By Carol Tannenhauser
The driver of an SUV on the Henry Hudson Parkway landed upside down on the Riverside Park bike and pedestrian path near West 103rd Street, on Saturday at around 11:30 a.m. There are no reports of serious injury.
The driver reported that he “lost control and hit a guard rail, after being cut off by another vehicle,” according to the NYPD. “Driver #2 fled.” The 18-year-old SUV driver suffered minor injuries to his left arm and was treated at the scene, police said.
WPIX11 had additional and conflicting details as well as a video showing the upside-down car. “One victim could be seen being taken away on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance,” the station reported. “Another person was sitting down and given oxygen to help them breathe better in the midst of chaos. A few other people were seen on the ground being checked out by paramedics for injuries.”
The police reported that there was “extensive property damage” to the SUV and guardrail. The FDNY said there were “two transports” to [Mount Sinai West] hospital.
We’ll update this story when the details are sorted out and verified.
Update: Here’s a Tweet from Bobbi Barnett showing where and how this happened. Thanks to Nancy B. for pointing it out. We also learned from the police this evening that three individuals, all traveling in the vehicle that flipped, suffered injuries, none life threatening. The vehicles involved in the incident were traveling southbound.
Unfortunately, I seen this happened in the early1980s….. a sports car lose control from my rearview mirror
and jumped over the railing and landed below. The driver was killed. That’s when it was all cobblestone. The problem here is the guard rails are so short. Now there’s a bike lane below that wasn’t there back in the 1980s they should install higher guard rails. Actually, this part of the Westside Highway government
fundings were shut off and it was supposed adjacent to the river below.
Photo note: the HHP at 103rd is on the same level and parallel, very close to the bike path. Not raised above it, as in the photo (which is just a general HHP photo, I get that).:So the car flipped over a low barrier railing onto the bike path next to it. Dramatic, but not as horrifying as if it had fallen from a raised part of the highway. Bikers rightly point out the railing might be safer were it more substantial! Cars and bikes are fast, crowded and close along that stretch. At least there is a fence. And it is still a beautiful place to bike.
It’s rare that I’ve driven on the West Side Highway when I HAVEN’T seen cars driving far in excess of the 50 MPH speed limit, weaving through traffic. Yet I’ve never seen enforcement. This sets the tone for lawlessness when drivers enter our neighborhood. (An analysis I did showed that only 15% of vehicles involved in crashes on the UWS were registered in Manhattan.)
NYPD should step up enforcement on the highway to catch aggressive drivers before they enter Manhattan residential streets. If they don’t, then the NYS police need to make up for the gap.
This has been my experience as well, particularly on the southbound lanes. Cars weaving in and out of traffic, racing each other in excess of 70 mph. It’s wildly dangerous and I am surprised there haven’t been more accidents like this one.
Excellent point and suggestion Richard Robbins !
I frequently see police cars parked on the grass on the northbound side of the Henry Hudson Parkway. The problem is, there’s really no place for a vehicle to park on the southbound side where it’s not blocking traffic and at least somewhat out of sight.
Usually the police car parked there is empty – a decoy in an attempt to get people to slow down. But no substitute for actual enforcement.
You are right about the northbound side which I also have seen many times A police car waiting for speeders but you are mistaken about the southbound side there ate a number of places from the bridge to 79 Street that has spots where cars can park on the side to fix or just sit in their car. But never are there any police cars there that also could check for speeders? Why not?
Blocking traffic on a weekend? Seriously? Three lanes. Little traffic. I think a lane or two could be blocked and make zero difference to the drivers. Oh they’ll be inconvenienced by not being able to do 70. NYPD Highway Unit 1. Mentioned Cheryl walk . The guy (a sergeant) answering the phone had never heard of it. 718-822-5804. Lowest possible standards.
A lane or two being blocked would slow down traffic exponentially, especially during peak travel times and there are peak travel times on the weekend where there is traffic congestion. The people complaining about fast cars want there to be no highway traffic at all in Manhattan and to be able to live in a bubble where outsiders aren’t welcome. That’s not happening.
A car cannot go fast enough to flip when there is congestion. There was no congestion when this happened. Don’t buy that about slowing traffic down exponentially. Its got that chicken little sense. Didn’t happen when the freeway in SF was taken down. Don’t think its ever happened. Please provide an example.
