Fred Wearing, the 49-year old man who was struck by a driver while riding his motorcycle on Ocean Parkway last December, has died of his injuries, the New York City Police Department announced on Feb. 21
A preliminary police investigation found that Wearing was driving southbound on Ocean Parkway on Dec. 28, 2022, when he attempted to make a left turn onto Avenue N. As he turned, Wearing was hit by a vehicle heading northbound on Ocean Parkway. The driver remained on the scene, and Wearing was taken by ambulance to Maimonides Medical Center in critical condition.
Wearing died from his injuries at Maimonides on Feb. 9, according to police.
It was not clear whether Wearing or the vehicle driver had the right-of-way at the traffic light at the time of the crash. The Highway District Collision Investigation Squad is still investigating the incident, and no arrests have been made.
The intersection of Ocean Parkway and Avenue N is a particularly dangerous intersection on a notoriously unsafe thoroughfare — there have been at least 32 crashes at the intersection since 2017, according to Crashmapper, with dozens of injuries. In 2020, a 29-year-old Yasmani Gomez was hit and killed as he tried to cross Ocean Parkway at Avenue N on his bicycle.
While Avenue N has seen more than its fair share of crashes, all of Ocean Parkway is a hazard to drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike. In 2021, a 90-year-old woman died after an SUV driver hit she and a friend as they walked near Avenue U. Last January, a man was killed after he was hit and dragged by a vehicle at Ocean Parkway and Neptune Avenue. Just a few months later, four people – including three teenagers — were injured when a speeding driver slammed into a turning vehicle at Avenue X.
