Bedford Park: Jan 1, 2022 - Oct 21, 2025

Just before 3 PM at W 197 St and Goulden Ave, the driver of a Fisker SUV turned left and hit a 22‑year‑old woman who was walking; police recorded driver inattention and failure to yield as factors (NYC Open Data).

This Week

• A driver turning right at Bedford Park Blvd and Bainbridge Ave hit a 60‑year‑old woman who was crossing with the signal; police recorded failure to yield by the driver (NYC Open Data).
• Just after midnight near 2376 Marion Ave, a driver backing a Jeep hit a 29‑year‑old man at the intersection; police recorded unsafe backing (NYC Open Data).
• At E 201 St and Bainbridge Ave, a driver in an SUV hit a 40‑year‑old woman who was crossing with the signal during a left turn (NYC Open Data).

The count doesn’t stop

Since Jan 1, 2022, Bedford Park has recorded 1,089 crashes, injuring 517 people and killing 3 (NYC Open Data). Mid‑afternoon is rough here: about 3 PM, injuries peak, with serious harm clustered in the afternoon and evening hours, according to city records for this area since 2022 (NYC Open Data).

The numbers have not spared people walking. A 74‑year‑old man, crossing with the signal at East Mosholu Parkway South and Bainbridge Ave, was killed by a driver recorded for unsafe speed and aggressive driving (CrashID 4642411).

Corners that break

The worst hurt happens on long, fast corridors. Jerome Avenue leads the list with 41 injuries; the Grand Concourse has 36 injuries and one death, all in this small area since 2022 (NYC Open Data).

Police reports here keep naming the same mistakes by drivers: failure to yield at turns, inattention, unsafe backing. The street tells the rest. A woman crossing with the light, hit by a right turn on Bedford Park Boulevard. A left turn at E 201 St that didn’t wait. A backing move at Marion Ave that knocked a man down (NYC Open Data).

Simple fixes match these crashes: daylight the corners, give pedestrians a head start, harden the turns, slow the approach. These are tools the city already uses; they fit the harm we see at these exact spots.

Power to slow, and who uses it

City and state leaders have the levers. Albany advanced a bill to rein in repeat speeders. The Senate file is S 4045; it requires an intelligent speed‑assistance device when a driver racks up 11 DMV points in 24 months or six speed or red‑light camera tickets in a year (Open States). State Senator Gustavo Rivera co‑sponsored it and voted yes in committee, and State Assembly Member George Alvarez co‑sponsored the Assembly companion, A 2299, this year (Open States).

On bikes and safe lanes, Council Member Eric Dinowitz and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz opposed the protected Bailey Avenue link of the Harlem River Greenway that DOT and safety advocates said would cut injuries. “We support bike lanes,” Jeffrey Dinowitz said, while resisting the plan over parking loss (Streetsblog NYC). The crashes on Jerome and the Concourse keep coming either way.

Slow the cars, save the walks

The pattern is specific: turning drivers take people in the crosswalk; speed turns a mistake into a death; the same corridors ring with sirens. The tools are specific too: lower speeds on default streets, and stop the worst repeat offenders with mandatory limiters. Albany has moved a bill. City Hall can set slower limits under state law already on the books. The question is whether they use that power on the blocks where people keep getting hit.

Start here. Call for a slower city and speed limiters for repeat offenders. Tell your officials what these corners look like after the tape goes up. Act at /take_action/.