A woman and a child were hit by a U-Haul van at 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue this morning at about 11:45 a.m. Both were taken to the hospital, according to reports from witnesses. Many neighbors witnessed the accident, which happened while many people were shopping at Clark Park’s Farmers’ Market and hanging out at the Green Line Cafe.
Witnesses said that a young woman was driving the van and she remained at the scene to talk to police. The victims’ condition is unknown at this time, but some witnesses said that both the woman and the child were conscious after the accident.
April 6th, 2013 at 8:24 pm
I will pray for the woman and her child.
April 7th, 2013 at 1:20 am
Prayers for healing
April 7th, 2013 at 4:46 pm
After having spent plenty of mornings sitting at Greenline watching the way traffic goes through this intersection, i must say this tragic incident seemed all but inevitable. You would never guess the speed limit on Baltimore was 25mph, it is common to see people go through this intersection doing at least 45 trying to beat the light (and often failing, but running it anyways), rarely slowing down to take the corner onto 43rd, and sometimes abruptly swerving into the oncoming lane to pass the trolley. The city really needs to start thinking seriously about more effective speed-reduction techniques on Baltimore, every one of the major intersections on this street is excessively dangerous to navigate whether you are on foot, bike or car.
That being said, i hope the woman and her child were not too badly hurt and are able to recover from this.
April 8th, 2013 at 11:19 am
Add to this the fact that if someone traveling east is turning left, people invariably swerve into the bike lane to pass them. I wonder if a lot of these problem intersections in West philly couldn’t be improved with suitably high speed humps.
April 8th, 2013 at 11:49 am
Or suitable moving violation citations. I swear, the PPD could make a fortune if they ticketed even a tenth of the dangerous offenses i see on a daily basis around the city.
April 8th, 2013 at 7:59 pm
Adam, I saw this happen in the exact way you described right in front of the trolly stop. A young woman on a bike got knocked off her bike and hit the ground hard. The driver was almost as freaked out as the biker was out of it. I’m not sure what the solution is but there is a lot happening on that corner. And don’t forget the cars that go the wrong way on 43rd street (between the Wurst House and Green Line).
April 8th, 2013 at 9:44 pm
Mike –
Any update on how the woman and her child are doing?
April 8th, 2013 at 10:01 pm
@Forgone Conclusion – We’re keeping our ears open, but it’s tricky because police won’t release their names (understandably) and without the name the hospital can’t do much. We’re asking around.
April 9th, 2013 at 9:08 am
The mother was brought to HUP and the child to CHoP, if that helps at all.
Did anyone witness this? According to the one listserv, the driver may not have been at fault.
April 10th, 2013 at 12:54 am
They were in the middle of the crosswalk when the driver sped into a left turn on 43rd, the driver was clearly at fault. I was at the farmer’s market.
April 10th, 2013 at 9:14 am
Thanks for the info.
April 10th, 2013 at 9:16 am
I guess I can’t edit, but I wanted to mention that unfortunately the same scenario has occurred multiple times over the last few years at 43rd and Spruce. I’ve seen bicycles under cars and pedestrians thrown 10′.
Be careful out there folks.
April 11th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
I witnessed it and gave the police some information however I will not say what happened until I am told by the police that I can release what I saw to the public. Signed, Tristan Doherty age 12