Well, no. SUVs are top-heavy to start with. Hit a curb or other obstacle that cause one side of the vehicle to ride up and it’s going over, even at a moderate speed. You want an example? Here you go: https://youtu.be/g2CUQc9SgIU
You’d be surprised. One small break and one bad driver and hell can break loose. I’ve seen flipped cars on local streets.
There’s also a concerted move to get rid of highways in NYC. There’s people that want to tear down the BQE, there’s people that want to tear down other highways. NYC is the nucleus of a 4 state metro area. We can’t expect Manhattan to be a feudal manor with little interaction outside the bubble.
Correct. There’s no room for a speed trap. We need overhead speed cameras on the HHP.
We should have camera enforced speed limits all up and down the highway and on every block in our neighborhood. It’s the only way to actually put a dent in the amount of dangerous driving.
At some point the cameras don’t help deter dangerous driving when the dangerous drivers have license plate covers or fake license plates. A problem that has grown exponentially.
Definitely agree. I see fake or covered or defaced license plates every time I walk outside. Why aren’t the police enforcing these laws? (I think a lot of the people with defaced plates are city employees – take a walk in front of the fire station on 77th between Amsterdam and Broadway sometime). We should be automating traffic enforcement with cameras and cracking down hard on anyone who tries to evade the cameras with fake plates.
The government has to do a better job in this area. You can’t get far with a fake credit card. That’s because business does a basic check. Road sensors could do the same and vehicles that don’t pass can be flagged.
I totally agree. I drive the west side highway regularly, and without fail there will be 1-3 cars speeding, weaving and chasing one another fast and furious style. It creates a VERY dangerous environment and I have rarely to never seen police presence , radar guns or speed traps. Would be great to see better enforcement and accountability before a tragic accident.
I can’t remember a time since the pandemic began that we were driving southbound on the WSH and there wasn’t at least one crazy driver speeding well above traffic and weaving in and out. Once, and only once, did we see an NYPD vehicle go after one. It was an unmarked black charger that was by the pedestrian bridge on-ramp around 145th that took off after one of them.
Fortunately it wasn’t anywhere near the outdoor Pier i restaurant, which sits almost directly beneath the elevated highway @ W.66th Street.
Perhaps the restaurant should post signs saying, “BEWARE! Falling Cars Possible!!”
Ummm….on 2nd thought, NOT a very great idea !
Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened.. I have video of a flipped car several years ago that resulted in injury to several including injury to the out of control driver.
The Cherry Walk section of the Hudson River Greenway is the most used bike path in the country, also widely enjoyed by walkers and runners. Many safety improvements are needed and long overdue.
Stepped up NYPD enforcement on the Henry Hudson is also needed: as a walker, bicyclist, and driver I have observed far too much speeding, weaving, and reckless driving, both by cars and motorcycles, While NYPD pursuits only adds to the danger, there is no reason why these drivers can’t be spotted from highway cameras and apprehended at exits. Safely.
Very lucky it happened when it happened. I was watching a little league game on 103rd from 8:30-11am Saturday. I stood overlooking the highway twenty feet away and people were flying by fast. But what’s very scary is that there was an event taking place on the bike path. Some kind of walk-a-thon. There were bunches of crowds that would walk by heading towards the GW and they had numbers on their back. Easily would’ve taken out 5-20 people. Time to raise those barriers!
Yes, I was part of the 2000+ people doing the “Great Saunter” walk circumnavigating Manhattan yesterday and heard this accident happening just south of me while I walked the path northbound. Heard high speed vehicles, a crunch noise, braking squeals, then the thunk of the SUV landing.
If my group of five had been strolling just a little slower, we’d be dead right now.
Always hated being this close to the roadway and won’t do it again.
I was also in the Great Saunter and I think we had passed this point awhile ago, but now that I think there were two cars going stupidly fast up around The Cloisters, I wonder if it was this idiot. It was a great event though, the WSR should do a piece on the walk
In addition to the charity walk-a-thon, there were also 20+ volunteers picking up trash for the Riverkeeper Sweep at the time of the crash. And they were working on the river side of the path where the overturned car landed. The Riverside Park Conservancy staff guiding the volunteers jumped into action immediately, with offers of first aid and assistance with crowd control.
