December 20, 2007
Boulevard of Death Claims Another Life
Queens Boulevard, dubbed the "Boulevard of Death," was the scene of yet another fatal accident yesterday. This time, a cement truck hit a woman in her 60s as she was crossing the street towards the Queens Center Mall, scattering the contents of the victim's purse into the street. Witnesses at the scene say that the truck was turning from Woodhaven Blvd. just and hit the woman just as she entered the crosswalk trying to beat the light. The same witness told the Daily News that the cement truck was going about 20 m.p.h. The victim's name was not released, but the police said that she may have stumbled as she crossed the street, falling under the truck's wheels.
The truck belonged to Commercial Concrete Corp., which said the 37-year-old driver had more than 20 years of experience and a clean driving record. The driver, who was not charged, passed a breathalyser at the scene of the accident. A manager at concrete company told The Post, "It's a terrible accident. It's unfortunate it had to happen. . . it's just a sad situation."
Queens Boulevard got its grim nickname after claiming 72 lives from 1993-2000.
Photo of the concrete truck from the accident from WNBC
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I passed this on the way home yesterday--around 1. It must have just happened because they were still putting the tape up to prevent foot traffic.
The thing is...this does not surprise me. I cross at this intersection in both directions at least four times on any given day. This particular side and corner where this accident happened is the least safe portion I can think of on the Blvd. It's the only place I know of where it's safer to cross when you do not have the light. When pedestrians have the light to walk across Woodhaven....they really don't: cars turning right to get on to QB off of Woodhaven to either get on QB or turn on to E. LIE also have the right to turn. And there is ALWAYS a line of cars waiting to turn. Towards the very end of the light, cars looking to make a left on to the same portion of QB but from the other side of the road are notorious for jumping the light. In order to cross here, I normally wait for the traffic going straight to stop (crossing with a giant blinking red hand pointed at me) because there are no turns coming towards me at that point.
As much as it would screw with the traffic, QB has proven that...if nothing else...certain intersections (such as this one) require lights SOLElY for pedestrians--not just for walkers AND turns.
When I came home after seeing this yesterday, I called a friend and told them that I speculated that someone was trying to cross while a car was turning off of Woodhaven. It shouldn't be that I can, with no knowledge of anything, guess how a serious accident happened and yet...nothing will be done of it.
there should definitely be pedestrian-only walk lights, but as we all know, people will cross the street whenever they want to and not always at the crosswalk. theres nothing to be done about that, people are taking their lives into their own hands doing that on qns blvd.
there should also be pedestrian foot bridges across the blvd, the streets are certainly wide enough to accomodate the structures, but granted, this would pose accessibility problems for some...
QB is certainly a terrible place to drive or walk. Such a terrible accident shouldn't have to happen.
The safest way to get across the street at that location is to duck into the subway station, walk through and come up the other side. I know you shouldn't have to do that just to cross the street, but it's there if you want to.
I think the city needs to install some commemorative street signs; the ones displaying the name of a person or incident that defines the intrinsic qualities of that street.
On Queens Blvd. we’d have "The Boulevard of Death": wouldn’t that make New Yorkers proud!
here's a suggestion:
cross when you have the light and never otherwise.
Drewo: In some places, there are signs like that.
At QBlvd and 46th, as well as 40th, I believe, there are signs reading: "A pedestrian was killed here! Cross with Caution!"
This woman had the light and was killed by a truck making a left turn. As someone suggested earlier here, it's sometimes easier to cross against the light at this intersection than with it, precisely because so many people turn in the direction from Woodhaven Blvd.