3-year-old killed in hit and run at Queens intersection that 'encourages reckless driving'
NEW YORK - A 3-year-old boy has died after being struck by a car in a Queens hit and run Wednesday evening.
Police said the boy was killed by a white sedan around 7 p.m. as the driver was parking on College Point Boulevard in Flushing, near 41st Avenue.
When the driver began to pull out, the 3-year-old, identified as Quintas Chen, ran behind the car and was struck as it backed up.
The driver fled the scene and the abandoned vehicle was found by police a couple of blocks away, the NYPD said.
The child was rushed to NY Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He lived on the next block on Sanford Avenue, police told Fox News Digital.
Credit: Transportation Alternatives
On Thursday, the nonprofit Transportation Alternatives released a statement warning of pedestrian safety hazards at that intersection and purporting that "2023 is now the deadliest year for traffic violence in Queens since 2014."
"The driver who killed Quintas was pulling out of a parking lot with a 250-foot curb cut – a design choice that encourages unpredictable movements and reckless driving," the statement read. "This style of parking lot has proven to be dangerous: In 2018, a driver killed 4-year-old Luz Gonzalez backing out of a similar parking lot in Bushwick."
So far, no arrests have been made. An investigation into the hit and run is ongoing.