Staten Island Streets: Accidents Waiting to Happen?
Local residents and the Staten Island Advance have brought to the attention of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) the existence of a dangerous ice slick at the intersection of Wave and Sands Streets in Stapleton. The ice slick covers almost the entire intersection and, according to residents, has been there for almost two weeks. Although the DEP has been out there on numerous occasions, the ice sheet has not dissipated and appears to be caused by some sort of water main leak. They plan to start excavating tomorrow to repair the leak. DEP has notified the New York City Department of Sanitation of the ice sheet and asked that salt trucks visit the site to spread salt.
Although the weather has been absolutely frigid over the past two weeks, the City still needs to act and to act quickly. I know of too many instances where the City has failed to act quickly in fixing a dangerous situation. The most common is the failure to replace a stop sign that has come down, either because of an accident or some other disaster. When a stop sign is knocked down, you would think that a traffic cop would be stationed at the intersection until an emergency crew from the Department of Transportation could get out there and repair the sign. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
I have many unfortunate clients who were seriously injured because a stop sign was knocked down and not put back up until days later. Even a temporary sign on a portable stand would return traffic control back to the intersection. The great bureaucracy that is the City of New York even manages to avoid liability for not getting the sign back up in time. Many times, EMS workers who were repeatedly called back to the scene of the downed stop sign because other accidents have happened, have managed to temporarily put the stop sign back up until permanent repairs have been made.
Much like the ice sheet in Stapleton, it's clear that it takes the City much too long to the fix dangers Staten Island resident's face daily. The City needs to have a "quick reaction" team ready to attend to these serious dangers at a moments notice, whether its traffic control, the placement of temporary street signs, or even spreading rock salt. The challenge faced by Staten Island drivers from other drivers while commuting to work is enough. We should all expect that the roads are free of hidden dangers. Please drive carefully.
