The Weekly Carnage

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem
across the metro region. For more on the origins and purpose of this
column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

Fatal Crashes (13 Killed This Week, 268 This Year*, 25 Drivers Charged**)

• SI: Teen’s Crash Pushes Car Into Fellow Student; No Charges (Advance, News, Post, WINS)
• Bronx: Hit-and-Run Driver Mows Down 28-Year-Old Woman; CT Man Killed in Separate Crash (News)
• Brooklyn: 78-Year-Old Grandmother Killed by Driver on Her Birthday (Post)
• Brooklyn: Hit-and-Run Driver Strikes Ped, Bus; Charged Only With Leaving Scene (Post)
• Queens: Pedestrian Hit by Three Drivers; One Flees Scene (NY1)
• Queens: Unidentified Ped Death Brings No Charges, Scant Media Coverage (Streetsblog)
• Queens: Two-Car Collision Leaves 67-Year-Old Passenger Dead (Qns Courier)
• Farmingdale, LI: 14-Year-Old Cyclist Killed; No Charges Filed (Newsday 1, 2, AP)
• Continental Village, LI: Trucker Killed After Oncoming Driver Crosses Center Line (LoHud)
• Stratford, CT: Driver Exits Car After Crash, Killed When Another Driver Plows Into It (AP)
• Sayreville, NJ: Pedestrian, 28, Dies of Injuries From Early Morning Crash; No Charges (S-L)
• Montville, NJ: Tractor Trailer-Car Collision Kills 1 (S-L)

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

• Gothamist Newsmap: 4 Unidentified Pedestrians Hit in Last Seven Days (1, 2, 3, 4)
• Manhattan: Joe Biden’s NYPD Escort Rammed by Livery Cab Driver (HuffPo, NYT)
• Related: Biden Security in Two Other Recent Crashes; 1 Leaves DC Pedestrian Dead (UPI, WaPo)
• Manhattan: West Side Crash Backs Traffic Into Jersey, Westchester (Streetsblog, City Room)
• Brooklyn: 9 Hospitalized After Crash Involving 4 Cars, School Bus (AP)
• Brooklyn: Wrong-Way Hit-and-Run Driver Injures 1 in Pulaski Bridge Collision (Post)
• SI: Teen Rams Police Car After Reckless Driving Stop (Advance)
• Larchmont, NY: Pedestrian Hit, Hospitalized With Head Injuries; No Charges (LoHud)
• White Plains: Road Rager Assaults Fellow Motorist After Minor Crash (LoHud)
• Brightwaters, LI: 4 Elderly Pedestrians Hit, 2 Seriously Injured; Driver, 73, Didn’t See Them (Newsday)
• Bay Shore, LI: Toddler Seriously Injured When Mom Spins Into Another Car (Newsday)
• Wantagh, LI: Crumbling Overpass Drops Debris on Parkway, Causing 10-Car Crash (AP)
• Wyandach, LI: Man With Suspended License Arrested for DWI, Had Kids in Car (AP)
• Bayonne: Driver Critically Injures 77-Year-Old Ped, Ticketed for Failure to Yield (Jersey Jrnl)
• Newtown, CT: 17-Year-Old Driving 4 Other Teens Arrested for DWI After One-Car Crash (CT Post)
• Newtown, CT: State Legislator Can’t Resist Violating Cell Phone Law (AP)

Following Up

• Manhattan: Truck Driver Auvryn Scarlett Gets 20-to-Life for Killing Tourist Couple (Post, News, TWC)
• Brooklyn: Ped Killer Complains That Vic’s Prosecutor Mom Is Taking His Case Too Personally (News)
• Bronx: R’dale Press Has Thorough Coverage of Drana Nikac Crash, Profile of Det. Kevin Spellman
• Milford, CT: Police Release Harrowing Video of Cop Crash That Killed 2 Teens (HuffPo/AP)
• Related: Officers Accused of Drag Racing as Department Blames Dead Kids (CT Post 1, 2, 3)
• Suffolk Co.: Driver Ducks Community Service “Sentence” After 2006 Fatal Crash (Newsday)
• Carmel, NY: Slap on the Wrist for DWI Mom Who Wrecked Car Full of Terrified Children (LoHud)
• Diane Schuler Crash Featured in New York Mag
• Roselle Park, NJ: Driver Surrenders in Fatal Hit-and-Run (S-L)

Out of Town

• Orlando, FL: Noted Boston Cardiologist, Triathlete Killed Taking a Run; No Charges Expected (Globe)
• Medford, NJ: Driver Hits Cyclist While Texting Drug Dealer (AP)
• Baker City, OR: Church Van Crash on Icy Road Kills 2, Injures 11 (AP)
• Minneapolis: Tour Bus Driver Suffers Aneurysm; 2 Dead, 21 Injured (AP)
• Cleveland, OH: Cellphone-Using Bus Driver Gets Six Months for Fatally Striking Pedestrian (AP)
• Columbus, OH: Driver Fails to Stop for School Buses, Kills Woman on Crutches; No Charges (WCMH)
• Asheville, NC: Death of 4-Year-Old Leads to Call for Pedestrian Improvements (Citizen-Times)
• Morganton, NC, Population 17,000, Sees 4 Pedestrians Hit, 1 Fatally, in One Week (News Herald)
• Chattanooga, TN: Man Killed Trying to Aid Injured Pedestrian; No Charges for Either Driver (Times FP)
• McLean, VA: Wife of Sen. Dick Lugar Arrested for DWI, Hit-and-Run After Hitting Parked Car (AP)

Trends and Other News

• “Leandra’s Law” Clears Albany; City Enforcers Streamline DWI Protocols (Sblog, News, NYT, NY1)
• Suburban NY Lawmakers to Introduce 3-Foot Cyclist Buffer Law (LoHud)
• Teen Drivers Killing Themselves, and Others, for the Privilege of TWD (WaPo)
• Obama Admin Wants Seatbelts for Long-Distance Buses (AP)
• Tom Vanderbilt Debunks the Myth of the Daredevil “Jaywalker” (Slate)
• NHTSA Says Hybrid Drivers Hit More People; Treehugger Has Doubts; Car Blog Finds the Funny
• This Just In: Drivers With Severe Visual Impairment Have Trouble Seeing Pedestrians (PRN, MedPage)
• In Macon, GA, Pedestrians Account for Over Half of 2009 Traffic Deaths (Telegraph)
• Philly Launches Cyclist Crackdown as Drivers Flout the Law With Abandon (Inquirer, I-911)
• Letter From Highway Safety Director Makes You Glad You Don’t Live in Louisiana (Daily Comet)

* Since the week of June 8
** Drivers charged for deaths since the week of June 8, based on latest available reports