An accident that overturned a school bus transporting special needs children in Bed-Stuy on Monday illustrates the need for a neighborhood slow zone.
The crash, which involved a green Boro Taxi, came just a month after Bed-Stuy’s Community Board 3 voted against a proposed slow zone in the neighborhood.
The accident was just two blocks outside of the proposed slow zone’s radius. It highlights the need for slower speeds in Bed-Stuy, said Elizabeth Giddens, a member of the Brooklyn Waldorf School’s parent association who helped apply for the slow zone.
Two of Giddens’ neighbors were struck by a speeding vehicle last year, breaking the couple’s legs and leaving one with permanent brain damage.
“I’ve seen three cars crash onto sidewalks. I’ve seen a car crash into a utility poll, I’ve seen a car crash into a mosque,” Giddens said.
Monday’s accident occurred when the cab, driving east on Halsey Street around 3:30 p.m., collided with the school bus on Marcy Avnenue, toppling the bus and sending six children and three adults to the hospital for evaluation.
David Blaize, 65, who owns a building at the corner of Halsey Street and Marcy Avenue, tol DNAinfo New York that particular corner was a magnet for traffic accidents, with three or four occurring last year alone.
Last month, Community Board 3 voted against writing a letter of support for the slow zone, which would lower speed limits, install new signage and add new speed humps within the borders of Bedford Avenue, Fulton Street, Washington Avenue and Lafayette Avenue.
Board members cited traffic worries, as well as a lack of information by the DOT in their vote against the slow zone.
After a 45-minute presentation critics said was overly confusing, one community group, the Classon FulGate Block Association, even rescinded its support for the project.
Representatives from Community Board 3 did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but in an interview with the website StreetsBlog NYC last month board chair Tremaine Wright said locals are less interested in issues like slow zones than they are zoning and land use.
“That is not an issue in our community, by and large,” Wright told the site.
Community Board 2, which represents a section of Clinton Hill that would also be inside the slow zone, boted to approve the plan on Feb. 12.
The DOT said the agency will revisit the plan with Community Board 3.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, please contact Duane Morgan of Morgan Levine Dolan today.
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140312/bed-stuy/bus-accident-renews-calls-for-bed-stuy-slow-zone
