UPDATE, 3/2/24, 7:15 p.m.: A woman, not a man as originally reported, was killed after colliding with an oil delivery truck on West 76th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West early Saturday morning, police told West Side Rag in an amended report. The woman was Anastasia Ledwith, 57, a resident of the Upper West Side, according to the Daily News. Ledwith was traveling eastbound on a two-wheeled, gas-powered scooter when “it struck the rear passenger side of a truck operated by a 50-year-old man, also going eastbound on West 76th Street,” according to an NYPD spokesperson. EMS responded and pronounced Ledwith deceased at the scene. The operator of the truck remained on the scene, no charges were filed. The investigation is ongoing.
Original Story
By Carol Tannenhauser
A man was run over and killed in a collision with an oil delivery truck at 16 West 76th Street at approximately 2:45 a.m. on Saturday.
An NYPD spokesperson told West Side Rag that “a preliminary report determined that the [man] was on a two-wheeled, gas-powered vehicle traveling eastbound on 76th Street behind a delivery truck. The operator of the delivery truck was making a turn going southbound on Central Park West, when he struck and ran over the man with his rear passenger tire. EMS responded and pronounced the man deceased on scene. The operator of the delivery truck remained on scene. The investigation is ongoing by the NYPD Highway Collisions Investigation Squad. The identification of the deceased is being withheld pending family notification.”
NYPD stressed that this is a preliminary report. We will update as more details are known.
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the body was in the street way before the corner, at the start of the construction. theres no way the moped was behind the truck. my guess from the scene, is that the truck tried to overtake him right at the spot the road narrows and the guy got sucked under the truck.
the body was at the start of the construction like i said, the moped was still under the truck on CPW all the way around the corner. the guy went under the back wheels.
You’re wrong! the two wheel scooter was trying to overtake the truck!!!
I know that intersection well, and what you say makes perfect sense. There is no room for a truck that size (or even a car, for that matter) and the moped to be side-by-side. I don’t even allow my dog in the street there because it is soooo tight. Really a horrible way to go. RIP to the moped driver.
How about we wait till NYPD makes their finding, before guessing what did or did not happen
What someone sees after an acident can be misleading
Isn’t discussion and speculation kinda what the comment section is for?
if you paid any attention to these issues you would know the NYPD parrots the drivers version of events as a rule.
i was on the street this morning and have pictures of all of it.
i saw everything the police saw.
16 W 76th St, as stated in the article is way before the intersection, as you stated. That means that the narrative : “the operator of the delivery truck was making a turn going southbound on Central Park West, when he struck and ran over the man with his rear passenger tire” could not possibly have been the reality. Whether the truck overtook the moped or the moped overtook the truck is obviously TBD. As a cyclist myself, I would never overtake a truck like that while the truck is moving. I believe, from anecdotal evidence, that it would be more likely that the moped driver was overtaking the truck, but that is obviously conjecture. Likely, only video evidence would prove one way or the other, unless there was an eyewitness.
About 200’ before a ‘T’ intersection where the truck must turn there’s no way it’s accelerating. If anything it’s slowing down.
How horrible.
This is a very passive voice headline that doesn’t really accurately express what happened. The scooter didn’t collide with the truck, it was the other way around. “Oil Delivery Truck Driver Kills Scooter Driver in Collision Saturday Morning” would be more accurate.
If the truck was ahead of the scooter and the scooter cam up beside it as the truck was turning the truck driver wouldn’t have known he was there. Your headline assigns blame when we don’t know what happened.
the street is too narrow due to the construction for the scooter to pass the truck. you need to see the location.
Rhos version of the story says there were witnesses
“Attempting to overtake the oil delivery truck in front of her, Ledwith sounded her horn, alerting nearby witnesses to the impending disaster”
https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/accidents/fatal-scooter-vs-oil-truck-collision-claims-life-on-upper-west-side
This was a horrible accident. I wonder if the victim was a delivery courier. A lot of them work overnight. I know, cause I often place late night orders. The guys who work this shift are usually very nice. This is gut wrenching news.
