Tire flies off truck, kills NYPD employee on Gowanus Expressway
Traffic camera view of scene on Gowanus Expressway where a tire killed a NYPD worker
BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A driver was killed when a tire struck his car on the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn Wednesday morning.
The 64-year-old driver's vehicle was struck in the eastbound Gowanus Expressway, near exit 3, just after 6:40 a.m.
He was traveling in the HOV lane along the eastbound Gowanus Expressway when a tire came loose from a private sanitation vehicle, traveling westbound.
The tire struck and shattered the windshield of the Toyota RAV 4m, which then crashed into the divider.
The driver sustained severe head trauma and was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn.
The operator of the private sanitation vehicle truck remained at the scene. No charges were initially filed.
The victim was a civilian employee of the NYPD who works in building maintenance at Police Headquarters.
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NBC.com
A 64-year-old NYPD employee died when a tire flew off a truck on the Gowanus Expressway and smashed into his windshield as he drove in the HOV lane, authorities said Wednesday.
The unidentified NYPD worker, a civilian member of the service, was traveling east near exit 3 around 6:30 a.m. when the tire somehow became unhinged from a westbound truck and flew to the opposite side of the highway, hitting the victim's RAV 4. The sudden impact drove the NYPD employee, whose exact role within the department wasn't immediately clear, into a barrier.
He sustained massive head trauma and was unresponsive when authorities arrived at the scene. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The RAV 4 also sustained heavy damage, authorities said.
The truck driver stayed at the scene. It's not clear if any charges were expected to be filed. The NYPD's District Collision Team is investigating.
The roadway was shut down in the area for a time as authorities investigated.
It's the second flying tire freak accident that killed someone in New York in less than a month. In early July, a man was driving on Sunrise Highway in East Babylon when a tire flew off another vehicle and hit him. That truck driver later came forward and was said to be cooperating with police.
