Corona, NY (August 1, 2026) – A woman was found in the roadway with severe trauma to her head and body after a vehicle struck her and fled the scene near 57th Avenue and 99th Street, the NYPD confirmed.
The collision happened around 1:33 a.m. According to investigators, a gray Ford was traveling northbound on 99th Street when it struck the pedestrian. The driver did not remain at the scene.
Emergency responders transported the woman to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. She has not been publicly identified. No arrests have been announced. The NYPD is actively searching for the driver of the gray Ford, and the investigation remains open.
This is a developing story. Details may change as the investigation continues.
A pedestrian struck and left for dead raises questions no family should have to chase alone, especially when the person responsible has not been found.
Fatal Hit-and-Run in Queens, New York
When the driver who caused a fatal crash flees the scene, families often assume no legal claim is possible without an identified defendant. That is not how New York law works. Pedestrian accident attorneys serving Queens can examine several paths to compensation, and some of them do not require the driver to be found first.
- New York law requires every auto insurance policy issued in the state to carry uninsured motorist coverage. If the victim held a policy, or if a resident family member did, that coverage allows the family to file a claim against an unidentified driver through their own insurer. The process runs entirely separate from the criminal investigation and does not wait for the NYPD to make an arrest.
- NYPD detectives assigned to a fatal hit-and-run will canvass for witnesses, collect physical debris left by the striking vehicle, pull traffic signal cameras operated by the city, and request security footage from businesses and residences along the route. The description of a gray Ford traveling northbound on 99th Street gives investigators a specific vehicle type and direction of travel to work from.
- Once a driver is identified or the vehicle is located, a civil wrongful death lawsuit proceeds independently of any criminal prosecution. The civil case does not wait for a verdict, and a not-guilty finding in a criminal court does not bar a civil recovery.
- Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company, including your own, before consulting an attorney. Statements taken before the full picture of a crash is established can be used to limit a recovery.
- Preserve what you have now: the NYPD case number, any witness contact information, photographs from the scene or aftermath, and any communications from detectives about the investigation.
A wrongful death claim in New York can cover the medical expenses incurred between the crash and the victim’s death, funeral and burial costs, the economic value of the support and services the victim provided to the family, and the victim’s conscious pain and suffering if she was aware before death. The estate administrator files the claim, and proceeds are distributed to the statutory distributees.
Under New York’s Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL §5-4.1), the estate has two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death claim. The crash occurred on August 1, 2026, which places the filing deadline at August 1, 2028. Because the at-fault party is a private driver rather than a government entity, the 90-day municipal notice of claim does not apply. New York follows pure comparative fault, meaning any finding of shared responsibility does not automatically end the family’s recovery.
Contact Our Queens Hit-and-Run Accident Attorneys
A family going through this carries grief and unanswered questions about a driver who chose to run. Finding that driver, or pursuing what the law allows when the driver cannot be found, should not fall to the people he left behind.
Our Queens hit-and-run accident lawyers know where evidence sits after a crash like this one and how fast it can disappear. Surveillance and traffic camera footage from businesses and signals near 57th Avenue and 99th Street typically overwrites within 24 to 72 hours. Sending preservation letters to those locations and to the NYPD evidence unit is one of the first things we do, and it cannot wait several days. We have also handled the insurance side of these cases, including uninsured motorist claims for families whose loved ones were struck by drivers who were never identified.
Frekhtman & Associates has recovered more than $900 million for injured New York families over more than 25 years. That track record includes wrongful death cases and fatal motor vehicle incidents across all five boroughs.
There is no cost to speak with us, and no fee of any kind unless we recover for you.
Why Queens families trust Frekhtman & Associates:
- $900M+ recovered for injured New York clients across more than 25 years of practice
- $69,225,000 auto accident jury verdict, one of the largest in New York State history
- Free 24/7 consultations, including home and hospital visits for clients unable to travel
- Personal callbacks from founding attorney Arkady Frekhtman
- Russian-language services available
- Zero fees unless we win your case
- $2,000,000 wrongful death result
- Queens office in Forest Hills, serving families across the borough
