79-year-old Brooklyn woman fatally struck by 2 drivers in double hit-and-run: NYPD

Police are searching for two hit-and-run drivers who allegedly struck and killed a 79-year-old woman crossing the street in Brooklyn Thursday evening. The crash prompted local elected officials and street safety activists to again call on the city to do more to address traffic violence.

Police said the victim, identified as Yvonne Sandiford, was crossing New York Avenue at Herkimer Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant — just blocks from her home — around 6:30 p.m. when she was first struck by the driver of a gray Nissan Rogue SUV as they turned left onto the avenue. The SUV did not stop and continued north on New York Avenue, according to police.

Sandiford was still lying on the road when, moments later, she was hit by the driver of a white Toyota Sienna making a right turn, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

No arrests have been made, and the NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad continues to investigate the incident.

Vincent Barone, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Transportation, said the agency would review the crash location, “as it does with every traffic fatality.”

In a statement Friday, Danny Harris, executive director of street safety advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, said the city must do more to make dangerous intersections safer and hold hit-and-run drivers accountable.

“The City of New York has the tools to stop traffic violence, especially for older New Yorkers, but lacks the political will to make our streets safe,” Harris said. “Specifically, the NYC Streets Plan legally requires hundreds of intersection upgrades and the creation of car-free pedestrian space, critical improvements that would make our streets safer for older New Yorkers.”

Harris added that the intersection of Herkimer Street and New York Avenue, where Sandiford was killed, is “a known-dangerous area for senior pedestrians [and] has received no safety upgrades.”

City Councilmember Chi Ossé, who represents the area, said traffic crashes and fatalities demand the same attention as other forms of violence in the city. In a statement, he said he mourned the victims of traffic deaths in his district and urged the city to bolster safe infrastructure, driver and pedestrian education, and other policies that could reduce collisions.

“Historically, downward trends are followed by surges which only serve to remind us that traffic safety requires consistent and constant efforts,” Ossé said.

Last year, at least 247 people were killed in car crashes on city streets, compared to at least 246 people killed with guns, according to official data. So far in 2023, 208 people have died in local traffic deaths, a 25% increase compared to five years earlier, Transportation Alternatives said.