Rufina Martinez holds a portrait of her daughter, Marisol. Courtesy Tanay Warerkar / DNA Info

 

Unfortunately, we have another tragic traffic death to report in the neighborhood. At 1:30am on Sunday (3/2), 21-year-old Marisol Martinez was struck and killed by an MTA bus at the corner of Union and Meeker in Williamsburg. She was walking south on Union Ave when she was hit by the Q59, which was making a left turn on Meeker.

Emergency crews rushed her to Woodhall, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Family members gathered at the scene shortly after and told reporters that Marisol was on her way home from work when she was hit.  According to CBS News, the bus driver, a 50-year-old woman was uninjured but clearly shaken up by the incident. 

Marisol lived in Bushwick and was studying nursing at Hunter College. Her cousin who she was walking with said that they had the green light to cross and that they looked both ways. He told DNAInfo that the bus “came out of nowhere.”

According to the blog, Iquantny, Williamsburg (which is clumped in with Greenpoint) had the most fatal traffic accidents in 2013 (8 total) in all of NYC. One of those was on McGuinness and Nassau (where a woman was hit and killed), two were on or by the BQE (one cyclist and one driver) and the rest were on Broadway in South Williamsburg.

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Traffic Deaths in Williamsburg/Greenpoint, 2013, Courtesy Iquantny.tumblr

Council members Stephen Levin and Antonio Reynoso called a press conference on the afternoon of the incident. They called on Mayor de Blasio to make North Brooklyn a top priority for the implementation of his recent campaign to eliminate traffic deaths in NYC, Vision Zero, which will combine education and strong enforcement to reduce speeding (more 20mph zones), distracted driving, and failure to yield to pedestrians.

Let’s hope it works. Our thoughts go out to Marisol’s family. Please be safe out there and extra careful when crossing these dangerous intersections.

Heat map of traffic related deaths in NYC, 2013, Courtesy of Iquantny

Join the Conversation

4

  1. someone will be hit eventually on Oak and Franklin, no stop sign and cars come around the bend as fast as on a highway

  2. Bikers have already been mowed down at Oak and Franklin. The parked cars narrow the lane considerably – high potential for getting doored.

    Alternate route – for now: bike on West to Quay then hang a right at Franklin.

    Long term solution: make the whole turn a non-parking zone. That’s only a five car length loss of All American Freedom.

    A bargain!

  3. 5 car lengths so bicycles can turn in a neighborhood with parking issues already???

    ride a bike like mom/dad showed you how when you were a kid. Be cautious of your surroundings and wear a helmet.

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