Thursday, May 21, 2009

Teen Hit By Motorcycle On Adams Street, Downtown Brooklyn

A teenager was struck by a motorcycle this morning on Adams Street while trying to cross the street just north of Joralemon.

This is just one of dozens of tragic accidents, many fatal, on this highway that runs right down the middle of one of the busiest section of Downtown Brooklyn. Eight schools lie within three blocks of this intersection.

A witness told the Brooklyn Eagle that the teen’s leg was broken “in about 10 places . . . both the tibia and the fibula. If it wasn’t for the flesh and bones, it’d be gone.”

The motorcycle rider (photo below, left), though slightly injured, jumped off his damaged bike and tried to help the youth.

Why isn't the city taking this carnage seriously? According to statistics compiled by Transportation Alternatives (CrashStat), there were more than 46 crashes with injuries or death at this intersection between 1995 and 2005 and 11 at the adjoining intersection of Adams and Willoughby streets.

Motor vehicles struck 39 people during that period a block north of here, at Adams and Livingston, where little Alexander Toulouse was run down by a mail truck in September.

A Brooklyn Heights' woman was killed in April, about 15 feet away from today's accident. This is less than a block away from where Judge Bookson was struck and killed, and two blocks away from another deadly intersection, Adams and Tillary Streets. Teacher Ron Mortensen was killed at this intersection in April 2007.

Community Board 2 District Manager Robert Perris told the Eagle that speed bumps were not being considered. “We have asked for ‘countdown’ crossing signals. But those are in a pilot study, and we were not able to secure one for Adams Street,” he said.

Another Pedestrian Hit On 'Treacherous' Adams Street Brooklyn Eagle


Past posts on this topic:

- Another Accident On Adams Street, Downtown Brooklyn

- Tillary Street Redesign Meeting: DOT Gets Input

-Traffic Changes Saturday at Dangerous Downtown Brooklyn Intersection

- Remembering the Dead at a Dangerous Brooklyn Intersection -- Tillary and Adams Street

- Another Accident at Tillary and Adams Streets

- DOT traffic cam at the intersection of Adams and Tillary streets.

- Intersection Where Boy Died in Downtown Brooklyn One of City's Most Dangerous

- Another Death on Adams Street, Downtown Brooklyn

- A Name on a Lamppost

- Another Tragic Death on Brooklyn Streets



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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No doubt this is a very dangerous intersection, and the death of anyone here is a tragedy, but I have to take issue with your assertion that Toulouse was "run down" by a mail truck. That choice of words suggests that the truck was pursuing the boy. This was simply a horrible accident, with someone in an elevated vehicle not seeing a small child riding a bicycle in a crosswalk (which is against bike safety rules). I think the word "struck" would have been more appropriate. My heart still goes out to the family of the boy, and to the driver who no doubt is still suffering as well. I, too, knew one of the many pedestrians killed at one of the Adams Street intersections. Here's to hoping DOT does something about it in our lifetime.

Ajlouny said...

Sounds like there needs to be a reevaluation of the traffic laws in that area. How many more people need to get injured or even perish until someone takes notice and makes a change.