The driver of the truck that killed Jessica Dworkin Monday morning as she attempted to cross 6th Avenue on her foot-propelled scooter was given two traffic summonses. An NYPD spokesman said that Greg Smith was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. But as Streetsblog points out, Smith's truck appeared to violate size regulations and also lacked safety mirrors.
If a truck is longer than 55 feet, as Smith's appeared to be, it needs a permit. And safety mirrors should have been mounted on the front of the cab, which may have allowed Smith to see Dworkin as he made a right turn onto 6th Avenue from West Houston Street. Officials confirmed that Dworkin was dragged several blocks before pedestrians altered Smith that he had struck her with his back right tires.
DNAinfo reports that Dworkin, 58, was an artist and volunteer who went by the name Jessica Blue and lived on nearby Thompson Street. "She was just a very happy person and wanted to be helpful in any way she could," said the director of the Judith C. White Senior Center, where Dworkin frequently volunteered. "She was always the first to volunteer to do anything." The owner of the Thompson Street leather goods store noted he saw her nearly every day for 23 years, while another friend said, "With her dies a piece of old SoHo."
