Child injured in hit-and-run, driver fled on foot

The NYPD confirmed a nine-year-old was injured in a hit-and-run last week, prompting two local elected officials to push for traffic calming measures within their districts.

On Tuesday, March 4 around 7:30 a.m., two cars collided at the intersection at West 261st Street and Huxley Avenue with a wo-way stop. A child in one of the vehicles, accompanied by a parent, suffered a head injury, according to the NYPD.

Both drivers exited their vehicles following the crash when the driver of the silver Honda Accord with South Dakota license plates, took off on foot and left the car behind, according to police.

To protect their community and prevent further unnecessary harm, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and his son, Councilman Eric Dinowitz, hosted a press conference on Friday, March 7 at the corner of 261st Street and Huxley Avenue where Tuesday morning’s incident occurred.

“For years, our offices and North Riverdale residents have urged (NYC) DOT to install stop signs and speed humps in this dangerous corridor,” Assemblyman Dinowitz said.

He added, a previous formal request to the NYC DOT was denied.

“A young child has been injured and we will not wait for an even greater tragedy before action is taken,” Councilman Dinowitz said.

The councilman noted the high level of traffic resulting from nearby schools and small businesses in the area.

As a call for swift action, both elected officials wrote and signed a letter the following day and sent it to Anthony Perez, Bronx Borough Commissioner of the city’s Department of Transportation (NYC DOT).

The letter called for DOT to immediately install additional stop signs as well as speed humps throughout the area and is not the first time both elected officials have made this request, as they have been advocating for safer streets for years.

Last February, the Dinowitzs asked the DOT for the same stop signs and speed humps they are seeking now, but their request was denied, according to the Dinowitzs.  Speed bumps are taller and narrower than speed humps and are typically installed in parking lots, while speed humps are usually used on streets and residential areas, according to B&B Roadway and Recording Solutions.

“We are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident as well as potential upgrades at the intersection,” a DOT spokesperson said in response to our inquiry regarding changes being made within the area intersections to improve traffic safety.

Streets within the boundaries of Riverdale Avenue, Broadway, West 259th and West 263rd street, would receive these safety enhancements, if NYC DOT agrees to make these installments.

A petition calling for these safety precautions was signed by 100 residents.

“These residents have been terrorized for years by the dangerous high speeds of cars that fly down these streets, with no physical means of slowing traffic, like speed humps and stop signs,” part of the letter to Perez read.

Two of the 25 intersections within those street boundaries have four-way stop s

Both elected officials also confirmed the area has seen vehicular 20 injuries, 17 of which occurred at intersections.

Additionally, both expressed to NYC DOT speed humps and stop signs are proven and simple measures to slow down traffic as well as prevent these kinds of incidents.

Within the confines of the 50th Precinct, the number of collisions and injuries resulting from collisions, decreased on a year-to-date basis, according to NYC.gov.

However, in the 50th precinct’s most recent 28-day cycle, the number of injury collisions this year increased by nine incidents, compared to the same time last year, with 35 compared to 26 injuries and 11 collision injuries in the past week.

A resident who walks the streets with her kids and dog every day said she is forced to remain cautious.

“This is such a critical issue for us — it’s very concerning that I can’t let my own kids walk around the neighborhood alone,” Shanit Halpern said, who lives a few blocks away and spoke at the podium alongside another child, her neighbor Anne Marie. “Their independence is being stifled because of this issue.”

Halpern said her husband moved to the neighborhood two years ago and was hit by a car in their first week.

She added she has witnessed car collisions, particularly at intersections.

“We are lucky that this accident did not result in more devastating injury, but we cannot rely on luck to protect our residents from reckless drivers,” the Dinowitzs’ letter to Perez and NYC DOT also read.

The NYPD does not have any information of the individual who fled, including his name or location. The investigation is ongoing.

Police did not provide the name or the gender of the injured child or the name of the child’s parent, but the child is expected to make a full recovery.