Authorities say a second pedestrian has been injured after being hit by an unmarked car driven by a state trooper from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s security detail near the governor’s Westchester County home over the past two days.

State police say 50-year-old Jeronimo Ardon Perez of Mount Kisco was hit on Route 117 in Mount Kisco about 7 p.m. Thursday by a car driven by Investigator Gregory Panzarella. Perez was taken to Westchester Medical Center. His condition wasn’t immediately available Friday.

The other pedestrian, 22-year-old Dolce Perez, was hit by an unmarked car driven by Sgt. Joseph Crispino on Wednesday morning on Route 133 in Mount Kisco.

According to the AP, the officers were on duty but not responding to an emergency and the police are investigating the crashes. Though the two victims were injured on Wednesday and Thursday, the news is only coming out now.

A spokesperson for the governor tells Capitol Tonight that Cuomo was not in either of the vehicles at the times of the crashes.

Photo: @daniela_oneL via Gothamist

The Post is reporting that a Williamsburg man was killed this morning as he crossed Borinquen Place near Keap Street. The victim, 57-year-old Lepoldo Hernandez, was walking to meet a friend to carpool to work when he was struck by two drivers in succession. The first driver was traveling eastbound, and the second driver struck Hernandez as he lay in the street.

While police, as usual, are already telling the press that they “suspect no criminality,” Gothamist’s John del Signore cites a report from a local resident at the scene who was told that the first car was “going like 50″:

There was a crowd of onlookers and I saw the sheet over the body in the street. I did not see any vehicles around that looked damaged or anyone speaking with police, but witnesses said both drivers stayed at the scene. Motorists speed like crazy down this street to get on the Williamsburg Bridge. I watch them run the light, pass in the bike lane, and speed like it’s a free for all.

This fatal crash occurred in the 90th Precinct, which will hold its monthly precinct community council meeting tonight. To voice your concerns about neighborhood traffic safety directly to Deputy Inspector Michael M. Kemper, the commanding officer, head out to tonight’s meeting. The 90th precinct meetings happen at 7:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month, at 30 Montrose Avenue. A detective at the precinct confirmed that tonight’s meeting is set to happen as scheduled.

In what’s starting to be an annual tradition, Streetsblog’s first reader-submitted photo of 2012 shows a bus stop pole brought low by the impact of a motor vehicle. 2011 got off to a similar start.

This is the B69 stop at Vanderbilt and Atlantic, a stone’s throw from where Forest City Ratner and the Empire State Development Corporation want to build an enormous surface parking lot, beckoning people to drive to the new Barclays Center arena. The motorist who slammed into this pole had to drive across the Vanderbilt Avenue bike lane before wrecking city property. NYPD’s public information office had no details about the incident, which indicates that any bus riders or cyclists present at the time of the crash escaped with their lives intact.

Before the holidays, we caught word of three other curb-jumping incidents in Manhattan, at least two of which were known to have caused serious injuries. Not even the sidewalks are safe from driver recklessness. Meanwhile, City Council Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca spent the end of 2011 on a media tour talking up his commitment to bike enforcement.

This crash occurred in the 88th Precinct. The commanding officer there is Deputy Inspector Anthony Tasso. If you’re concerned about traffic safety and want the 88th to do something about it, you can bring it up at the next community council meeting. The 88th Precinct community council meets on the third Tuesday of each month. Locations vary. Call ahead (718 636-6526) to confirm meeting dates and times.

Meanwhile, a war on a model street safety project waged by politically-connected NIMBYs and their media lapdogs took its toll as planned safety improvements were scaled back, and the wishes of those powerful few proved to be the City Council’s commands. The coarse and inept handling of a tragic cyclist death in Brooklyn confirmed the worst suspicions regarding NYPD protocols and prejudices. Juries handed down junk verdicts, joining judges and prosecutors in excusing killer drivers with barely a slap on the wrist. The state’s highest court, in the words of a traffic justice pioneer, is in the process of “systematically decriminalizing” cases of death by motor vehicle.

Still, the fight for safer streets pushes on. The tenacious family of Mathieu Lefevre has shone a light on NYPD malfeasance, and Transportation Alternatives has launched a comprehensive probe into how the department investigates crashes that result in serious injury or death. Early in the new year Streetsblog will conduct a thorough review of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s record on traffic crime. New Yorkers from all walks of life of continue to demand better conditions for walking and cycling. For every James Vacca there is a Melissa Mark-Viverito. And each year NYC DOT re-engineers more streets for greater safety, as evidenced by projects like the pedestrian-oriented overhaul of Grand Army Plaza and the city’s first neighborhood 20 mph zone in Claremont.

