The kids\u2019 mom comes into the frame just as the children begin crossing.<\/p>\n
Notice the double-parked FedEx truck. It plays a supporting, though uncredited, role in this drama.<\/p>\n
The kids get to about three-quarters of the way across the two-way street when the driver of a massive Chevy pickup truck<\/a> \u2014 which weighs more than two tons empty \u2014 ran the red light and kept on going, striking both kids before pulling over to the curb.<\/p>\n The mother, having seen the \u201cevery parent\u2019s worst nightmare\u201d leap from the pages of a gutter tabloid into real life, runs over in terror. If the sound of her screams don\u2019t make you drive five miles per hour slower for the rest of your life, you obviously don\u2019t believe in the concept of a heaven or hell.<\/p>\n The younger boy, hit a split-second after the other child, gets the worst of it: He\u2019s thrown to the pavement like a rag doll, arms and legs are unnatural angles, and skids about 20 feet on his side. The other victim, in shock, gets to his feet immediately and joins the mom as they rush to the boy.<\/p>\n The driver has a brief moment of concern, but as the video cuts out, he is merely gesturing towards the intersection.<\/p>\n He is, in short, a scoundrel.<\/p>\n How do I know this? The NYPD offered this account to Streetsblog: \u201cThe 25-year-old male operator of a Chevrolet SUV reported that he was traveling westbound on Metropolitan Avenue with the green light when the 6-year-old male and 7-year-old male pedestrians ran across the street causing him to strike both pedestrians.\u201d<\/p>\n But the video shows he did not have the green light. And the presence of pedestrians in a crosswalk with the light should not cause anyone to do anything but smile and wave.<\/p>\n And you don\u2019t only have to believe the cops. A witness to the aftermath, Juliana Zakowski, told me that the driver was initially concerned for the kids\u2019 well-being, but his \u201cdemeanor changed completely\u201d when the video of the crash was shown to him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said, \u2018Fuck, this makes me so mad! They just ran out, I had the light,’\u201d Zakowski told Streetsblog.<\/p>\n On the plus side, cops on the scene didn\u2019t buy it: The driver was issued a summons for failure to yield to pedestrians, said an NYPD spokesperson, who declined to provide the driver\u2019s name.<\/p>\n The aftermath of the crash challenges my understanding of my fellow humans: When the video was posted on social media<\/a>, many anonymous commenters blamed the mother for not holding her childrens\u2019 hands as they crossed a street \u2014\u00a0in a crosswalk and with the light \u2014\u00a0inches away from her.<\/p>\n \u201cMom should\u2019ve never let the kids cross alone,\u201d posted a loathsome figured hiding behind the screen name stravduhgod. \u201cThey\u2019re obviously too young to be crossing on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n Other people said and thought such things, too. These are people who want to shift the blame from a reckless car driver, or a badly designed two-way road that encourages FedEx drivers to double-park, onto pedestrians doing what pedestrians are supposed to do: cross at the light, with a crosswalk. Such commenters are also part of a culture that blinds us to the literal elephant in the room \u2014\u00a0the gargantuan size<\/a>, and unsafe blind spots<\/a>, of the vehicles that our elected officials allow to ply streets filled with our kids.<\/p>\n Because [checks Big Auto balance sheets] a few deaths are the cost of doing business in this country.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not alone in believing that this video \u2014\u00a0which depicts just one of the 200-plus reported crashes in New York City on Sept. 28 \u2014 is a microcosm of what has gone wrong with our understanding of safety and the world we have created for our kids.<\/p>\n Worse, such reactions are a self-own: Today\u2019s BARNYs \u2014 the dinosaurs who scream at community board meetings that they are \u201cBorn And Raise New Yorkers\u201d \u2014 are often bemoaning how we\u2019ve lost the \u201cgood ol\u2019 days\u201d in this city. But, tell me friend, weren\u2019t the \u201cgood ol\u2019 days\u201d when kids could walk to the library to read books all by themselves? You can\u2019t complain about \u201chelicopter parents\u201d and then turn around and complain that they don\u2019t hover enough.<\/p>\n Obviously, some people in Forest Hills get it. A few days after the crash, a local resident, Carly Tribull, emailed me because she was angry at some of the comments she saw.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a new parent, I desperately want my child to have an independent childhood, off screens, and be able to walk to her own library!\u201d she wrote me.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons I\u2019ve chosen to stay in New York City instead of fleeing for the suburbs is because I grew up in the suburbs, and I remember how terrible it was having to have my parents drive me everywhere,\u201d she added. \u201cHere, [my daughter will] have culture at her fingertips! Museums, concerts, art exhibitions \u2014 and she\u2019ll be able to get to it all by taking transit. But for her to get to that point as a teenager, she\u2019ll need to build independence as a child. You remember the \u2018Sesame Street\u2019 bit where the little girl has to remember the \u2018loaf of bread, container of milk, and stick of butter\u2019 to get from the store? That\u2019s what I want my kid to be able to do. And libraries! Libraries are a gift for children. The library where the collision occurred is a five-minute walk away \u2014 easily something an 8-year-old should be able to do on their own.<\/p>\n \u201cWe keep talking about wanting kids to be off screens and to be more resilient,\u201d she added. \u201cWell, if we want that, we need our streets to be safe for them so that they can explore. I\u2019ll teach her never to trust cars, to look both ways, to only cross when she has the walk sign, and to have her head on a swivel, but that\u2019s not enough. \u2026 The entire street needs to be redesigned to be safer for pedestrians of all ages. The answer can\u2019t just be, \u2018Never let your kids go out alone at any age\u2019 or to blame parents when these collisions happen. We should be raging at the city and the car-centered infrastructure that leads to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Pedro Rodriguez, another area resident and street safety advocate, was also appalled at some of his neighbors\u2019 attitudes.<\/p>\n \u201cI wonder what we have traded our children\u2019s independence for,\u201d he wrote in a sort-of open letter to his neighbors. \u201cWhat did we gain? So that we can feel like big men driving fast in unnecessarily large cars? To save five minutes on a commute? To avoid walking a couple of blocks?<\/p>\n \u201cEven as a kid, I roamed my hometown unsupervised. Many of you likely did the same; if not, your parents probably did (go ask them),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He also made the same pitch I always make: stop blaming the victims of the car-dominated world we\u2019ve created. Instead, how about working to change it?<\/p>\n \u201cThis incident highlights [that]\u00a0our streets are inherently dangerous,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhen you finally decide to give your child a little independence \u2014 just the chance to cross a road\u00a0ahead of you by a handful of feet \u2014\u00a0they can get hurt or die, and you will be blamed for it.<\/p>\n \u201cDo we really expect our children to act like adults,\u201d he said, \u201cjust so adults can act like children?\u201d<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/light-is-green.png\")
The \u201cWalk\u201d sign is clear.<\/p>\n