Paul Bass photo
Scene where driver killed pedestrian in 2017 at York & Frontage.
Markeshia Ricks photo
Alder Roth: Where’s the outrage?
Five pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in New Haven in August in what one traffic safety advocate called a “slaughter taking place on our streets.”
On Wednesday morning, Paul Chambers sent an email roundup to other members of a Complete Streets Working Group with links to media coverage of five pedestrian fatalities that took place during August in New Haven.
“I would guess that 99% of the public is completely unaware of this slaughter taking place on our streets,” he wrote. “Statewide, there has been an average of 1 pedestrian per week killed for the past 5 years or so and the trend has been upward for approximately the last 10 to 15 years.”
Those August pedestrian fatalities include:
• On Aug. 8 at approximately 7:14 p.m., a motorcyclist struck and killed a 48-year-old Hamden man on Ferry Street. Police spokesperson Anthony Duff sent out a press release the following day that said that investigators believed that two motorcycles were travelling north on Ferry as the pedestrian attempted to cross the street near Lombard Street. One of those motorcycles collided with and killed the pedestrian.
Sgt. Shayna Kendall told the Independent Wednesday that the 48-year-old victim’s name was Ruperto Estrada.
• On Aug. 10 at 11:56 p.m., officer responded to Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Truman Street in the Hill to find a 43-year-old adult male pedestrian who was struck and killed by two motor vehicles. The first vehicle fled the scene, Duff wrote, while the second remained.
Kendall told the Independent that the 43-year-old victim’s name was Lony Bosquet.
• On Aug. 20 at 3:42 a.m., officers responded to 662 Middletown Ave. to find a 32-year-old male who had been struck and killed in a motor vehicle accident.
Kendall told the Independent that the 32-year-old victim’s name was Jesse Marzullo.
• On Aug. 23 at at 11:03 p.m., officers responded to Grand Avenue and Blatchley Avenue to investigate a vehicle that had crashed into a building. Two pedestrians, 43-year-old Carlos Kercado of New Haven and 32-year-old Emmanuel Torres of New Haven, were killed during the crash. Police spokesperson Sgt. Shayna Kendall wrote in a subsequent press release that the operator of the vehicle and a passenger were both extracted from the car. The former was listed as stable, and the latter was treated for minor injuries.
Six More Pedestrians/Cyclists Struck Since Saturday
Markeshia Ricks photo
Alder Roth: Where’s the outrage?
Downtown Abby Roth Wednesday passed along six more recent updates she has received about pedestrians struck throughout the city since Saturday.
• On Saturday, Sept. 21 at 11:37 a.m., police responded to the report of a pedestrian struck at Market Street and James Street in Fair Haven.
• On Saturday, Sept. 21 at 3:57 p.m., police and firefighters responded to the report of a pedestrian struck at Columbus Avenue and West Street in the Hill.
• On Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8:16 p.m., police and firefighters responded to a bicyclist struck be a vehicle at Grand Avenue and Blatchley Avenue. The vehicle fled the scene.
• On Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 2:55 p.m., police responded to the report of a pedestrian struck at James Street and Wolcott Street in Fair Haven.
• On Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 3:35 p.m., police responded to the report of a pedestrian struct at Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and North Frontage in West River.
• On Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 8:42 a.m., police responded to the report of a pedestrian struck at Button Street and Lamberton Street in Fair Haven.
Roth and Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter submitted a communication to the full Board of Alders on Sept. 10 requesting a public hearing about traffic safety and the city’s Complete Street programs. Roth confirmed Wednesday that that item has been assigned to the Public Safety Committee.
“In March 2019, the Public Safety Committee held a hearing on traffic safety,” reads the letter that Roth and Winter sent to Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers along with the formal communication. “At that hearing we learned that in New Haven, in 2018, there were 92 accidents involving cyclists and 165 involving pedestrians. That was alarming data.
“As you know, the Alders receive notices when the New Haven Police Department and New Haven Fire Department respond to an accident. We have serious concerns about the number of these notices we have received recently involving pedestrian and cyclist accidents. We therefore request that the appropriate Alder committee hold a follow-up hearing to the March 2019 hearing, to continue the discussion of traffic safety.”
The letter also requests that the hearing deal specifically with the city’s Complete Streets program, as well as the following data spanning Jan. 1, 2019 through the date of the hearing:
• Number of accidents involving cyclists
• Number of cyclists killed
• Number of cyclists suffering serious injury
• Number of times someone was charged for causing a cycling accident and charge(s) brought
• Number of accidents involving pedestrians
• Number of pedestrians killed
• Number of pedestrians suffering serious injury
• Number of times someone was charged for causing a pedestrian accident and charge(s) brought.
Click here to read the full letter.