The scene of a fatal crash on 109th street and Columbus Avenue. Photo by David Torres.
Two pedestrians, both of them over 80 years old, have been hit by vehicles and killed on the Upper West Side since Friday.
An 86-year-old woman was crossing West End Avenue at 64th street shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday when a driver in a northbound Toyota hit her, according to police and a witness. Witness Bernie Tuchman sent in the following account:
My spouse and I were at a bus stop, waiting for a northbound M57 bus, when we heard the impact. The vehicle immediately stopped. The person, who appeared to be quite small, was lying in front of the vehicle. An NYPD Traffic enforcement car stopped almost immediately. I called 911 to report the incident. Other people, including the motorist, came close to the victim. Our bus arrived, and all those who had been waiting got onboard (I continued my conversation with 911 while we were riding to our destination at W 70 St. and West End.) I got a call at about 12:30am from an NYPD officer from the collision investigation squad to see if I had any other details to report. I asked him whether the person had survived, and he said “No.”
“…It was a shocking event to us — especially because the driver clearly had the right of way and was not speeding. It was dusk, and we’re not sure whether street lights or car lights were on. The person who was killed was not seen by anybody waiting at the stop, and certainly not by the driver.”
An ambulance took her to St. Luke’s Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The woman’s name was not released because her family has not been notified, an NYPD spokesperson said on Sunday morning. No arrests were made and the investigation is ongoing.
On Sunday morning at 12:42 a.m., police were called to 109th street and Columbus Avenue, where 88-year-old Luisa Rosario had been hit by a taxi cab and was lying on the pavement. Police determined that Rosario was crossing 109th street from North to South and had the green signal when the driver turned onto 109th street from Columbus and slammed into her. Rosario was taken to St. Luke’s where she was pronounced dead. She lived on 110th street.
The driver, 73-year-old Bronx resident Salifu Abubkar, was arrested and charged with failure to yield, according to NYPD. “The driver at the scene said to police he was driving since 9 a.m. Saturday,” the Daily News reported.
The cab driver and a police officer at the scene. Photos by David Torres.
Note: We have updated the story to note that the vehicle in the second incident was a taxi cab.
“…It was a shocking event to us — especially because the driver clearly had the right of way and was not speeding.”
Still, why didn’t he see her?
Maybe the 86-year-old was in the middle of crossing with the light when the light changed on her, leaving her stuck in traffic, and the driver didn’t see her and slow down. This section of WEA is south of the redesigns that were done to shorten crossing distances and improve pedestrian safety. It’s easy to see how a slower-moving senior wouldn’t be able to finish crossing in time and have to rely on drivers to let her get all the way across.
Maybe the driver was texting, looking down to check traffic on his phone, absent-minded, fell asleep, looked down to check an uber app, was looking up at a stoplight instead of down at the road, had been drinking, thought she would move out of his way, didn’t expect to stop for a pedestrian there. I’m just spitballing causes that CIS probably runs through. Or maybe she walked out into traffic and the driver doing 25 mph couldn’t stop in time.
Awful, though. If there’s a way we can help support the surviving families, I hope WSR lets us know.
It was dusk. Do we know what the pedestrian was wearing? I’m often surprised that pedestrian think they can be seen wearing all black at night. This wasn’t fully nighttime but it still could have been difficult to see her. Obviously I don’t know but I’ll consider the driver innocent until proven otherwise. Tragic for all involved.
Exactly! Didn’t see her because the driver was not paying attention.
I’m sure the driver who stopped is sorry about the accident but it would be interesting to know what was the focus of the driver’s attention if not the road. Surely it is not being suggested that the victim was invisible until hit.
My deepest sympathies to the victim’s family.
the article said she was small. and maybe she was wearing dark clothes and the lighting was bad at that time. at the end of the day, she was crossing against the light.
May she rest in peace..my deepest sympathies to the families.
Hey Pedestrian – you really shouldn’t make accusations that you can’t substantiate.
Drivers Are charged with watching the road. He didn’t see her. Unless you are suggesting he/she hit her intentionally I’m assuming he or she wasn’t paying attention. Not much of an accusation. A simple deduction.
