Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.
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Another Child Killed by an SUV in Crown Heights: How Oversized Vehicles Are Endangering Brooklyn’s Streets

location-of-the-deadly-accident-on-Eastern-ParkWayBy the Brooklyn Car Accident Lawyers at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf

An 8-year-old boy was recently struck and killed at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Albany Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, a tragic and avoidable death that underscores the growing threat posed by oversized vehicles on our city streets.

Mordechai Keller, a young pedestrian barely tall enough to clear the bumper of the SUV that killed him, was crossing Albany Avenue with the light when he was fatally struck by a 2011 Honda Pilot. Surveillance video shows the SUV advancing through the intersection as the light changed, hitting the child. The driver, a 69-year-old man with multiple prior speeding and red-light violations, was not charged.

As Brooklyn car accident attorneys, we’ve represented numerous families devastated by similar collisions, and this case raises urgent questions about public safety, driver accountability, and vehicle design.

The Dangerous Design of SUVs

Modern SUVs are engineered with high front-end profiles, larger blind spots, and significantly more mass than sedans. According to crash data, children are eight times more likely to die when struck by an SUV than by a smaller passenger car. A four-inch increase in the height of a vehicle’s front end corresponds with a 22% increase in pedestrian fatalities. These statistics aren’t theoretical, they’re painfully evident on our streets.

With SUV ownership surging in the last two decades, we’ve also seen a parallel spike in pedestrian deaths. One study found that for every fatal crash avoided by an SUV’s occupant, 4.3 fatal crashes involving others occur. These are preventable deaths, often involving the most vulnerable pedestrians—children, seniors, and cyclists.

Brooklyn’s Streets Are Not Designed for Vehicles This Large

Originally designed for strolling, Eastern Parkway now functions as a dangerous thoroughfare for cars. Transportation Alternatives has identified it as the sixth most dangerous street in Brooklyn for pedestrians. Despite this, the city’s current administration has proposed rolling back vital safety improvements across Brooklyn, including at nearby Bedford Avenue.

We support efforts to protect pedestrian lives by redesigning roads for safety over speed. That means lowering speed limits, redesigning intersections, and implementing daylighting and raised crosswalks, especially near schools and playgrounds.

Holding Drivers Accountable

Drivers who rack up multiple violations—like the driver in this case—should not be permitted to continue endangering others. New York City has implemented tools like the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program, but they must be enforced more aggressively. A driver with five camera-issued tickets in under a year should face serious consequences, including mandatory safety courses or license suspension.

Legal Options for Victims and Families

If your child has been injured or killed in a pedestrian accident in Brooklyn, you may have grounds to bring a wrongful death or personal injury claim against the driver and, in some cases, the vehicle manufacturer or municipal entities responsible for unsafe road design.

At Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, our pedestrian accident lawyers have recovered some of the largest verdicts and settlements in New York for victims of pedestrian and traffic crashes. We know how to investigate these cases thoroughly and hold negligent parties accountable.

Contact Us

If your family has been affected by a pedestrian accident in Brooklyn, call 212-943-1090 or fill out our online form for a free consultation with a top-rated Brooklyn injury lawyer. We have over 100 years of experience advocating for New Yorkers harmed by dangerous drivers, defective vehicles, and unsafe streets.

Picture source: Transportation Alternatives