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Sixty-year-old Alextus Avolonteze had little chance of avoiding her accident. She was crossing a street in her Brooklyn neighborhood, when a car inched into an intersection as a faulty traffic light refused to switch from red to green. An oncoming car slammed into the impatient Isuzu, which then hopped the curb and pinned Avolenteze against a building. The faulty traffic light is being blamed for the accident, which resulted in Alextus Avolonteze's death at a Brooklyn hospital, a half hour after the incident. The Dept. of Transportation is apologetic:
"This was terrible accident and our thought and prayers are with the family of the victim and those who are injured," the Department of Transportation said. "Our contractor had been at the sight earlier today prior to the accident to make repairs and we are currently investigating the situation."
Neighbors said that the non-working light had been an on-going issue for more than two years. DOT workers fixed the light in 10 to 15 minutes once the accident scene was cleared. And we're getting tired of cutting and pasting this into posts: "There were no charges filed against the driver, cops said."
(Upper West Side, by Skaines at flickr)
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This is such BS - I cannot believe the DOT left a light like this for so long. Seriously, WTF?
When will it stop?
Is there some way Gothamist can find out why no charges are ever filed?
[3] We know some cops and will make inquiries. It is puzzling.
Why do you automatically assume it's appropriate to bring criminal charges against the driver? There's a huge difference between poor judgment and having a criminal intent. If any thing, the driver is guilty of negligence which is rarely punished with a jail sentence. The fact that the car struck the pedestrian only after being hit by another car, seems to indicate that was just a terribly unfortunate and sad accident.
I think your outrage should be focused squarely on the DOT, who left the light malfunctioning for more than two years when it only took 15 minutes to repair.
Typical New York driver. Impatient to the point that he/she killed someone.
[5] The difference is that these drivers seem to get off scot-free without so much as a ticket in most of these cases. Read some of the other stories they're referring to. No faulty light involved, clearly very bad judgement if not complete indifference to pedestrians, but still no charges.
[5] That's all about changing the way we think about the relationship between autos and people. Right now, the law protects people who cause (by their own negligence) grevious bodily harm while behind the wheel. In a city loaded with pedestrians (and bikers and skaters) who are a profound disadvantage going up against autos, something has to be done to get people to take their driving responsibility more seriously.
You can't use the traffic light as an excuse here ! Regardless if the damn thing malfunctioned, It's simple, When the light turns "RED" you stop, When it turns "GREEN" you go, While approaching a light that's changing from green, too red you slowdown and prepare to come to a full stop ! How simple is that to understand ? !
Wow ! ...... That's kind of sexy ! The "Queen of spelling errors here @ Gothamist " gets irked ! Hehehehe, Love the cussing it's something "Fresh" from this place ! Lol.