This frame of a surveillance video shows the victim stepping off the curb just before she was hit.
A woman was hit by a double-decker tour bus Thursday morning as she walked across 135th street at Riverside Drive in an area that the city wants to reconfigure to make it safer for pedestrians.
At around 11:10 a.m. Thursday, the woman was crossing 135th street when the bus turned right from Riverside and slammed into her; the video posted below shows the bus making the turn, although the point of impact is out of the frame. An FDNY spokesman confirmed that someone was hit at that intersection; FDNY got the call at 11:10. They transported her to St. Luke’s hospital and she was considered “not likely” to die. We could not immediately get more info from the NYPD on her current status, or whether charges were filed.
A woman named Melissa who showed up just afterward said she saw the woman lying on the ground; the bus was a double-decker with a full deck of tourists on the upper level, she told us. The video is from a building camera.
“This has always been a dangerous corner. Vehicles driving northbound and making a right turn into 135th St. rarely slow down for pedestrians. Another crosswalk in need of a delayed red light,” Melissa wrote. “As a coop we have researched putting speed bumps on RSD before the light at 135th. But we’re told the RSD viaduct (which runs from 125th to 135th) would not be able to support them.”
Based on traffic patterns at that intersection, Melissa says the victim must have had the green light or the bus would not have been able to go.
The Department of Transportation has drawn up a plan to make Riverside Drive safer in that area.
“The proposal features a mix of curb extensions and pedestrian islands on Riverside Drive between 116th and 135th Streets. Between 2008 and 2012, there were 20 serious injuries on this stretch of Riverside, including one pedestrian and 19 motor vehicle occupants,” according to Streetsblog. “The most dangerous section, according to DOT project manager Dan Wagner, is the Riverside Drive viaduct, which runs from just north of the General Grant National Memorial to 135th Street.”
While Community Board 9 has been skeptical of the plan, Councilman Mark Levine supports it. As of earlier this month, it was still being debated by the board.
Woman struck by tour bus on 135th & Riverside: https://t.co/H0JmH65sEB. Stark reminder of need for safety improvements on that stretch of RSD
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) March 27, 2015
Correction: We have updated our description of the direction of the bus.
That’s a scary place – cars go much too fast along the viaduct and can take that turn onto 135th at speed.
I sometimes drive out from the storage place at 134th and Riverside Drive, and even pulling out makes me tense due to speeding cars on the viaduct.
What does this statement mean?
_Based on traffic patterns at that intersection, Melissa says the victim must have had the green light or the bus would not have been able to go._
It means that in order for the bus to have had a green light in its direction, the victim would have had a walk signal. The only way for her to not have had the walk signal would have been if the bus ran a red light. It is simply telling you that the pedestrian had the right of way and, by law, the bus should have yielded.
Thanks for clarifying Josh. At this intersection it is actually safer to cross AGAINST the light, because it forces traffic from the left (where it’s most dangerous)to be stopped.
Lived on that corner for almost ten years and the cars are coming so fast on Riverside no one ever stops to consider a pedestrian. I was almost hit many many times. Cops also don’t do enough to police area because the viaduct is split between two precincts.
Horrible. It looks like the vehicles weren’t even slowing down as they turned let alone yielding to pedestrians. This intersection is in dire need of a redesign. And enforcing the traffic laws might also help. There are certain intersections like this where it is almost safer to cross when it says “don’t walk” due to lack of yielding.
Here we go again. Let me guess, the driver was given a summons for failure to yield. That’ll be $150 and please be more careful next time, sir. The law should be changed. Plowing into someone in a crosswalk should be third degree assault. Kill them and if it’s your fault, manslaughter charges.
Just getting an M5 Riverside Dr bus can be a chore. I waited 25 minutes at rush hour this evening.