What follows is our accounting of New York pedestrians and cyclists known to have lost their lives in 2011. Please use the comments to share remembrances of those named here, and the names and stories of those we missed.

Erica Abbott, Moshe Adler, Zhaneya Butcher, Aileen Chen.

• Erica Abbott, 29, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog, Gothamist)
• Mosha Adler, 83, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; No Known Charges (Streetsblog)
• Maritza Atkins, 68, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; No Known Charges (Times Ledger 1, 2)
• Jeffrey Axelrod, 52, Cyclist, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Not Charged (Gothamist, Voice, Benepe’s)
• Robert Bond, 53, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Hit-and-Run, Top Charge Unknown (DNA, Post 1, 2)
• Anthony Buscemi, 68, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; Driver Charged With Manslaughter (News, QChron)
• Zhaneya Butcher, 6, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; Top Charge Unknown (News, QChron)
• Yolanda Casal, 78, Pedestrian; Killed in Manhattan; Driver Fined $500 (Streetsblog)
• Cesar Cepedes, 44, Killed in Queens; No Known Charges [MTA Bus] (News, NY1)
• Jerrold Chaleff, 71, Pedestrian, Killed in the Bronx; Driver Not Charged (Post)
• Aileen Chen, 16, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog, Gothamist)

Tyre Chisholm, Daniela D'Ercole, Marilyn Dershowitz, Ray Deter

• Tyre Chisholm, 22, Pedestrian, Killed in the Bronx; Driver [NYPD] Charged With Homicide (News 1, 2)
• Margaret Choberka, 82, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog)
• Patricia Cuevas, 51, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog, The Lo-Down)
• Daniela D’Ercole, 32, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Not Charged (DNA)
• Marilyn Dershowitz, 68, Cyclist, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Charged With Leaving Scene (Streetsblog, Post)
• Ray Deter, 53, Cyclist, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Not Charged (DNA, News)
• Nicolas Djandji, 24, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; No Known Charges (Gothamist, Ghost Bike)
• Pat Dolan, 72, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog)
• Chris Doyle, 29, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog, News)
• Aron Dudkin, 80, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog)

Nicolas Djandji, Pat Dolan, Kira Goddard, Clara Heyworth

• Moses Englender, 4, Killed in Brooklyn; No Known Charges (News)
• Kira Goddard, 13, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Killed in Crash (NYT, News, CBS)
• Joseph Granati, 39, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (News)
• Gillian Hall, 56, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Hit-and-Run (News)
• Clara Heyworth, 28, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Charged With DWI, Unlicensed, Assault (The Local)
• Awsaf Islam, 15, Killed in Queens; No Known Charges (News 1, 2)
• Toyia Jones, 40, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; Hit-and-Run (News, Obit)
• Steve Jorgenson, 22, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Not Charged (News, NY1)
• Raymond Larsen, 46, Killed on Staten Island; Driver Not Charged (Post, Advance)
• Mathieu Lefevre, 30, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Streetsblog 1, 2, 3)

Awsaf Islam, Toyia Jones, Steve Jorgenson, Mathieu Lefevre

• Ilia Lopez, 58, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Hit-and-Run (Daily Mail, CBS, DNA)
• Theauther Love, 87, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver [NYPD] Not Charged (Streetsblog)
• Fan Meng, 77, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; Driver Not Charged (Times Ledger)
• Nilo Montilla, 57, Pedestrian, Killed in the Bronx; Driver Issued Summonses (Streetsblog, R’dale Press)
• James Pierre, 23, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Courier Life)
• Denise Pierrelus, 65, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Bklyn Daily, Canarsie Courier)
• Andrew Ramirez, 2, Pedestrian, Killed in Queens; Driver Not Charged (News, Post)
• Steven Reese, 58, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; No Known Charges (DNA)
• Laurence Renard, 35, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Fined $500 (Streetsblog)
• Thomas Riley, 23, Pedestrian, Killed in the Bronx; Driver Charged With DWI, Homicide, Leaving Scene (Post, News)

Ilia Lopez, Theauther Love, Laurence Renard, Russell Smith

• Ronald Simpson, 43, Pedestrian, Killed in the Bronx; One Driver Flees, Second Driver Not Charged (NY1, CBS)
• Russell Smith, 11, Pedestrian, Killed in the Bronx; No Known Charges (News, Post)
• Chandana Asoka Sundarawadu, 51, Killed on Staten Island; Driver Charged With Assault (Advance)
• Stephen Tanenbaum, 62, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Charged With Homicide (NYT, DNA)
• Kok Hoe Tee, 55, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Driver [NYPD Auxiliary] Not Charged (Streetsblog, DNA, ABC)
• Luis Torres, 22, Cyclist, Killed in Brooklyn; Hit-and-Run, Charges Unknown (News)
• Dominick Trevisano, 51, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Hit-and-Run (News)
• Terence Tsao, 17, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Charged With DWI, Manslaughter (News)
• Caroline Tunage, 56, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (Post, Patch)
• Meilech Weiss, 62, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; No Known Charges (Post, Vos Iz Neias)

