A 17-year-old girl is in critical condition after the car driven by her friend crashed into a utility pole on a Queens street where neighbors say accidents often occur.
The incident on Cook Avenue and 73rd Place in Middle Village left two other teens, both 16 years old, injured Wednesday but they were luckier than the 17-year-old passenger who had to be extracted from the sedan that partially wrapped around a wooden pole, according to police and witnesses.
Police say the three had just left Christ The King Kids day care where they worked less than a mile away from the scene. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Barney Marroney lives on the street where the accident took place and his surveillance camera started recording when he left his home see what was the loud boom he heard.
Two of the teens walked away from the crushed vehicle on their own but the 17-year-old was pinned inside, Marroney said.
"I was just talking to her. Telling her to hang in there for the fire department is coming, just hang in there," he recalled trying to help the girl. "I grabbed her head and I held it in place because I didn't know if she had a broken neck."
People in the neighborhood say they've been trying to get the Department of Transportation to install speed bumps on the accident-prone street.
Local
"We need to study on this. It’s a narrow street. There are poles on the curb and there are no sidewalks," Queens Councilman Robert Holden said.