Frightening and should be a wakeup call. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened more frequently. I constantly see drivers speeding at Nascar speeds, and those flimsy barriers for pedestrians and bikers aren’t exactly secure and unbreachable. I hope the NYPD and DOT does a better job protecting everyone, Maybe CB7 should take this up.
Start with multiple speed bumps and a wall of concrete impact attenuators.
Good suggestions. In order to actualize them, each writer should contact their city council member’s office as well as the mayor’s office and tell them what you think should be done to reduce the likelihood of similar incidents and possible loss of life in the future. Not just once. Make a pain of yourselves doing so. Squeaky wheels… you know the rest. You’ve said something, now do something.
So turns out the 2 cars in question were racing against each other. One of them has an instagram where they do high speed races on highways and he just deleted it…….
Let’s hope DA Alvin Bragg is investigating. It was a lucky break that no innocent bystanders were killed. This is no different than shooting a gun in a public.
And while we don’t want the police to engage in high speed chases, it is only a lack of will and imagination preventing them from ending this endemic problem. They could easily set up traps to catch speeding cars at the few exits to the highway if they wanted. It’s clearly not a priority for them, nor is speeding on neighborhood streets, which is also rarely enforced.
Yeah if you look carefully at the flipped over vehicle you will see social media stickers on the window.
Was just about to comment that I’d bet the 18 year old driver of the BMW was actually racing and wasn’t “cut off.”
Not shocking. Hope they find and arrest the other peckerhead.
It’s worth pointing out that the Belt Parkway and parts of the Cross Island is along a pedestrian/cyclist path with the same recklessness that goes on at times. No one is calling for a lane reduction or to eliminate the highway, they just ask for more enforcement and they get it.
Has there been an arrest?
Suturday night at 11:30 I was myself cut off by two cars racing each other. The flow of cars was running at about 65 mph with minimum distance between cars and the two speeding cars barely squeezing by. One of them missed me by less than a foot. One advice I would give to anyone being cut off: don’t change the lane and hit the offending car if there are no other totally safe alternatives.
Ok, it is time to AFRODUCK this assholes for drag racing. Remember under Police Commissioner Ray Kelly? Afroduck was one of those speeders, not only he lost his car by forfeiture, he also got arrested. Sadly those days where the law could be applied are gone.
Here is the article to refresh your memories
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/police-driver-who-posted-record-breaking-speed-lap-around-manhattan-arrested/
The car that flipped has their Instagram handle on a window stickers, and until it was deleted there was footage of them street racing, including before the crash.
This was not “Lost control after being cut off”, this is “I’m an idiot, driving faster than I know how to, and putting peoples lives at risk.”
I drive the WSH at least once a week,
and the commenters who cite speed as being a factor in this “act of attempted manslaughter” are spot on. I’ve been driving for 42 years and my training and continuous education behind the wheel always enforced that driving was, and still is, a privilege – not a right.
An 18 year old is not an experienced driver, no matter the final score on the test that levied his license. Nor is an SUV with 20” rims (seen in the linked photos) an innocuous conveyance that mysteriously flips over a guardrail after being “cut off”. This is a clear indicator of inexperience, speed, and a selfish act of indifference to human life (his passengers and the people in the park). That’s why I characterize crashes like these as attempted manslaughter and not “accidents”.
Law enforcement is often unable to address speeding because there are frankly few witnesses to specific infractions that cause a chain of events, and no legal recourse toward heedless drivers. More speed traps and better NYS Highway Patrol presence would be a good start, and laws that translate into “eye-watering fees” and impoundments toward speeders and “attempted murderers” would be even better.
They are not going to, but the police could easily determine the exact cause of this crash – I.e. racing. All they have to do is download the car’s computer. They can also get more science-y. Based on where the vehicle landed versus where it crossed the guard rail, the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad has the ability to calculate the exact speed the BMW was traveling before it left the highway. But they only get called out when someone dies or is likely to die.
I was driving right behind the black SUV when this happened. He was racing behind a White BMW on a congested road, and was going very fast in and out of lanes. He was not in control of the car bc of the high center of gravity. He clipped the bumper of a minivan while dipping through traffic, then lost control and went straight into the guardrail and flipped over. My partner and I thought for sure someone on the walking path died. The path was very crowded that day bc it was such great weather.
He and the driver of the white 5-series should be put in jail. They were a menace even before the crash. We called 911 and reported our account to local news outlets.