BY THE VILLAGE SUN | Police have released the name of the elderly man who was fatally struck by a Department of Sanitation vehicle while crossing Canal St. early on the morning of Sat., Jan. 25.
A department spokesperson identified the victim as Win Lu Hon, 90, who lived at 236 Mulberry St., in Little Italy, just seven blocks from where he was hit.
The Sanitation car, a Ford Escape, was traveling eastbound around 6:30 a.m. with a green light when it approached Elizabeth St. and the victim walked into the crosswalk, heading from south to north, according to police.
“He walked when he shouldn’t have and he got struck,” the spokesperson said.
The victim went up onto the car’s hood, struck his head on the windshield and then fell onto the roadway. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Sanitation employee, 61, stayed at the scene and was not charged.
The police spokesperson said that, as part of the investigation, the police Collision Investigation Squad checked if the driver had been speeding and also checked him for alcohol and drugs.
Chinatown has more seniors than most communities, and they are given little time to cross major street crossings. Shame on DOS for not seeing and stopping for a senior citizen trying their best to cross the street in the time allotted on Chinese New Year. Who is really to blame? The person who lost their life, or the person behind the wheel?
Shame on the NYC Department of Transportation for not redesigning the intersection in order to provide a shorter way to cross Canal Street with a refuge island in the middle of the street so that people will be able to stop if they are walking slowly.