After a hit-and-run driver seriously injured four individuals, including a 7-year-old girl, when police said he ran into them at a Woodside bus stop on Saturday, elected officials and residents are, once again, calling on the city to make swift changes and create a city far safer for pedestrians.
Luis Andrade, 32, of Jackson Heights, allegedly lost control of his white Mazda sedan and plowed into a bus stop at Northern Boulevard and 48th Street around 7 p.m. Saturday evening, injuring four people and sending five to the hospital, police said. While the fifth person was not hurt, the individual went for observation, according to authorities.
The 7-year-old girl, a 23-year-old man, a 26-year-old male, a 28-year-old woman, and a 57-year-old female all sustained non-life threatening injuries, officials said. They were all treated at Elmhurst Hospital Center.
Andrade was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with serious injury and failure to show his license, police said.
“I applaud the 114th Precinct’s recent apprehension of Luis Andrade, the suspect wanted in connection with Saturday’s crash that injured four pedestrians, including a young girl,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) said. “Saturday’s hit-and-run crash … was a serious crime. The driver could have killed with that vehicle, and this person must be prosecuted. Sadly, this is yet another example of reckless driving in our city that has already claimed too many lives and injured countless individuals. Such behavior cannot and will not be tolerated.”
Van Bramer, along with state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) and Assemblywoman Marge Markey (D-Maspeth), are calling on the city to incorporate Northern Boulevard into Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative. De Blasio unveiled the Vision Zero plan in Woodside last month at the intersection on Northern Boulevard where an 8-year-old boy, Noshat Nahian, was struck and killed while walking to his elementary school with his sister.
Saying he aims to reduce pedestrian deaths to zero within a decade, the mayor charged the NYPD, city Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Taxi & Limousine Commission with development a comprehensive road map to eliminating deadly crashes.
The initiative, de Blasio said, will include tougher NYPD enforcement efforts, the implementation of improvements in at least 50 corridors and intersections per year citywide, and an expansion of the number of 20-mile-per-hour zones.
“I am committed to Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan and will continue working with the mayor, the Department of Transportation, and the NYPD to ensure this initiative becomes a reality,” said Van Bramer, who was expected to hold a press conference with Gianaris, Markey and area residents and transportation safety advocates at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and 48th Street on Thursday morning.
By Anna Gustafson
