The Weekly Carnage

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle violence across the five boroughs and beyond. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

A wrong-way driver plowed into a grocery store on Orchard Street following a police chase. Photo: ##http://www.boweryboogie.com/2012/10/breaking-car-plows-into-corner-grocers-on-orchard-street/##Bowery Boogie##

Fatal Crashes (6 killed in the last two weeks, 124 this year, 9 drivers charged*)

  • Port Richmond: Margaret King, 81, Fatally Struck Crossing Street; Driver Issued Failure to Yield Summons (Advance)
  • Bushwick: Cyclist Terence Conor, 26, Killed By Hit-and-Run Driver (Gothamist)
  • Jamaica: Mary Gater, 60, Struck By 85-Year-Old Driver Who Mounted Sidewalk; “No Criminality Suspected” (Post Blotter)**
  • Midtown: Ken Baker, 26, Struck By Tractor-Trailer Driver Making Left Turn; “No Criminality Suspected” (Post)
  • Morningside Heights: Arnold Slater, 75, Killed in Hit-and-Run Crossing Broadway (DNA)
  • East Williamsburg: Carolina Berscakiewicz, 21, Killed After Boyfriend Slams Car Into Utility Pole; Driver Charged With Vehicular Manslaughter (Post)

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

  • Greenpoint: Wrong-Way Driver on BQE Leads Police Chase Before Crashing (Gothamist)
  • Bushwick: Bystanders Rescue Woman and Two Toddler Grandchildren Pinned By Driver (NBC NY, Post)**
  • Bed-Stuy: Three Injured in Ambulance-SUV Collision (DNA)
  • East Flatbush: School Bus Carrying 14 Children Crashes on Church Avenue (DNA)
  • Canarsie: Elderly Driver Hospitalized After Slamming SUV Into House (DNA)**
  • Bayside: Eight Injured in Multi-Vehicle Crash on Cross Island Parkway (Times Ledger)
  • LES: Driver Slams Into Bodega Following Police Chase (Gothamist)**
  • Tottenville: Intoxicated Driver Crashes Into Home, Pinning Woman and Five-Year-Old Daughter in Kitchen (Advance)**
  • Whitestone Bridge: Driver Speeding Through Toll Booth Causes Eight-Car Pile-Up, Injures Seven (Post)
  • Kensington: Pedestrian Crossing Ocean Parkway Struck By Minivan Driver; “No Criminality Suspected” (DNA)
  • Tompkinsville: Drunk Driver Crashes Minivan Into Two Vehicles, Injures Four (Post Blotter)
  • Grasmere: Driver With Suspended License Swerves Across Median, Assaults Officer Who Pulled Her Over (Post Blotter)
  • Sunset Park: Man Punched in Face in Parking Space Dispute (Post Blotter)

Margaret King, 81, was out shopping when a driver making a left turn struck her in Port Richmond, S.I. She later died from injuries. The driver was ticketed for failure to yield. Photo via ##http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/staten_island_woman_81_succumb.html##Advance##

In the Region, Out of Town

  • Jackson, NJ: S.I. Teen Sisters Killed in Two-Car Crash En Route to High School Band Festival (Advance)
  • Southern State Pkwy, NY: Four Queens Teens Killed Crashing Off Highway; Unlicensed Driver Only Survivor (News, Post)
  • Bloomfield, NJ: Driver Whose High-Speed Crash Killed 16-Year-Old Passenger Charged With Vehicular Homicide (NBC NY)
  • Syosset, NY: School Bus Driver Carrying Five Children Charged With DWI After Crashing Into House (Post)

Following Up

  • Hit-and Run Driver Who Mowed Down S.I. Grandmother in April Indicted for Criminally Negligent Homicide, Leaving Scene (Advance)
  • Following Death of Cyclist Alexander Martinez, Renewed Call for Safety Improvements on Queens Blvd. (DNA)
  • DOT Adds Traffic Light at S.I. Intersection Where Cyclist Ronald Tillman Was Killed (Advance)
  • Neighbors of Hit-and-Run Victim Terence Connor Want Safety Fixes for Cyclists on Metropolitan Ave. (Bklyn Paper)
  • Judge: NYPD “Needlessly Delayed” Giving Lefevre Crash Documents to Family (Times, Gothamist)

*Based on latest available reports
**Incident in which a vehicle left the roadway

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