Kok Hoe Tee, Luis Torres, Dominick Trevisano

• Qi Yu Weng, 28, Cyclist, Killed in Manhattan; Hit-and-Run, No Known Charges [MTA Bus] (NYT, Post)
• Leonia White, 89, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Not Charged (DNA, Post, Gothamist)
• Timothy White, 29, Pedestrian, Killed in Manhattan; Driver Charged With Manslaughter (NYT, Post, Gothamist)
• Andrzei Wiesniuk, 70, Cyclist, Killed in Queens; Driver Charged With Suspended License (Streetsblog, News)
• Aniya Williams, 13, Pedestrian, Killed on Staten Island; Driver Not Charged (News, Post)
• David John Williams, 63, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; Driver Not Charged (News)
• Katherine Yun, 25, Pedestrian, Killed in Brooklyn; No Known Charges [City Sanitation] (News, NYT)
• Unnamed Pedestrian, 54, Killed Feb. 14 in Manhattan; No Known Charges (Streetsblog, DNA)
• Unnamed Pedestrian Killed Mar. 18 in Brooklyn; No Known Charges (Streetsblog)
• Unnamed Cyclist Killed Mar. 25 in Manhattan; No Known Charges [MTA Bus] (NY1)
• Unnamed Pedestrian Killed Mar. 31 in Brooklyn; No Known Charges (Streetsblog)

Meilech Weiss, Aniya Williams, Unidentified Cyclist Killed July 18 in the Bronx

• Unnamed Pedestrian Killed June 21 in Brooklyn; Driver Charged With Hit-and-Run (Streetsblog)
• Unnamed Pedestrian Killed June 25 in Queens; Driver Charged With Suspended License (Post)
• Unidentified Cyclist Killed July 18 in the Bronx; No Known Charges (Post)
• Unnamed Pedestrian, 25, Killed Aug. 21 in Queens; No Known Charges (Post)
• Unnamed Pedestrian Killed Aug. 27 in Queens; No Known Charges (Post)
• Unidentified Pedestrian Killed Sep. 18 in the Bronx; Hit-and-Run (News)
• Unnamed Pedestrian, 86, Killed Oct. 26 in Manhattan; No Known Charges (Streetsblog, DNA)
• Unnamed Pedestrian Killed Oct. 27 in Brooklyn; No Known Charges (Midwood Blog)
• Unnamed Pedestrian, 58, Killed Dec. 2 in Manhattan; Driver [Motorcyclist] Not Charged (AP)
• Unnamed Pedestrian Killed Dec. 8 in Brooklyn; No Known Charges [Motorcyclist] (Streetsblog)
• Unnamed Cyclist, 17, Killed Dec. 16 in Manhattan; Driver Not Charged (DNA)
• Unnamed Pedestrian, 73, Killed Dec. 20 in Manhattan; No Known Charges (DNA)

Photos: Liz Patek

Streetsblog reader Liz Patek sent in these photos of the aftermath of a Tuesday afternoon crash at 68th Street and Broadway, in front of the Loews Lincoln Square movie theater. Liz writes:

Police were still on the scene. From talking to people, it appears that the cab backed up at a high speed around the corner from 68th to Broadway in order to get a parking spot. One of the people I spoke to was hit by the cab. She was OK. Two other pedestrians were injured and taken away in ambulances before I arrived. According to another witness, one of the other pedestrians who was hit got pulled under the cab and dragged for several feet. The driver also took out the street light.

NYPD had no information on the crash, and we could find no media reports. All of which is a pretty good indicator of how common these non-fatal crashes with injuries are. For every fatality that is written up somewhere there are dozens of “minor” crashes like this one. If you saw what happened here or have any info, let us know in the comments.

This crash occurred in the 20th Precinct. The commanding officer there is Deputy Inspector Brian A. McGinn. To voice your concerns about neighborhood traffic safety directly to McGinn or other precinct higher-ups, drop in on the next community council meeting. The 20th Precinct council “usually” meets on the fourth Monday of each month, except in July and August, at the 20th Precinct station house, 120 W. 82nd Street, at 7:00 p.m. Call ahead (212-580-6428) to confirm meeting dates and times.

The corner of Flatbush Avenue and Parkside Avenue, where a motorcyclist hit and killed a pedestrian yesterday. Image: Google Street View.

