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Car strikes, badly injures woman on Schenectady street
By Paul Nelson, Staff writer
Published 09:31 p.m., Wednesday, December 7, 2011

SCHENECTADY — Police say a woman was badly hurt after being struck by an eastbound car as she walked in the middle of busy Albany Street Wednesday evening.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was treated at the scene and taken to Ellis Hospital with head and neck injuries after the accident, which occurred shortly after 6:30 p.m., police said. It's unclear why she was walking in the middle of the road.

The incident is being investigated by the department's traffic division. Information about the driver was not provided by police.

It's the second motor vehicle accident involving a pedestrian in three weeks.......................>>>>....................>>>>....................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/loca.....07.php#ixzz1fwJgWnCU

Anyone who even attempts to drive through the city can attest to the fact that 'many many folks' cross streets in the middle of busy traffic. Not to mention the ones who refuse to walk on sidewalks. AND....people with kids in stollers who walk 'in' the street.

Over the last couple of months, we have experienced the same thing on Altamont ave in rotterdam. Cars have had to slow up or stop because of folks crossing the street 'where ever' they choose. Usually happens around the Hannaford Plaza area.

and those people crossing at the Hannaford Plaza......they are coming from the Hill....Mont Pleasant, Bellevue....

and they dare you to hit them....lawsuit in the future.....they believe they have the right of way.

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Victim's sister upset by report
Police portray pedestrian hit by car, now in a coma, in bad light, relative says
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer
Published 10:16 p.m., Friday, December 9, 2011

SCHENECTADY— The sister of a city woman hospitalized in a coma after being struck by a motor vehicle on a city street Wednesday expressed frustration with the police handling of the accident as she struggles for answers about the tragedy.

Patricia Hymes said Friday that she was particularly upset about a police statement to the media hours after the crash, which occurred at 6:36 p.m. Wednesday. She contends the statement made it appear as if her older sister, Angela Leverett, was walking aimlessly in the middle of the street when she was hit by a car traveling east on Albany Street.

Asked about the language in the press release, Schenectady Police Lt. Mark McCracken emphasized Friday that "nothing was meant to be inflammatory or derogatory" but rather an attempt to provide as much detail as possible to media outlets.

He said the investigation by the department's traffic division into the crash had been closed and the driver will not face any criminal charges or motor vehicle violations.

"There is no further action they (the traffic department) can take outside of interviewing the victim," he said, adding the motorist was driving under the posted 30 mph speed limit and was not under the influence of drugs of alcohol.

It's unclear if Leverett will recover enough to talk to police. The woman was taken to Ellis Hospital and later transferred to Albany Medical Center Hospital where Hymes said she remained in a coma with traumatic brain injuries Friday.

Hymes, who she spent all day Thursday by her sister's hospital bedside, said the family's grief was also compounded by a local media report that her sister had died. Their father traveled from Rhode Island to be with the sisters.

The impact from being struck catapulted Leverett into the air and when she landed, her head struck the pavement, said Hymes, also a Schenectady resident.

She said her sister, who lived alone and never learned how to drive, may have been crossing the street on her way to church or the nearby Aldi supermarket to buy groceries. There are no sidewalks in that area, pointed out Hymes.

Hymes said the accident report indicates the driver, whose name has not been publicly released, is a 76-year-old Rotterdam woman.......................>>>>.................>>>>...................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Victim-s-sister-upset-by-report-2393508.php#ixzz1g8V1ZD1t

SHE MAY HAVE BEEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD TO CROSS FROM ONE SIDE TO THE OTHER!

And 76 yr old may not have seen this victim.....must have been going a good clip to send this poor woman into the air...

pray for this woman....

No easy answers to this.

The city is more interested in spending money on the millionaires downtown than in making the neighborhoods safe, i.e., sidewalks because there aren't really "official" sidewalks in that area of Albany St.

Someone could be crossing the street and people are really supposed to cross with a light at a crosswalk.   The pedestrian wasn't all that far from a crosswalk (Albany St and Crosstown) so it could be said that she made the choice to cross somewhere other than a crosswalk.    But then, lets suppose the woman crossed the street near that cemetery nearer to Southgate apartments.   Should someone have to walk all the way up to the Crosstown or down to Henry St in order to cross the street if the person's destination was directly across the street?   I'd have to look up what V&T law says about crossing w/o sidewalks and w/o crosswalks and/or signals.

And by the same token, yes, there are people who walk in the road and think they own the road, particularly in Schenectady and they get away with it easily because the city's leaders snub the neighborhoods in favor of 100% of their attention on downtown

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Hymes said the accident report indicates the driver, whose name has not been publicly released, is a 76-year-old Rotterdam woman.

because she's a 'minor' elder??????? WTF?

could it be that someone know someone and that's why name is withheld.???

or maybe they are continuing their invesitgation.....it will come out eventually....

Quoted from Patches

could it be that someone know someone and that's why name is withheld.???

or maybe they are continuing their invesitgation.....it will come out eventually....

Sad to say, but some folks were thinking the same thing!

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Accident victim anything but a ‘streetwalker’

    Re your Dec. 9 editorial, “A new problem with streetwalkers”: You referenced the tragic story of the woman who was hit by a car last Wednesday while walking down the middle of a busy Schenectady street. I know and respect this woman. She is a strong, dignifi ed, law-abiding citizen. She does not deserve to be put down in an article with “streetwalkers” in the headline.
    I believe she was simply trying to cross Albany Street. She was not walking down the middle of the road in a case of “pedestrian defiance” or the other assumptions you were so quick to make before hearing her side of the story. She was walking to choir practice at our church. She always walked to her destinations throughout Schenectady, not an easy feat given that many busy roads, like Albany Street, do not have sidewalks and the roads are in major disrepair.
    While there is a problem with jaywalking in Schenectady and other cities, there is also a major problem with reckless driving. People careen down residential streets at highway speeds. There is blatant disregard for the well-being of fellow human beings.
    Spiritual disconnection is running rampant in our society. I hope this tragedy calls attention to the fact that we need to be more caring and considerate toward one another.

    CHARLENE DONOHUE
    Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01100&AppName=1

An apology is in order. "Nothing was meant to be inflammatory or derogatory" is not an apology from McCracken.

Listen, we all make mistakes, but it is important to clear the name of the innocent if you've (even unintentionally) defamed them.

Totally agree with Ms. Donahue. This was a very unfair, uncaring way to deal with a victim.

What do you expect....the reporters for news are in the claws of the wrong ones.....they set out to perceive that everyone is

in the wrong except for what they stand for...

BIG APOLOGY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM .....and that includes MCC....and BENNETT..

AND

What about the driver???  has anyone heard who she is????....smoke to the victim to protect the one who may have

been in the wrong.....sound familiar???

Why should the Gazetto wait for the facts here? She was crossing the street to go to her church choir and they term her a "street walker". Another new low. Everything is spun to meet their narrow preconceived notions. The City is an unsafe, pit bull infested, slum. The sidewalks are a broken wreck because no one can afford to replace them with these sickening DEM taxes. If you use blacktop here comes a City Hall goon with a code enforcement violation. If you say cut taxes they say create more public sector jobs and socialize more functions that the private sector can do more efficiently.

If I were her family I would sue them. However there is no case since her future earning potential is not harmed now that is mowed down. So other remedies may be in order.