Two pedestrians were run over — one fatally — in a quiet suburban section of Eastern Queens on Tuesday, further evidence that no one is safe from the danger of a driver who fails to operate his car with due care.
According to the NYPD, the pedestrians, 80-year-old Xiu Xi Pu and an unidentified 84-year-old man, were crossing 251st Street at around 6:06 p.m. when a driver, who had been piloting her Honda eastbound on 63rd Avenue, turned onto 251st Street, where she struck the victims, who were in the crosswalk at the non-signalized intersection.
Pu died, but her male companion is in stable condition at North Shore University Hospital. The driver remained on the scene and was not charged.
It is the first reported crash at that intersection since at least 2011. Typically, the city Department of Transportation makes street redesign improvements based on crash data, but the intersection is next to a playground and the Marathon School — yet there is no stop sign for drivers on 63rd Avenue, where many motorists exceed the posted 25 mile-per-hour limit.
