Driver killed in Gerritsen Beach crash with sanitation truck
A 42-year-old man driving a sedan was killed at Gerritsen Avenue and Florence Avenue, where News 12 reported the garbage-truck driver was not seriously injured and remained at the scene.
What We Know
A 42-year-old man driving a sedan was killed at Gerritsen Avenue and Florence Avenue in Brooklyn at 12:33 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2024. The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor and records alcohol involvement for the sedan driver; it also says he was unlicensed. News 12, citing police, reported that the man was taken to a hospital, where he died, and that the garbage-truck driver was not seriously injured and stayed at the scene. A Cogent Waste Solutions spokesperson said witnesses described the Mercedes driver traveling at a high rate of speed and passing a red light before the crash; the investigation was ongoing.
Midnight crash at Gerritsen and Florence
The crash happened at 12:33 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2024, at Gerritsen Avenue and Florence Avenue in Brooklyn. The official record says one motorist, a 42-year-old male sedan driver, was killed and no other injuries were recorded.
News 12, citing the NYPD, reported that police said the man was rushed to a hospital, where he died. The outlet reported that the garbage-truck driver was not seriously injured and remained at the scene.
Speed and alcohol were recorded for the sedan driver
The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor, and the sedan record lists unsafe speed and alcohol involvement for the sedan driver. The same official vehicle record says the sedan driver was unlicensed.
A spokesperson for Cogent Waste Solutions, which the article identified as the owner of the sanitation truck and the garbage-truck driver's employer, said witnesses described the Mercedes driver traveling at a high rate of speed and passing a red light before the crash. News 12 reported that police were still investigating the cause.
Gerritsen Avenue has seen repeated harm
The crash happened at Gerritsen Avenue and Florence Avenue in Brooklyn. CrashCountNYC's location context for Gerritsen Avenue in Brooklyn counted 129 crashes, 85 injuries, 8 serious injuries and 1 death from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Company said it was cooperating
News 12 published a statement from a Cogent Waste Solutions spokesperson offering condolences and saying the company was cooperating with the investigation.