More Arterial Carnage: Driver Seriously Injures Woman on Atlantic [Updated]

Update: A witness to this crash contacted Streetsblog. His account has been added to the post.

A motorist seriously injured a pedestrian on Atlantic Avenue at Washington Avenue in Brooklyn this morning.

A witness, who didn't want his name published, told Streetsblog he was crossing Atlantic with several other pedestrians when the crash occurred. "There's a silver Audi, and he's waiting. And as we're in the middle of the street, he just turns, and he starts -- he just sped up. Pushed his foot down on the gas. Just barely missed me, and the lady next to me. The lady in front of us, about three or four feet ahead, she got hit. I couldn't believe it."

"As he's approaching I'm thinking he would stop, 'cause he sees several pedestrians in the walkway," the witness said. "But he just floored it. And there was a number of other people behind us, and a lady with a baby in front of that lady who got hit."

"There was another guy, and he and I were of the same opinion," he said. "This guy needed to be carted away in handcuffs, I thought."

The witness said NYPD took his name and contact information, but only for insurance purposes. He said police on the scene did not ask him what he saw. "I was shocked, because they said they don't take statements. 'The insurance company will be contacting you, and they'll be getting everyone's side.'"

"She flew onto the windshield and was thrown onto the ground," said a Streetsblog reader who came upon the scene after the crash and sent us these photos. "She was taken to the hospital on a stretcher."

The crash occurred around 8:18 a.m., according to FDNY. The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital in serious condition. A Fire Department spokesperson said her injuries were not thought to be life-threatening when she was transported.

Photos of the car show damage to the windshield near the A pillar on the driver's side. The victim was aided by several passersby.

As is usually the case with incidents that don't immediately result in death, NYPD had no information on the crash.

"The driver got away with a mere ticket," said our source. "Witnesses said the driver sped up and should be arrested."

"Also," our source said, "neighbors in this area have been pleading with the DOT and NYPD for months to make this intersection safer and there’s been no change."

Officers at the 88th Precinct, where the crash occurred, have issued just 158 speeding summonses in 2014, according to the most recent NYPD summons data, and have ticketed 89 drivers for failing to yield to pedestrians.

Motorists injured five pedestrians and four cyclists at Atlantic and Washington this year as of October, according to the DOT Vision Zero map. Atlantic is among NYC's widest and most dangerous class of streets, known as arterials, which comprise 15 percent of city roadways but account for 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities, according to DOT. Transportation Alternatives has repeatedly urged Mayor de Blasio to concentrate traffic safety efforts on arterial streets.

A sign taped to a pole at the intersection of Atlantic and Washington, where the city launched the "Arterial Slow Zone" program, encourages pedestrians to "report close calls" to DOT and "request immediate safety improvements."