A motorcyclist driving north on Flatbush Avenue hit and killed a woman crossing the street at Parkside Avenue yesterday morning. NYPD’s public information office told Streetsblog the victim was crossing against the light and while an investigation is ongoing, no charges have been brought against the driver.

The crash took place yesterday around 5:00 in the morning. One commenter on the blog The Q at Parkside, which was the first outlet to report the crash, said that she came across the crash site moments after the incident. Wrote commenter Maizie, “An elderly woman said that a motorcycle sped around a bus and hit the pedestrian. She was surrounded by a number of do gooders who diverted traffic and directed the FDNY and ambulance personnel to her location. She was moving around, clearly in pain, and bled from her head.”

The police did not have any information about whether the motorcyclist was passing or speeding when he hit the victim.

The crash took place days after DOT announced plans to improve safety at the dangerous intersection of Parkside and Ocean Avenue, one block away. According to CrashStat, even more pedestrians were injured in traffic crashes at Parkside and Flatbush than at Parkside and Ocean between 2004 and 2009.

Photo: The North Iowa Journal

The traffic crash and fatality rates in this country are indeed at historic lows, especially given the staggering amount of driving Americans do on a yearly basis. In 2005, the most recent year to have shown an increase in highway fatalities, there were 14.7 traffic deaths for every 100,000 U.S. residents. In 2010, that number had fallen to 10.7 deaths, a difference of approximately 10,000 fewer fatalities annually. (USDOT measures the death rate not by population but by vehicle miles traveled, also showing a dramatic improvement, from 1.5 deaths per million VMT to 1.1 over the same period. Interestingly, while total VMT rose in 2010, per-capita driving declined.)

The news was grimmer for people outside of a car than for drivers and passengers. Improved motor vehicle safety features were likely a factor in the lower fatality rate, according to the Boston Herald, but those same features mean little to non-occupants. After several progressively safer years, 2010 saw a 4.2 percent increase in pedestrian deaths—to 4,280, a difference of 171 human lives—and a whopping increase of about 11,000 nonfatal injuries. Bicycle deaths decreased 1.6 percent, but bike injury rates didn’t change at all. Clearly, safety gains for motorists have not extended to more vulnerable road users.

Furthermore, while it is certainly good news that traffic is claiming thousands fewer lives each year, 32,885 is a staggering number. It is roughly equivalent to 70 full jumbo jets crashing and leaving no survivors, or equal to the population of Juneau, AK or Dover, DE. There is enormous room for improvement: The fatality rate in the U.S. still pales beside leading countries like Japan (3.85 traffic deaths per 100,000) and Germany (4.5), which also happen to have much lower rates of driving than the U.S.

Arrows indicate direction of change since previous year. Source: BTS, NHTSA

In an effort to further reduce the number of roadway deaths and injuries, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland announced at yesterday’s press conference that his agency was introducing several new measures to track distracted driving. NHTSA introduced a new metric, to be included in future highway fatality reports, called “distraction-affected crashes.” This figure differs slightly from the current “distraction-related” category — for example, “cell phone present in vehicle” will no longer count under the new metric, while “dialing a cell phone” will.

NHTSA will also initiate a two-year naturalistic study of driver behavior to clarify the relationship between distracted driving and road injuries, fitting 2,000 cars with cameras and other equipment. Ideally, the results of that study will be able to draw a straight line between driver behavior and non-occupant injuries.

The NHTSA could take many more steps to better understand what is causing the decline in traffic deaths and determine how to make the U.S. a global leader in street safety. Fewer Americans are dying on the roads than 20 or even 10 years ago, and that could be a reflection of any number of factors: improvements in emergency care, car safety features, road design, driver behavior, or changes in the amount Americans drive. We can’t allow ourselves to become complacent in the face of 32,885 deaths that might have been prevented.

An 80-year-old man was killed while walking in Sheepshead Bay on Tuesday.

According to NYPD and online reports, Aron Dudkin was crossing East 7th Street at Avenue T at 6:45 a.m. when he was hit by the driver of a Nissan. Dudkin was taken to Coney Island Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The driver, a 21-year-old male, remained at the scene. “There is no criminality,” an NYPD spokesperson told Streetsblog. No further information was available.

The crossing where Dudkin was hit is a signalized intersection. Was he crossing with the light? Was the driver proceeding through the intersection on Avenue T, or turning from East 7th? Judging by video from the scene, it looks as if the victim was knocked out of his shoes. Was speed a factor? Unfortunately, these crucial details are kept off-limits by NYPD. As far the general public is concerned, in all likelihood this case is closed.

