Brooklyn Fire Truck, Motorcycle Crash Leaving One Dead
A Brooklyn motorcyclist was on his way home Monday when he was hit by a fire truck rushing to the scene of a brush fire. The man, Reginald Brown, was killed in the accident.
Forty-six year old Brown was ironically stopping at home before he went to a friend’s memorial service. That friend was killed in a motorcycle crash one year ago in Brooklyn. Brown was to meet up with friends from his biker club to commemorate the anniversary of the death.
The fire truck was heading to a rubbish fire on Norstrand Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant when the accident occurred. The two collided on the corner of Monroe Avenue and Marcy Avenue at around 4 p.m.
“By the time he got to the intersection, the fire truck came through and hit him,” said one witness to DNAinfo.com. “He went flying through the air and hit the glass of the beauty salon.”
Brown was pronounced dead at Woohull Hospital.
According to friends, Brown was a safe biker. He didn’t normally speed and friends would have to stop and wait for him when they were out riding together.
“If the speed limit was 45, he would go 35,” said one friend interviewed by the NY Times. “We’d say ‘Come on, speed up!’ He’d just shake his head and say, ‘Uh-uh, not gonna do it.”
“He always gets to barbeques last. He follows all the rules [of the road].”
Brown worked for a nonprofit company, helping the homeless in the city. It was one of three jobs that he held. He was a father of two.
Witnesses say the fire truck is to blame.
“Everyone was yelling at the fire truck and cursing,” said one witness who noticed one of the firefighters was extremely shaken up after the crash.
The accident is being investigated to determine if anyone will face charges.
So far, the only person facing any charges is the 17 year old boy who started the brush fire.
This accident, and so many others like it, show how anyone—even the most cautious of drivers—can become a victim at any time. Any day that you are on the road, you run the risk of getting involved in an accident, and your driving skills are only half of the equation.
When we get behind the wheel or climb on a motorcycle, we are putting our confidence in everyone else on the road. When a tragedy occurs, it often doesn’t matter how good of a driver you were.
The attorneys with Omrani & Taub understand how it feels to be hurt or even to lose a loved one in an accident. We have represented countless clients in getting justice after such tragedy.
