Photo: iStock
May 20, 2011 BY Christian Murray
An alleged drunk driver plowed into a pedestrian at a cross walk between 61st and Roosevelt Ave. at about 8:30 am this morning. One witness said the pedestrian was a woman who was gravely injured.
The woman was hit by a 50-year-old man who was driving a SUV while allegedly being intoxicated. The woman was thrown some distance upon impact, and her shoes and socks were strewn all over the road.
The driver of the vehicle has been arrested.
The SUV was traveling west toward Sunnyside, while the woman was crossing the street from the north side of Roosevelt Ave. to the south side.
The witness said that the woman had the walk sign and was entitled to cross, and believed that the driver was going faster than the 30 MPH speed limit.
It took a few minutes before fire and rescue got to the crowded Woodside scene. The witness said he couldn’t really look at the woman because it was too horrific. He said people had started to give her CPR before EMS arrived.
When the police arrived, the driver tried to claim he wasn’t speeding and that he had the light. Over the next 45 minutes the highway squad showed up to investigate. The police then arrested him.
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8 Comments
I am another son…there were few people as altruistic and giving as my mother. She did not deserve this fate. The drunk driver deserves the worst fate possible by law for how they have turned my family upside down.
That woman was my mother. I am deeply saddened. Fewer people should be given licenses to drive.
I witnessed the driver speeding and going through the red light….the woman expired on impact….
Drunken driver at 8:30 a.m., when kids are walking to school. Lovely.
I despise drunk drivers.
George. You are right. My apologies to Sarke.
Umm, are you sure this was near Queens Blvd. and not Roosevelt Avenue?
I was at the corner of 61st and Roosevelt at 8:45am and that’s where I believe the tragedy happened.
That intersection is already named after an old lady who died there several years ago. Guess we have to add another name to that list….they need to allow the pedestrian crossing sign to last longer, it’s not enough time and people always crowd the corners and try to run across
How many people need to die before we make real changes to queens blvd? I’m not talking about more warning signs, I’m talking about speed cameras, removing lanes and lowering the speed limit. Someone breaks the traffic laws *already in place* about once a second on QB and they do it cause they know they’ll get away with it. Is human life really just not worth anything to the drivers in this city? Why should we have to risk our lives every day so someone who lives 10 miles from Sunnyside can drive home at 70 mph?