A fatal accident in Queens has once again thrown a spotlight on a local intersection's safety after a woman was killed and another injured this past Saturday. The collision occurred at the intersection of the Van Wyck Service Road and Liberty Avenue in South Richmond Hill, where two women were crossing the street when a Toyota Scion, waiting to turn, was struck by a Mercedes Benz, the impact pushing the Toyota onto the pedestrians, according to CBS News.
At the scene, firefighters had to use a jack to lift the vehicle in order to retrieve the lifeless body of a 51-year-old woman while the other, a 34-year-old woman, was transported to a hospital with serious head and neck injuries, "She was crossing from here. Two women were crossing from here. Both got hit. But one was underneath the car and the other was on this side," Raj Maladkar, who witnessed the crash, told ABC7 New York. The surrounding community expressed concerns about the intersection, citing a history of dangerous incidents, including a fatal hit and run of a cyclist on Thanksgiving in 2022, prompting calls for increased traffic enforcement in one of the several interviews obtained by ABC7 New York.
Local residents and witnesses to the crash emphasized the perilous conditions pedestrians face at this intersection, offering firsthand accounts of the chaotic aftermath; surveillance footage captured the moment the pedestrians were hit. "It was pretty loud. I heard it all the way on the other side of the street," Rick F., a local witness, recounted to CBS News. Good Samaritans, including church volunteers, rendered aid even as the scene brimmed with emergency services; however, no immediate charges were brought against either driver involved.
The recent tragedy has spurred an outcry from the community, which has long voiced apprehensions about the intersection's safety record and the potentiality for future such occurrences, "There's like of confusion with traffic and garbage trucks and other bigger vehicles that seem to just whiz by, they don't seem to obey the speed limit and a lot of people are driving and not paying attention. There should be police presence in this area to control the traffic," an individual dubbed Rick demanded in a statement obtained by ABC7 New York.
