December 5, 2007
American Ballet Theater Dancer Killed in Weekend
Highway Crash
Icy conditions on Sunday caused a number of accidents, most notably a 15-car pile-up on Route 3/Meadowland Parkway in New Jersey. A dump truck had jumped a divider, and then cars, unable to avoid it, piled up behind it. There were over 28 injuries and two people died.
It was announced that one of the victims was Jennifer Alexander (pictured), a veteran of the American Ballet Theater. Her husband Julio Bragado-Young, another ABT dancer, was driving. Other passengers were Nicole Graniero of the ABT and Lindsay Poulis of the Martha Graham School. The four had danced in a Williamsport, PA performance of The Nutcracker and were headed back to Manhattan.
When their car crashed into another in the pile-up, they all got out of the car. The difficult conditions, though, led to one car nearly hitting Graniero and Poulis (they managed to get out of the way) while another car hit Alexander and Bragado-Young. Alexander died at the scene and Bragado-Young was critically injured. Graniero spoke to the Post and said, "All four of us got out of the car. We hugged each other, saying thank God we were OK."
The other fatality was Vinay Patel, of North Bergen, NJ. He was not injured in the crash, but he was fatally struck by a car after he exited his car and called 911. Investigators are still looking into the accident; Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said, "There's still a lot of confusion yet about how this all happened. Very early on, it looked like it started with a sideswipe of a vehicle, but we've had so many conflicting stories, we're still sorting it out."
|
I saw that in The Post this morning. It's so sad! They had apparently just gotten out of the car and had hugged each other and were discussing how relieved they were that everyone was okay when they got hit. Talk about a cruel twist of fate.
Morale of the story - when you're in a pileup, don't get out of the car and stand in the roadway.
It is very dangerous to get out of your car on the freeway after an accident. If there is any sort of embankment or hill, the best idea is to walk up to the highest point. Stay off the shoulder if at all possible, because you risk getting hit there with cars swerving to avoid the accident.
If we never repealed prohibition, this probably wouldn't have happened. Perhaps it would have, but for the love of god you wouldn't have accepted money to restyle your whole page, thus forcing me discount any articles you post today.
Thanks for your thoughts, chris, but a gentle reminder: Gothamist makes money off advertising- not subscriptions.
How very sad. Over 40,000 Americans are killed each year in auto-related accidents. It's just the American Way of Death.
Along with three other friends in my car, we planned to drive to the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa, this coming Saturday to visit the museum collection. But reading about this tragedy, reminds me how dangerous it can be on the American highway - the NJ Turnpike or I-95 in particular - due to numerous factors including too many vehicles that shoot like bullets. Petrified, we decided to take the train instead. Not that it's all accident proof, but it's a much better choice for us all the way around.
Along with three other friends in my car, we planned to drive to the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa, this coming Saturday to visit the museum collection. But reading about this tragedy, reminds me how dangerous it can be on the American highway - the NJ Turnpike or I-95 in particular - due to numerous factors including too many vehicles that shoot like bullets. Petrified, we decided to take the train instead. Not that it's all accident proof, but it's a much better choice for us all the way around.
Along with three other friends in my car, we planned to drive to the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pa, this coming Saturday to visit the museum collection. But reading about this tragedy, reminds me how dangerous it can be on the American highway - the NJ Turnpike or I-95 in particular - due to numerous factors including too many vehicles that shoot like bullets. Petrified, we decided to take the train instead. Not that it's all accident proof, but it's a much better choice for us all the way around.
tragic. i'm always amazed when i see people walking around their cars on the highway.
one should NEVER get out of the car, even if you only got a flat tire. stay in and keep yr seatbelt on, precisely because you might get hit by a car. if you have a phone, call for help. if not, sit tight, a highway patrol officer will show up soon enough.
this is too sad.