Maria Tripp Killed by Driver on Atlantic Avenue, No Charges Filed
A Brooklyn woman was killed Thursday by a driver trying to make a light on Atlantic Avenue, according to reports.
At approximately 4:48 p.m., Maria Tripp was crossing Atlantic at Ralph Avenue with five other people, including her daughter and nephew, when she was hit by the driver of a Chevrolet Impala. The driver was identified as a Secret Service agent.
The Daily News account reads as if the agent's car was operating of its own accord:
When they spotted the vehicle heading west and trying to make it across Ralph Ave. before the light changed, the nephew pulled the girl out of harm’s way but Tripp did not escape, witnesses said.
Patch reports that "Tripp realized she might not make the light at which time she decided to try turn around and try to run back to the sidewalk and was then struck by a car." A witness told the News that the driver “got out, stood over her and said, ‘I’m on the job, I’m on the job.’”
As with the April 29 crash that killed Dan Fellegara, in this case we have a motorist fatally striking an adult pedestrian (not a "darting" child) while driving straight ahead. Unlike Fellegara, Tripp was killed in broad daylight while walking with a crowd of people. Reports and pictures from the scene indicate that the driver was moving with such speed that he jumped a curb after impact, blowing out two tires. A witness told the News that the victim was thrown high into the air.
The Post says that Tripp, 47, was a custodian with the Parks Department. She was pronounced dead at Interfaith Hospital.
Despite indications of excessive speed, no criminality was suspected, according to NYPD.
Maria Tripp was at least the twelfth pedestrian or cyclist killed in the city in the last 30 days, and the 33rd known New York pedestrian or cyclist fatality of 2012. According to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Atlantic Avenue, one of the city's most dangerous streets, was the site of seven fatal pedestrian crashes between 2008 and 2010.
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