The 8-year-old boy killed by an SUV driver over the weekend in Crown Heights is the latest victim of the ongoing threat posed to pedestrians by the drivers of extra large vehicles.
Young Mordechai Keller was about to cross Albany Avenue at Eastern Parkway at around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday when the light changed. That's when the driver of an SUV started advancing through the green light, crushing the boy, according to surveillance footage obtained by Streetsblog.
It is unclear if the 69-year-old driver ever saw the child, whose head barely rose above the bumper of the massive 2011 Honda Pilot. He was not charged by the police. But his record shows evidence that he is a recidivist reckless driver: five speed- and red-light camera tickets in less than a year.
The crash serves as a reminder of the threat children face when crossing city streets full of large vehicles, even if their drivers aren't speeding.
SUVs are designed with higher bumper lines and less visibility than sedans. Research has shown that a four-inch increase in front-end vehicle height causes a 22-percent increase in pedestrian deaths.
And because of the weight of SUVs, children are eight times more likely to die when struck by one versus a passenger car. This is a growing issue as more Americans opt for SUVs. As the number of SUVs in the U.S. tripled from 2000 to 2019, pedestrian deaths surged nationwide by 30 percent, according to a study by Economics of Transportation.
"Manufacturers can make vehicles less dangerous to pedestrians by lowering the front end of the hood and angling the grille and hood to create a sloped profile,” a senior engineer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety once told Streetsblog. “There’s no functional benefit to these massive, blocky fronts.”
Consumers have said they prefer SUVs because they feel safer inside them, but they are deadly for people outside the machines. “For each fatal crash that occupants of large vehicles avoid, at least 4.3 additional fatal crashes involving others occur,” one study found.
Many children in Crown Heights walk through the neighborhood without a taller, more visible parent, leaving them to navigate dangerous intersections on their own.
A woman walking near the scene on Monday noticed a group of kids rushing to cross the street, but didn't join them.
“I don’t want to take chances,” said Gift Muhjai, a local nursing assistant.
Mordechai's death came in the middle of a bloody weekend of carnage on New York City streets, said Transportation Alternatives, citing the killing of an e-scooter rider by a van driver in Queens, and an SUV driver in the Bronx who killed a motorcycle rider.
But the street safety group also pointed out that Eastern Parkway is a death trap for pedestrians.
"[It was] considered to be the world’s first parkway, originally designed for leisurely strolling. Today, it acts as a major thoroughfare for drivers, and is the sixth most dangerous street in Brooklyn for pedestrians," said the group, which called for more safety infrastructure to reduce the damage caused by the drivers of supersized vehicles.
Singled out for ire was Mayor Adams.
"Instead of working diligently to expand safety infrastructure, Mayor Adams has been focused on ripping it out," the group said in a statement. "When the mayor announced plans to remove three blocks of safety upgrades on Bedford Avenue, Transportation Alternatives and a Brooklyn family immediately sued to save the safety project. ... Former Brooklyn Democratic Party Boss Frank Seddio filed to intervene in the lawsuit on the side of the city, and the judge moved the hearing date up to July 1. ... The Adams administration will be in court tomorrow attempting to get a judge’s permission to proceed with ripping up street safety improvements."
What more can be done? In addition to street design changes, the state can discourage SUV purchases. And wouldn't you know: As an Assembly Member, presumptive Mayor Zohran Mamdani sponsored a bill that would increase registration fees for larger, heavier vehicles.
Here's hoping he advocates for it in his new role.
— Yoshi Omi-Jarrett
In other news:
- Yeah, right, people from Jersey and the northern and eastern suburbs are no longer driving into Lower Manhattan to eat vegan. (NY Post)
- Staten Islanders will continue to complain about speed cameras more than they complain about speeding. (SI Advance)
- A drunk driver had an art attack in the Hamptons. (NY Post)
- An e-scooter rider was killed by a driver in Queens. (amNY)
- The new Queens bus routes are in effect. (NY Post)
- Like Streetsblog, amNY covered the governor's signature on the speed camera reauthorization bill.
- Get ready for more weekend track work on the G. (Gothamist)
- I've said it for more than a decade: The Plus Pool will never happen (and if it does, it'll be another amenity for well-heeled Brooklynites). Hell Gate has joined me in pessimism.
- And, finally, hat tip to the DOT for standing its ground on the rainbow crosswalk:
