Police filed no charges against the MTA bus driver who killed a pedestrian in Bedford-Stuyvesant two weeks ago. Instead, NYPD and the tabloids put the victim on trial.
At around 1:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, September 17, Jennifer White-Estick was run over while trying to retrieve her cell phone from underneath a B44 bus she had just exited at Bedford Avenue and Fulton Street.
By the time the Post published its extremely graphic report on the crash at around 4 p.m., police had declared "no criminality suspected." Reporters from the Post and the Daily News focused on the actions of the victim, but abetted by NYPD, the Daily News took its reportage to new depths.
White-Estick had no ID on her, but the day after the crash, the Daily News reported that police found a crack pipe in her bra. Along with her identity, the Daily News announced last Wednesday that, according to unnamed sources, White-Estick had "a prior criminal record." The paper also reminded readers about the crack pipe.
MTA bus drivers have killed at least four pedestrians and one cyclist this year; last year's death toll was seven pedestrians and one man on a skateboard. Over half of those 13 crashes occurred as the bus driver was making a turn.
While the tabloids focused on the more salacious aspects of White-Estick's personal life, and the gory details of her death, less attention was given to factors that might prevent the next MTA-involved pedestrian fatality.
"The bus driver, James Maxwell, told cops he didn’t see the woman," the Daily News reported. Maxwell's safety record was not mentioned, and there was only a passing reference to the role vehicle design may have played in the crash.
The front of the bus was equipped with a driver-assisting video camera, but a transit investigator who saw the video said it could not have provided a warning.
"You can’t see nothing,” the investigator said.
Earlier this month, Melania Ward was struck by the driver of the Q47 she'd been riding as she crossed Astoria Boulevard in Elmhurst. NYPD did not reveal who had the right of way, and no charges were filed.
Last March, an MTA bus driver turned into a crosswalk occupied by three people, striking and killing 21-year-old Marisol Martinez. After Martinez's death, City Council Member Steve Levin called for changes to bus design, including guards that keep pedestrians away from the rear wheels. An MTA rep later said the agency had decided against installing such guards.