The crash that killed Aron Dudkin occurred in the 61st Precinct. The commanding officer there is Deputy Inspector Georgios Mastrokostas. To voice your concerns about neighborhood traffic safety directly to Deputy Inspector Mastrokostas or other precinct higher-ups, drop in on the next community council meeting. The 61st Precinct council meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 3093 Ocean Avenue at 7:30 p.m. Call ahead (718-627-6847) to confirm meeting dates and times.

The driver who dragged Milo Montivilla down Broadway in the Bronx says he never saw him. Photo: Daily News

A 57-year-old Bronx man was struck and killed by a school bus driver on Tuesday.

According to reports, at around 6:00 a.m. Milo Montivilla was crossing with the light at Broadway and Mosholu Avenue in North Riverdale when the bus driver, turning right, ran him over. The Daily News interviewed a witness at the scene:

“He was walking to catch his bus and the [school] bus just hit him and dragged him down the street,” said the witness, who declined to give her name.

“He was under it for a good 10 minutes. I couldn’t believe it.”

The witness said the bus operator did not appear to have seen the pedestrian and continued driving.

“Everybody was screaming, ‘You hit someone! You hit someone!’ Everyone bum-rushed the street,” she said.

“That’s when he stopped and got out. Everyone was on their phones calling the cops.”

The driver was too distressed to talk at the scene but could be overheard telling a supervisor on the phone: “I didn’t see him. It was too dark.”

The driver’s identity was not released. He was not charged.

“I didn’t seem him/her” are the magic words for the motorist who pulverizes another person, even if the victim is breaking no laws, is directly in front of the vehicle when hit, and is dragged down the street until passersby intervene. The driver’s speed, the possibility that he was distracted in some way — these factors seemingly become irrelevant to police and prosecutors when presented with the invisible pedestrian or cyclist defense, despite state laws enacted to protect vulnerable street users from everyday driver negligence.

The crash that killed Milo Montivilla occurred in the 50th Precinct. The commanding officer there is Captain Kevin J. Burke. To voice your concerns about neighborhood traffic safety directly to Captain Burke or other precinct higher-ups, drop in on the next community council meeting. The 50th Precinct council meets the second Thursday of every month at the station house, located at 3450 Kingsbridge Avenue, at 7:30 p.m. Be sure to call ahead (718-543-5978) to confirm meeting times and dates.

Transportation Alternatives today delivered over 2,500 citizen letters to Ray Kelly demanding that NYPD crack down on dangerous driving, and announced a comprehensive probe into how the department handles traffic crash investigations.

Flanked by dozens of supporters and victims of traffic violence at 1 Police Plaza, TA executive director Paul Steely White excoriated NYPD for what he called a “cavalier attitude” toward lawless driving. While hundreds are killed and thousands are injured by reckless drivers in the city every year, enforcement of traffic laws is relatively rare, and drivers who cause suffering and death are routinely excused by police and prosecutors without as much as a summons.

“It’s the NYPD’s job to keep dangerous driving in check by holding reckless drivers accountable,” said White, “but they are simply not taking that job seriously.”

Calling for a zero tolerance approach to a “public safety crisis,” TA will have attorneys review NYPD reports on recent crashes that resulted in serious injury or death. Evaluations will focus on whether police followed proper post-crash procedure and if victims were “guaranteed a full and fair investigation.”

Erika Lefevre, whose son Mathieu was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in East Williamsburg in October, said that her family is still waiting for definitive information about the crash. Initially, police told reporters that Mathieu ran a red light at Morgan Avenue and Meserole Street and was struck by the driver of a flatbed truck making a right-hand turn. The NYPD report, however, indicates that Mathieu was hit from behind, and makes no mention of either Mathieu or the driver running a light.

The report identifies the driver who struck Lefevre as Leonardo Degianni of College Point. Degianni, 48, was driving a truck registered to Imperium Construction of Ridgewood. After hitting and dragging Lefevre, Degianni left the scene. Police found the truck a short distance from the crash site but did not locate Degianni for days. He was not charged.

Erika Lefevre said police have video of the crash along with other evidence, none of which her family has been allowed to see.

“We appreciate that NYPD has a difficult job in trying to investigate this crash and determine what happened,” said Lefevre. “We want NYPD to take the time it needs to conduct an unbiased, thorough, professional investigation. But NYPD has caused us great pain with the mishandling and withholding of information, and their rush to clear the driver of any wrongdoing.”

Juliana Berger, former wife of Mathieu Lefevre, urged Ray Kelly to beef up the department’s accident investigation squad and to implement targeted enforcement of dangerous behaviors including failure to yield, speeding and failure to exercise due care.

