Two teens are in critical condition Thursday after being struck by the driver of an SUV in Gravesend Wednesday night.
Police officers say that a 14-year-old boy was driving an electric scooter with a 15-year-old girl as his passenger a little before 9 pm on Oct. 6 when, while traveling westbound on Avenue T, they were struck by an SUV traveling eastbound on the same thoroughfare, at the intersection with West Sixth Street.
Cops responding to the scene found the teens suffering from bodily trauma. They were taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where both remain in critical condition as of Thursday morning.
The driver of the SUV, a red 90s-era Mercury Mountaineer, remained on the scene. Police say an investigation is ongoing.
Eight people have been injured in four separate crashes at the same intersection over the past five years, according to NYC Crash Mapper.
West Sixth Street underwent a redesign by the Department of Transportation in 2010 after a rash of pedestrian deaths on the thoroughfare. The city determined that the street had a high incidence of speeding and “long crossing distances for pedestrians,” as well as high amounts of jaywalking wrought by the long distance between crosswalks.
After redesigning the street, which included narrowing it from two lanes to one in each direction and installing pedestrian islands and a painted median, DOT found marked decreases in speeding on West Sixth in both directions.
Since 2011, one year after the redesign, the stretch between 65th and 86th streets in Gravesend has seen two pedestrian deaths, including one at the intersection with Avenue S, just a block north of Wednesday night’s crash site.