Gotta love NY traffic laws. Kill somebody and be charged with “failure to yield”. Just unreal
As a woman over 70, I find walking in the City after dusk or dark is much more difficult because the street lights seem dimmer and not much illumination is provided. I think the lamps are dimmer because of energy savings, but I think it’s time to provide more light on the streets of New York, I use a cane and it helps with my physical mobility, but also with discovering potholes, cracked sidewalks, etc. More light at night, please.
@mim
I’m not elderly yet and have good vision and I have noticed that the street lights in the city have become much darker over the past few year.
I don’t see as well and know that I have to be extra cautious at night especially when dressed in dark clothes (which is most of the time). Although I am safe enough on the UWS, my friends in other neighborhood no longer feel as safe out at night.
In addition, bicyclists (not just delivery guys) are riding without lights and in dark clothes (and salmoning). This week I had two near misses around 70th St. The bike riders just plowed ahead against the light–in the dark. Luckily I stopped walking just before we would have made contact.
Mim is so right! We all notice how much darker these energy saving lights are–the streets are so DARK. Its dangerous for many reasons-walking,driving etc. We either need more street lamps or better bulbs-honestly, another stupid decision by the folks who brought us useless bicycle lanes, diminished bus routes (M104)and generally lower quality of life. Do these people actually live IN NYC? I think not.
I had a close call recently–I was crossing Amsterdam at 88th Street and had a green light; a large pickup truck, in which the driver’s seat is quite a distance from the pavement, also had a green light, turned the corner and kept coming. Fortunately I was able to get out of the way–I gave the driver a look and an exaggerated shrug as if to say “what the heck?” He stopped and opened his window, apologized, and said “I didn’t see you.” I replied, “That’s a problem.” He agreed. My point is: drivers need to be extra alert, not merely not distracted. It’s especially difficult to see smaller people from the cabs of some of these trucks and vans. Perhaps some signage to that effect may be of some help.
I also had a close call recently on Columbus & 72nd when a turning monster SUV failed to yield. This left me quite shaken.
I routinely observe motorists speeding, turning aggressively, and running red lights. Some traffic enforcement by the NYPD would help. I would also support red light cameras, lower speed limits, street redesign, and any other traffic-calming measures. The SUVs seem to be the worst culprits.
They run red lights by Beacon Wine all the time.
It’s no secret to anyone in the neighborhood that West End Avenue between 59th and 72nd streets is a dangerous area for pedestrians and cyclists. Vehicles in this area routinely make illegal u-turns, disregard crosswalks, blow through red lights, double and triple park blocking traffic, and travel at speeds that are way above the actual limit. The traffic camera at 66th street is always flashing at violators, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference in overall patterns of abuse. It’s not immediately clear why the changes that were made to West End above 72nd Street specifically to address the above concerns were not extended throughout the residential zone that now reaches all the way to 59th.
As construction finishes on the new residential developments between 59th and 61st streets, this is only going to become a more pressing problem. At a minimum, putting a physical island divider in the middle of West End (to serve as a pedestrian sanctuary and to put an end to illegal u-turns) seems like a bare minimum of effort by the city and the DOT.
What’s especially dark are the transverses through Central Park. The 86th St. crossing has NO streetlights working except for the ones around the police outpost! As I walked through there on Thursday, I couldn’t see the sidewalk immediately in front of me! That’s dark!
This is really sad and awful, no matter the circumstances. There are many issues with pedestrian crossings, lights, speed limits, etc. I will say that in the last year, as a taxi passenger, there have been numerous occasions where i have observed elderly people (sometimes on a walker) crossing the street seemingly oblivious to the fact that they do not have right-of-way and there is an approaching vehicle, causing the taxi driver to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting them. Several drivers have said something like “Did you see that? We get the blame, but this happens all the time.” It is incumbent on the driver to be observant in such situations, but circumstances vary. Condolences to the families of the deceased.
Many (most?) of the traffic lights in Manhattan don’t allow enough time for elderly people to cross. I’m amazed that DOT officials haven’t figured this out.
Maybe they don’t walk around the city. It’s so obvious to me.
You should move to Forest Hills – the lights are so long, you’ll have more than enough time to cross Queens Blvd (a/k/a The Blvd of Death).
Sharon: You are dead on. RSD & 95th, aprox 20 seconds of WALK before the highway traffic barrels across the Drive.
I totally agree! Some lights only give 15-20 seconds to cross, and on streets like two-way traffic, that’s a lot of ground to cover.
