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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JANUARY 26, 2020
Long road to justice
Driver cuffed 10 months after fatal Flatlands crash
BY BEN VERDE
Cops cuffed a 20-year-old
man on Jan. 17, 10 months
after he struck and killed a
63-year-old woman in Flatlands
in March of last year.
Patricia Lancaster was
driving on E. 56th Street at
4:40 pm on March 3, 2019,
when the suspect smashed
his 2007 Nissan Maxima
into her grey Chevy as she
crossed Avenue J. Investigators
now believe that the
driver blew a red light and
was speeding at the time of
the collision, cops said.
Paramedics found Lancaster
with severe trauma
to her torso after cutting
her out of her vehicle and
performing CPR on her at
the scene, before transferring
her to Mount Sinai
Brooklyn Hospital, where
she was pronounced dead,
according to police.
The driver, who was 19 at
the time of the crash, stayed
at the scene and was not initially
charged. He now faces
charges of manslaughter,
criminally negligent homicide,
reckless endangerment,
reckless driving,
Police arrested a driver 10 months after he fatally struck a woman in March of 2019. Photo by Steve Solomonson
three counts of speeding
and two traffi c violations
for blowing a red light and
a stop sign.
Lengthy investigations
and long waits for indictments
are not uncommon in
the wake traffi c fatalities.
Police waited two
months before charging
Dorothy Bruns — the
Staten Island motorist who
struck and killed two children
and caused a pregnant
woman to miscarriage after
suffering a seizure behind
the wheel and running
a red light in 2018 — cuffi ng
her in May 2018 following
the deadly crash in March
that year. Prosecutors eventually
found that she had
been driving against the
advice of her doctor, which
lead to her being charged
with criminally negligent
homicide, reckless endangerment,
assault, and reckless
driving.
Bruns had a sketchy
driving history leading up
to the crash, including a
dozen speeding tickets over
two years and a hit-and-run
fender bender mere weeks
before the Slope tragedy.
And a recent similar
crash — in which a teenage
driver barrelled his Dodge
Charger through a red light
on Coney Island Avenue in
Midwood, striking another
car which killed cyclist Jose
Alzorriz — has still not resulted
in any arrests, as police
claim the investigation
remains ongoing
The Daily News reported
that cops are seeking to
throw the book at that teenage
driver, but state law is
complicating the case, and
the charges may not amount
to more than a few traffi c
violations unless Brooklyn
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez
is willing to pursue
an uphill battle, since the
driver was not intoxicated
at the time of the crash and
stayed at the scene. Cops are
seeking to determine just
how fast that driver was going
behind the wheel of his
sports car when he blew
the red light at Avenue L,
as prosecutors look to slap
him with as many charges
as possible, according to the
Daily News.
The intersection where
Lancaster was killed has
seen four crashes over the
past fi ve years, resulting in
four injuries and one death.
Lower speed limits take effect on Third and Hamilton aves
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Slow down, Brooklyn!
Lower speed limits on two of
Brooklyn’s most dangerous streets
kicked in Tuesday, with the maximum
legal speed dropping from 30
to 25 miles-per-hour along Third
and Hamilton avenues, offi cials
said.
The Department of Transportation
announced on Twitter that
it instituted the new limits along a
2.3 mile stretch of Third Avenue,
between Prospect Avenue and
62nd Street, where cars fatally
struck six people in 2019, compared
with two people throughout
all of 2018.
The agency also made the
change to a 1.9 mile span of Hamilton
Avenue, between Luquer and
18th streets, and the tweaks will
calm the roads connecting several
neighborhoods, the department’s
chief said last month.
“We believe that lowering the
speed limit along Third and Hamilton
avenues, coupled with strong
enforcement, will help calm traffi c
in the burgeoning neighborhoods
of Gowanus, Red Hook, and Sunset
Park,” said Department of Transportation
Commissioner Polly
Trottenberg.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
the changes in December, adding
that the city will also increase police
enforcement along the corridors.
The transportation department
also plans to add speed cameras at
60 school zones every month this
year as a result of a state law that
took effect in July allowing for up
to 750 school zones to be monitored
for speeding.
This past year was particularly
deadly for Brooklyn cyclists and
pedestrians, with traffi c fatalities
increasing for the fi rst time since
de Blasio launched his Vision Zero
initiative in 2014.
Motorists fatally struck 29 cyclists
citywide in 2019, including
18 in Brooklyn — compared with
10 citywide, and two in Brooklyn,
throughout 2018.
Some 117 pedestrians died in
traffi c during that time, compared
with 115 the year before, while motorcyclist
deaths dropped from 40
last year to 25 across the fi ve boroughs
during that time period.
A DOT worker installs the new 25-MPH designation on Hamilton Avenue.
Photo by NYC DOT