A man died in a Thursday morning collision on the Major Deegan Expressway in the West Bronx, just days after another fatal incident on the expressway. Both men who died in the separate incidents were only in their 20s.
At about 2:14 a.m. Thursday morning, police said they responded to a call of a vehicle collision on the southbound side of the Major Deegan Expressway near West Tremont Avenue, which is near the Harlem River in Morris Heights, within the 46 Precinct.
The NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad found that a 28-year-old man was driving a 2002 Honda CRV southbound on the expressway when he “failed to properly navigate the roadway” and hit the right wall next to the right shoulder of the road, according to the police.
After hitting the wall, the car crossed over three lanes of traffic on the expressway, ending up in the left lane of the highway, police said.
EMS responded and transported the man to NYC Health and Hospitals/Lincoln where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation is ongoing, and the identity of the deceased is pending notification of his family, according to the NYPD.
Days prior, Mount Vernon resident Justin Francisco, 22, died following a collision on the same Bronx highway in the Northwest Bronx neighborhood of Kingsbridge. Francisco’s car became disabled in the left lane of the expressway after losing control on a wet roadway and hitting a wall, according to the NYPD.
He got out of his car to inspect the damage on the vehicle when another car drove into it, pushing the car into the 22-year-old. He was thrown over the center wall of the highway into oncoming traffic, where he was hit by a Jeep.
The Jeep driver then lost control, hit a highway wall and the car turned over. That driver was partially pushed out of the soft-top roof of the car and brought to the hospital in critical condition. The NYPD told the Bronx Times on Thursday there are no updates regarding the incident or the driver’s condition.
Two passengers ages 22 and 23 in Francisco’s car survived without injuries, according to the NYPD. Francisco was the 18th pedestrian to die on a Bronx highway since 2019, and the third year to date, according to the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT). Five of those 18 incidents took place on the Major Deegan, including Sunday’s incident.
The Bronx Times has reached out to DOT for updated data and is awaiting a response.
Reach Aliya Schneider at aschneider@schnepsmedia.com or (718) 260-4597. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