So sad
WHEN is this city gonna ban bikes and scooters etc? Our roads obviously are too
small for safe operation.
How many deaths and serious injuries
this year???
Is anyone gonna do anything????
It’s quite clear now that these bikes scooters
are not compatible with our streets snd
tell me what nutcase thought it would work
Whew!!!!CB7, Mayor Do Something!!!!!
Ban?! How can something be “banned”? You mean like guns and cocaine?! Ok.
While you are at it. Ban pedestrians too. They get killed and maimed too often.
Why not just ban trucks?
Sure, but what are you going to eat? How do you think foods gets to Manhattan, via bicycles?
By your logic they should ban bikes too no? The scooter was in the street. Or the sidewalk. Could have happened to a cyclist the same.
Everybody is always in a rush and has to “get there” first wherever their “there” is.
There is too little traffic policing and there are too many close calls that one sees all the time in the streets. The laws have to be more stringent. Nothing is sadder than when one doesn’t get to go home; when that man’s family is waiting for him to walk through the door and it doesn’t happen —
ever.
Heartbreaking and unnecessary. Ramp up the traffic laws and penalties . (Were there cameras on that block?)
My sincere condolences.
Most likely scooter operator coming along side of truck making right turn. As the truck turns right the rear wheels track further to the right and closes in on scooter which should not have tried passing on the right.
Terrible.
But am confused by “scooter” reference – was this a moped/vespa/mini-motorcycle type of vehicle?
Or a stand-up “scooter”?
According to this article it was a gas powered, sit down scooter, the woman lived a block away from the accident , and she tried to navigate around the truck. This article is disturbing.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/03/02/manhattan-scooter-driver-57-dies-near-her-home-in-upper-west-side-truck-crash/
Yes, it is disturbing. Whatever pro-bike riders say, I don’t think scooters and bikes are safe for riding the city. Maybe some parts of it, but definitely not everywhere.
Obviously not a stand up one.
I also was confused. I guess WSR tried to clarify by using scooter driver not scooter rider? The nomenclature confusion is emblematic of the challenge in regulating the vehicles. If you can’t quickly identify and describe what it is, how can you apply and enforce rules about different speed limits and road lane usage by vehicle type? To me, that is why we need license plates on anything gas powered and anything that is not pedal-assist.
Christine,
Yes it seems that the City does not use clear distinctions, definitions and references – and this also means City data (DOT, NYPD, FDNY) is not precise,
It was a gas powered scooter driven by an extremely experienced and
Cautious friend of mine. She was an amazing human being known by many in our community. She wore many hats that took her many places all over the city and she knew what she was doing when on her scooter. RIP to a legend beyond legends 💔
I am so sorry for your loss
Anyone on a bike or scooter making a right turn alongside a large truck would know not to do so alongside the vehicle. It’s far easier for his vehicle to lose control and slide than the truck. Common sense.
Understood. But like any driver, you get tired and less cautious at times which becomes twice as dangerous if you are riding a scooter and not driving a car
Damn, knew her when she lived 76 between Columbus and Amsterdam. Actually sold her a scooter my wife wasn’t ready for. Typical NY, that scoot was stolen from her a week later. While I wouldn’t say she was the most sober conventional person I knew , she was quintessential NYC grit. Ride hard, die free!
I am very sorry to hear of a death in the neighborhood. I have my assumptions but will hold back until there is more info.
I hope the bike lobbyists do not use this to energize their efforts to create more dedicated bike lanes. Because that is the last thing we need.
There are bike lanes on 77th. Bike ridership doesn’t come close to justifying putting them on every street. In any case, I personally don’t think gas powered scotters belong in bike lanes. But that’s an arguement for a different day. Today we can mourn our neighbor.
Typo alert – update was 3/2 not 2/2, right?. Sad sad story.
Thanks
So it’s likely the scooter driver wasn’t paying attention.