Elderly Woman Hit By Auburndale Driver Dies 1 Month Later: Police

AUBURNDALE, QUEENS — An elderly woman, who was hit by a driver while walking on the sidewalk in Auburndale this July, died a month later, police said last week.

Around 8:18 a.m. on Friday, July 16, a 65-year-old man was backing out of a driveway at 58-04 185 Street in a pickup truck when he hit Ning Peng, 70, who was walking on the sidewalk, according to the NYPD.

Peng, who lived a couple of blocks away, was knocked to the ground and driven over by the car's driver, the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad found. Police said she was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, and died about a month later on Aug. 18.

The driver, who police said stayed at the scene at the time of the accident, failed to comply with state law by not yielding to Peng who was walking on the sidewalk.

According to police, however, as Aug. 18 no arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing.

The crash in Auburndale comes shortly after another elderly woman was fatally struck by a driver in northeast Queens.

In May, Lopamudra Desai, 82, was crossing the street in Bayside when she was plowed over by a 43-year-old woman who was behind the wheel of an SUV. Desai was knocked to the ground, and died a couple of days later, police reported.

While anecdotal, these accidents conform with data from earlier this year, when 2021 was deemed the second-deadliest traffic year under Mayor Bill de Blasio — especially for pedestrians who comprise 43 of the 70 traffic deaths from January 1 to April 30 of 2021, according to city data highlighted by Transportation Alternatives.