Also speaking at today’s rally was Donna Ganson, whose husband was seriously injured in 2009 by a motorist as he walked his daughter to school in Park Slope. Though witnesses said the driver was traveling some 20 mph over the 30 mph speed limit, and though Ganson’s husband was crossing legally, no charges were filed and no summonses were issued. The collision put the victim in a coma and left him with brain damage.

“My life, his life, and the lives of our three daughters will never be the same,” said Ganson. “How can a speeding driver who hits a pedestrian in a crosswalk in broad daylight not get a ticket for anything?”

Though he was not present for the rally himself, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio sent over a statement, read by spokesperson Wiley Norvell, announcing that his office has asked NYPD for data related to the application of vulnerable user laws and information on when the department deploys the accident investigation squad.

The purple dots represent vehicle occupants – not necessarily drivers – who were killed. It may look like a lot of purple, and it certainly is, but when you zoom in closer you see a lot of blue dots, for pedestrians, as well as an awful lot of yellow dots, for motorcyclists. The green dots for bicyclists are fewer and farther between, but if you zoom into the cities, you’ll find them. Each dot even lists the year of the crash and the victim’s age and gender.

ITO World got their data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It appears they’ve captured not just fatalities on highways but on local streets as well.

The World Health Organization reports 12.3 annual traffic deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the United States. Compare that with 3.85 in Japan and 4.5 in Germany. If the U.S. achieved similar rates, more than 20,000 deaths would be prevented each year.

This map is a useful way of visualizing the terrible consequences of our auto-addicted culture. Beyond that, it can be an indispensable tool for community transportation advocates to show local officials where problem spots are and how their community compares to others.

Queens community leader Patricia Dolan was killed last night as she walked to a transportation meeting at her community board. Photo: Times-Ledger/Christina Santucci

Queens community leader Pat Dolan was killed by the driver of a Nissan sedan as she crossed the street last night. Dolan served on Queens Community Board 8, and she was walking to a transportation meeting when she was struck.

According to the NYPD, Dolan was crossing Hillside Avenue southbound at 198th Street when she was struck by the driver, who was traveling east. The NYPD said that “there was no criminality” on the part of the driver, who remained at the scene, but the police could provide no information about whether Dolan was in a crosswalk or had the right of way, or whether the driver was speeding.

Dolan was president of the Queens Civic Congress, and in the wake of her death tributes have been pouring in from across the city. “Pat dedicated her life to Queens,” said Borough President Helen Marshall. Said Comptroller John Liu, “Her leadership and infectious spirit will be sorely missed, and I stand together with my fellow residents of Queens to mourn her untimely death.” Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer announced that he was dedicating his transportation conference this Friday in Dolan’s memory.

Dolan had made improving transportation access for car-free Queens residents part of her life’s work, reported the Queens Times-Ledger. As director of Queens Connection, she organized transportation for senior centers and advocated for better public transit across the borough. “Dolan did not drive and took public transportation to every one of the countless meetings she attended all around the borough,” the paper wrote.

“Pat’s tireless commitment to a safer, more livable community earned her the respect of all who knew her,” said Transportation Alternatives executive director Paul Steely White. “During her tenure as its leader, the Queens Civic Congress addressed community transportation concerns, like speeding, reckless driving and dangerous conditions for walkers. Her absence will be felt in the many lives she touched in her own community and beyond.”

If you would like to discuss the case and traffic safety in the neighborhood with local police, the next meeting of the 103rd Precinct is December 13 at 7:00 p.m. and the next meeting of the 107th Precinct is this Tuesday, November 22, at 8:00 p.m.

Singer Daniela D'Ercole was struck by a car on the Upper West Side last Thursday and pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital. Photo: DNAinfo/David Torres

Last Thursday night, Daniela D’Ercole was struck and killed by the driver of a Mercury SUV while she crossed the street on the Upper West Side, multiple outlets reported over the weekend.

The 32-year-old jazz singer, who had moved to New York City from Italy last September, was reportedly hit after exiting a taxi at Broadway and 106th Street. According to the NYPD, she was crossing Broadway westbound against the light when the motorist, heading northbound, hit her.

The SUV driver stayed at the scene of the crash and police said that no criminality was suspected.

A video of the crash cited by the New York Post reportedly shows the collision sending D’Ercole flying across multiple lanes of traffic, suggesting that evidence is available to judge the driver’s speed at the time. When asked whether the driver might have been speeding, an NYPD press officer repeated that there was no criminality suspected and said he did not have any information about video evidence.

If you have any information on what happened here, please leave it in the comments or send us an e-mail.

If you would like to discuss the case and traffic safety in the neighborhood with local police, the next meeting of the 24th Precinct community council is this Wednesday, the 16th, at 7:00 p.m.

