A New York City doctor was killed on the Upper West Side on Sunday, after she was struck by a car on West 96th Street.
The victim was the third pedestrian who has died in the past nine days on streets within a two-block radius of 96th and Broadway, prompting police to tighten up on jaywalkers in the neighborhood, according to a report from the New York Daily News.
26-year-old Samantha Lee, an anesthesiology resident at Columbia University, was crossing the street at around 4:45 in the morning when the side mirror of a St. Luke's Hospital ambulance knocked her to the ground. She tumbled into the opposite lane, where a red Dodge Charger fatally struck her. Police pronounced Lee dead on-site, the Daily News reported.
Lee was the ninth pedestrian in New York City this year to be killed in an auto accident, leading police to crack down on jaywalkers by giving out tickets and putting barriers down in the middle of city streets.
Spokesperson for Mayor de Blasio Phil Walzak announced earlier this year that they were working with police to stop traffic-related deaths.
"We won't sit by while lives are lost and families are torn apart," Walzak said. "These latest crashes underscore the urgent need to make our streets safer, which is why we are moving decisively to...harness the power of city government to end this epidemic."