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Carnage

SEE IT: Morning Carnage on Vanderbilt Avenue

11:13 AM EST on January 22, 2019

The corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Sterling Place was littered with debris after Tuesday morning’s crash. Photo: David Weiner

A woman who declined to give her name sifted through the debris to get her license plate. Photo: David Weiner
A woman sifted through the debris to get her license plate. Photo: David Weiner
A woman who declined to give her name sifted through the debris to get her license plate. Photo: David Weiner

A driver mowed down a lamppost at a busy Brooklyn corner Tuesday morning, shearing it — and a massive part of his car — clean off, an indication that someone was driving far too fast.

Cops did not release details of the crash, but the debris trail suggested that the driver was at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Sterling Place when he either lost control of his car and slammed into the light post, or was struck by another driver.

The front end of the car was tangled in the debris of the lamppost. As a Streetsblog reporter took pictures, a person who identified herself as the owner of car's wife, sifted through the wreckage to retrieve the car's license plate. She did not offer her name, but said her husband was in the hospital. She did not answer questions about his involvement in the crash.

According to @howsmydrivingny, the car associated with that plate has two serious offenses: speeding and running a red light — both of which were caught on camera. The car was also slapped with tickets for 10 parking offenses.

In all, the driver has paid just $350 on a total of 13 tickets. It costs tens of thousands of dollars to replace a knocked-down lamppost, a cost that is borne by city taxpayers.

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