Again: If an unlicensed driver going the wrong way on a city street is not prosecutable for killing or injuring a pedestrian, who is? Photo: Daily News

For at least the second time this year, an unlicensed driver will be punished with no more than a token fine for killing a Manhattan pedestrian.

On June 30, Yolanda Casal, 78, and her 41-year-old daughter Anais Emmanuel were crossing Amsterdam Avenue near West 98th Street when Edwin Carrasco, 38, of Paterson, New Jersey, drove his Ford Explorer into them while backing up in pursuit of a parking spot. Casal was later pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital; Emmanuel was hospitalized with injuries.

Reports indicated that Carrasco, who has a history of license suspensions and reckless driving, was initially charged by NYPD with driving with a suspended license, unsafe backing and failure to exercise due care. Though Carrasco was reportedly breaking at least two laws at the time of the crash, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance levied no charges related to the death or injuries caused by Carrasco’s negligence.

According to the online database of the New York State Unified Court System, Carrasco pled guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court on September 22 to a top charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, a misdemeanor that stipulates that Carrasco drove without a license when he knew or should have known that he didn’t have a license. He is due to pay a $500 fine in December.

Days after Casal was killed, the unlicensed dump truck driver who ran down Upper East Side pedestrian Laurence Renard pled guilty to aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree and, like Carrasco, was fined $500.

As a DA candidate, Vance pledged to hold dangerous drivers accountable for their actions. In July, responding to a query regarding the investigation of Casal’s death, a Vance spokesperson told Streetsblog: “When we prosecute a case we look at the elements of the law and the facts of our case to determine whether we can go forward with the case. If we find that the facts of a case fit criminally negligent homicide, we will not hesitate to charge them.”

Photo: Ken Coughlin

Streetsblog regular Ken Coughlin alerted us to a Saturday afternoon collision between a yellow cab driver and a cyclist on the Hudson River Greenway at 43rd Street. Ken took this picture at 3:45 p.m. He said the cyclist appeared to be unconscious.

The crash happened at the entrance to the Circle Line dock, which Coughlin says is “a particularly dangerous crossing because it gets a fair amount of fast-moving traffic coming in from the east.” Data from Transportation Alternatives’ CrashStat show that seven cyclists and one pedestrian have been injured in collisions there since 2003. The site is a few blocks north of where greenway cyclist Carl Nacht was killed by an NYPD tow truck driver in 2006.

The NYPD public information office had no details on the crash. According to a spokesperson, this indicates “minor injuries only” and “no criminality involved.”

If you have any information on what happened here, please leave it in the comments or send us an e-mail.

Eastern Parkway where it intersects Bergen Street in Brownsville. Image: Google Street View

On Friday morning, a traffic enforcement agent driving a marked NYPD vehicle struck and killed the Reverend Theauther Love, 87, as he was walking across Eastern Parkway in Brownsville. Police failed to notify the victim’s family this weekend, according to friends and relatives. But NYPD did issue their standard exculpatory response when the driver in a fatal crash is sober and stays at the scene — “no criminality is suspected” — even though they have yet to disclose details like the driver’s speed and who had the right of way at the time of the collision.

Theauther Love. Photo: New York Post

Love, a WWII vet, walked several miles a day in the neighborhood. His widow, Annie Love, told the Post that he was struck during his regular morning walk after taking out the trash. His son Andrew is calling for police to investigate whether the driver was speeding at the time.

NYPD’s public information office told Streetsblog this morning that the TEA was driving westbound on Eastern Parkway between Bergen and Dean when he struck Love, who was walking north to south across Eastern Parkway. No charges are pending against the driver. The police spokesman had no further information about the collision, other than that the investigation is open.

The police’s preliminary finding of “no criminality” clearly covers only a narrow range of driver culpability — he didn’t intentionally run down the victim, he wasn’t intoxicated, and he stayed at the scene. But this glosses over a range of other possible factors that may have contributed to the crash that killed Theauther Love. Was the driver careless or reckless behind the wheel? Was he speeding, texting, or running a light? We don’t know. Perhaps the investigation will clear up those questions, but judging from the overall pattern of police withholding information about specific traffic crashes, NYPD won’t disclose the answers willingly.

"All we know is what we have read in the papers," said Erika Lefevre about the hit-and-run collision that killed her son Mathieu. Photo copyright Dmitry Gudkov

The family of Mathieu Lefevre, the 30-year-old artist killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in East Williamsburg last week, was joined by dozens of supporters outside 1 Police Plaza today to demand that NYPD rein in deadly driving and end its policy of silence when it comes to fatal traffic crashes.

Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, began the rally by reading from a list of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers killed this year at the hands of motorists who faced no charges of any kind. While drivers continue “killing with impunity on a daily basis,” said White, NYPD has “consistently failed” to take action to stop the violence.

In 2010, White said, 269 people died in New York City traffic. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of preventable death for the city’s children, and from 2000 to 2009 more New Yorkers were killed by cars than guns. Addressing his remarks to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, White said: “You are failing to enforce a basic standard of due care.”

The devastation wrought by the city’s traffic fatality epidemic is made worse by NYPD’s practice of withholding crash information, even from family members of victims. Lefevre’s parents traveled from western Canada immediately upon hearing of their son’s death. Since then, said his mother Erika, they have learned little about the crash.

“All we know is what we have read in the papers,” said Lefevre. Last Friday, the Lefevres waited all day at NYPD headquarters, but were told nothing. No one was available to speak with them over weekend, said Lefevre, and since Monday they have been passed from desk to desk. NYPD revealed to the family that the truck that hit Mathieu, identifiable from visible damage, was found two blocks from the crash site, and that the driver was located through the company that owns the truck. The Lefevres were not given the name of the company or the driver. As for the crash itself, the only details they have been made privy to are time and location. Lefevre said the family was told today that “charges were dropped” against the driver, though she isn’t sure charges were filed in the first place.

Lefevre said that, according to police, the driver of the truck that killed Mathieu was “likely unaware” of the collision.

Intensifying the agony of the families of crash victims is as deeply ingrained in NYPD culture as the department’s laissez-faire approach to traffic enforcement. White said the buck stops at the top.

“Ultimately, what needs to happen is we need leadership,” said White, calling on Kelly and, especially, Bloomberg to tap the city government talent pool to reduce traffic deaths and injuries.

In the case of Mathieu Lefevre, White believes the driver should at minimum be charged under the state’s vulnerable user laws, which have yet to be applied with any regularity by NYPD since they were adopted a year ago.

In the meantime, the Lefevres continue to wait for answers. Erika Lefevre said the last time she talked to her son, who rode his bike regularly during the one and a half years he lived in Brooklyn, was when he called her on October 10, her birthday.

“Mathieu’s life was cut short before he had a chance to develop into what he would become,” Lefevre said. “It is very important that we know the circumstances of our son’s death.”

Fifth Ave. and 65th St., where a tow truck driver killed an 86-year-old pedestrian while she was in the crosswalk yesterday. Image: Google.

A tow truck driver struck and killed an 86-year-old woman walking on the Upper East Side yesterday morning. The driver was turning left from Fifth Avenue onto 65th Street at 9:30 a.m. when he hit the victim, who was walking north in the crosswalk, according to the NYPD.

An NYPD spokesperson said that “no criminality is suspected at this time” but that the investigation is still ongoing. Police did not have any further information about who had the right of way, but the known circumstances strongly suggest that the driver failed to yield to the victim while she had a walk signal.

The intersection of Morgan Avenue and Meserole Street, where a truck driver hit and killed a cyclist last night. Image: Google Street View.

A flatbed truck driver struck and killed a cyclist in East Williamsburg shortly after midnight last night.

As first reported by Gothamist, the 30-year-old male victim was riding to the right of the truck while traveling southbound along Morgan Avenue, according to NYPD. The driver turned right at Meserole Street, striking the cyclist, who was dead by the time an ambulance arrived three minutes later.

Police say the driver did not stay at the scene, but the truck was found legally parked one block away. An NYPD spokesperson said the department might pursue charges but would not do so until the driver is located.

Two months ago, Erica Abbott, a professional dancer, was killed in a traffic crash while riding her bike on Bushwick Avenue a few blocks away. Last year, a garbage truck driver hit and killed a cyclist while turning from Varick Street onto Meserole.

According to NYPD, on Monday at approximately 10:20 p.m., Steven Reese was crossing E. 125th Street near Lexington Avenue when he was hit by the driver of an eastbound 2004 Chevrolet Suburban. Reese, 58, was pronounced dead on arrival at Harlem Hospital. The driver remained at the scene. No criminality is suspected.

An NYPD spokesperson told Streetsblog that the incident report does not indicate the speed of the SUV at the time of the crash. A person struck by a vehicle traveling at 30 mph — the city’s speed limit — has up to an 80 percent chance of surviving the collision. The likelihood of survival drops to 30 percent when the vehicle is moving at 40 mph.

It’s also worth noting that a DNAinfo account says Reese was hit by a van, again pointing to the dearth of reliable information regarding city traffic crashes.

At 10:48 p.m. on Tuesday, DNAinfo reports that an unidentified man was struck and killed by the driver of a livery cab as he ran across FDR Drive near E. 6th Street. The driver stayed at the scene and was not charged.