Comments on: Pedestrian Hit on Ocean Parkway at Brighton Beach Ave

By: randi

randi — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:21:59 +0000

that photo brings back terrible memories as i was there as that poor woman was being taken on to the ambulance. she appeared to be alive at the time, i was sure i heard her moaning. the fence across the street was taken out by a car months ago because that spot is very dangerous. the reason is no matter that pedestrians have the go ahead to cross, the cars that are turning from brighton beach onto ocean parkway, could not care less. i try crossing with my own elderly mother who also uses a cane, but they come one after another, never giving anyone enough time to attempt the crossing before the light changes again. further, the light changes within seconds nonetheless. but why cars do not have to heed to pedestrians on that corner is beyond me. that this is allowed to continue for years, is unfathomable. about 20 yrs ago a friend and i were crossing there and witness another tragic accident with yet another car hitting an elderly person, as that car sped, as they do constantly, from brighton beach, to ocean parkway. this man was thrown way into the air, his dentures knocked clear across the street. i won’t go into the rest of his visible injuries. the b1 bus also makes that turn when the pedestrians have the right to cross. it’s very simple, either the light signifies people are safe to cross and should indeed be the only ones crossing at that time, or cars can. it can’t be both. we have seen time and again accident after accident on not just this, but other ocean parkway crossings because for some reason cars do not have to give the right away to pedestrians.

By: Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:31:09 +0000

We are working on it, Andy. Hope to have something soon.

By: Andy Trafford

Andy Trafford — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:55:31 +0000

Does anyone have any more info about this incident?

By: Eric McClure

Eric McClure — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:33:53 +0000

Ian, agreed, I wouldn’t spill red paint out of respect to families and friends of victims.

But this kind of sh*t goes down every day, and yet so few are shocked by it.

Others have made the point on these pages before — if it was something other than motor vehicles doing the killing, we’d have declared a state of emergency a long, long time ago.

By: Ian Turner

Ian Turner — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:39:46 +0000

The simple act of naming victims makes their loss far more personal. It’s easy to say “it won’t happen to me” when you’re faced with statistics, but for some reason seeing the names behind those statistics drives the point home. This is the source of the effectiveness of (for example) the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial.

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:05:55 +0000

Andy x2 and Ian, Charlie Komanoff did a thing a few years back painting a police body outline symbol on the street, Killed By Auto with the victims name and date of the accident at many locations throughout the city where auto murders had occurred. I believe he used weak paint so that with time they washed away. Good art, great politics.

By: Andy B from Jersey

Andy B from Jersey — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:25:51 +0000

I hear ya’ Andy T. Just throwing out an idea.

By: Ian Turner

Ian Turner — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:10:44 +0000

Dumping buckets of faux blood is hardly respectful of the people whose lives were lost. If your child/parent/sibling/friend were killed in this way, would you want other people you don’t even know dumping red liquid all over the street? One of the things that makes the ghost bikes so potent is the fact that they are a quiet, respectful, and appropriately mournful representation of the loss that took place.

A better approach would be something akin to the ghost bikes: Install a plaque or other memorial in consultation with the victim’s friends and family members. The result is the same: Awareness of the risk and seriousness of the situation, but the tone and manner is far more appropriate.

By: Andy Trafford

Andy Trafford — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:03:23 +0000

I think you have to be careful with that, Andy. You want people to be horrified by the truth, but you have to make sure that their outrage is aimed at the policies and attitudes and not at you for pushing these images in their faces.

By: Andy B from Jersey

Andy B from Jersey — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:30:51 +0000

Get over it.

I thought the image was rather tame and was expecting something quite a bit more graphic. Some of the most provocative and famous images from wars past have been the most disturbing. These same images have also been the ones that really get people thinking about the true toll and horror of war.

I’d suggest to email a selection of graphic crash scene images to your local community, city and state representatives to show them the real “horror and toll” of current policies and attitudes.

The truth is often VERY disturbing!

By: Andy Trafford

Andy Trafford — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:09:16 +0000

Sometimes I really wish I could just quit my job and spend my time out there demonstrating, protesting, dumping red paint, or at least doing SOMETHING. I feel so bloody useless just sitting here reading about people dying and not being able to do a damn thing about it.

By: Omri Schwarz

Omri Schwarz — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:04:20 +0000

In the 1950′s the city of Melbourne, Vic used to paint crosses on pedestrian death sites. They stopped because it was causing distress to victim’s families, but times change, and I suspect nowadays the families would want this.

By: Eric McClure

Eric McClure — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:57:55 +0000

m-o,

It is hard to look at an image like that, though the actual scene prior to hose-down must’ve been far worse.

Maybe we need to start dumping a gallon of red paint at the site of fatalities, a la Ghost Bikes, as a visceral reminder that living, breathing people were taken before their times. Maybe then more people would take notice, and we might start to see some progress in making our streets safer.

By: Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:28:05 +0000

I tried to choose the least shocking photo, m-o, but point taken.

By: m-o

m-o — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:50:31 +0000

Please. That image is a bit strong for me, as I was unprepared to see blood being washed off the street. Could you please put it behind a jump and warn viewers about what they’re going to look at?

By: Andy Trafford

Andy Trafford — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:31:50 +0000

It’s ridiculous that tragedies such as this are now so commonplace as to not warrant mention in the mainstream media. Let’s hope we can at least put a name to the victim. She wasn’t just another woman killed by an SUV. She was a living breathing human being, someone’s daughter, possibly someone’s wife, sister, mother, lover. My heart goes out to her relatives and friends. And my hatred for SUVs and their drivers goes up another notch.