused by a gigantic moving vehicle.
Private trash carters handle all commercial waste collection in New
York, and it’s common for the industry’s drivers to cover sprawling
routes in their shifts. Recent reports from the Transform Don’t Trash NYC Coalition [PDF] and the Department of Sanitation [PDF]
have called for a restructuring of the industry to create more
efficient routes, cutting down on truck mileage and reducing incentives
to drive dangerously.
Private trash haulers killed six people in
New York City between 2010 and 2015, according to crash information
compiled by Streetsblog. Of the 21 reported crashes involving private
carters between 2010 and 2014, 86 percent caused physical injury or
death, according to a safety analysis by Sam Schwartz Engineering.
The Transform Don’t Trash report also found widespread vehicle
maintenance violations in the industry. A whopping 48 percent of all
vehicles were taken out of service due to maintenance concerns in a
two-year span, and many drivers reported being forced to drive vehicles
with faulty brakes, bad tires, and broken lights.