Tragic stories like these make me angry, because drivers continue to dominate the streets without regard that there the elderly and children often are not able to be as careful as others, so all drivers should take extra precautions when behind the wheel. A vehicle is a DEADLY WEAPON-iIt is my prayer that ALL DRIVERS remember this.
LIFE IN NYC IS SO MUCH BETTER WITH BILL DE BLASIO AS MAYOR.
Car accidents happened under our last mayors too, in case you thought they were a new phenomenon.
Oh yes, blame a politician for drivers driving erratically. Blame a politician for people crossing against lights. Yes, make sure to encourage people to have no accountability for their behaviors, just blame politicians.
very sad! Pedestrians always have the right of way unfortunetly even if they dont, drivers must yield, as sometimes its agravating but its all to prevent accidents. It’s not good to drive so many hours as this cab driver did, when you are tired you can be impaired.My prayers go out in this horrible tragic.
What you SHOULD have written:
“Very sad! Pedestrians always have the right of way. Unfortunately, even if they dont, drivers must yield. Sometimes it’s aggravating, but it’s all to prevent accidents. It’s not good to drive so many hours as this cab driver did. When you are tired you can be impaired. My prayers go out in this horrible tragedy.
Remember what they taught in old Mrs. Higginbotham’s 3rd-grade Language Arts class:
1) Sentences begin with capitals and end with periods;
2) “it’s” means “it is”;
3) your spell-checker is your best friend!
I also noticed that the streets seem somewhat less safe after dark. I used to feel so comfortable cycling home after dark. Recently, I feel like the streets are darker and I slow down at every intersection (and obviously stop at every red light, fwiw), lest some car make an illegal turn.
Very sad.
Development, construction and e-commerce/instant delivery have resulted in a significant increase in UWS traffic over the past 7 or so years. And more recently, big Uber SUVs everywhere.
But have also noticed with several of our elderly relatives who have become more frail, that they often walk on red, do not seem to be gauging traffic as they used to. Very dangerous situation.
Such a horrible tragic loss. I think senior citizens are more vulnerable to being hit by cars and I wish there could be more done to prevent events like these from happening.
I recently got a car which I use mainly for out of town trips. From the short time I drive within the city, however, I now have more sympathy for drivers. It’s tough to make left and right hand turns in many intersections because of the seemingly constant stream of pedestrians. You kind of have to turn when you can, when there is a gap in the stream of pedestrians. It’s also difficult to have to deal with pedestrians who blatantly jaywalk when my car has the right of way. That being said, I try my best to yield to pedestrians because I understand the pedestrian point of view and I constantly worry about my 11 year old son when he walks home from school on his own. I repeatedly tell him to watch out for cars, even when he has the right of way, because cars often whip around turns with no regard for pedestrians. Perhaps we need to have delayed red/green lights and walk signs that give pedestrians a head start on cars in every intersection. They seem to work well where they have been implemented so far. There also needs to be more ticketing of cars that fail to yield to pedestrians.
No pun intended, but it really is a two way street. Everybody has to share the responsibility of keeping safe and safeguarding others. Unfortunately we have developed into a society of entitlement.It’s not until we wear the shoe on the other foot when we realize the difficulties the others endure.
For a city that needs money so badly, I never understand why there aren’t more cops present to ticket drivers. They are constantly running lights, talking on the phone, etc. It’s easy money for the city. And driver would pay attention if they had any fear of getting caught.
Cops protect property not people.
I almost hit a cyclist a year ago. I was going south on the on Riverside Drive at dusk. I was slowly turning left onto 93rd St, I think. The bicyclist I almost hit had the light. She wasn’t going fast. She was wearing dark clothes and I….I had been simultaneously peering at the street signs, whether it was the cross street that I wanted. Her quick reflexes saved her and a big part of me too. God, I hate left-hand turns… Sidestreets… Twilight…tiredness. My mother always told us: “have small accidents. Have near accidents. That’ll teach you.” What a high price to pay. otherwise.
Even when one has the walk sign there are cars turning into your path who also have the right to turn. After the fatal incident on 9th and west end one has to be super vigilant crossing with the walk sign.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/25/nyregion/a-renewed-call-for-stronger-pedestrian-safety-measures.html?_r=0
Should read 95th and West End