Yesterday afternoon, a serious car crash on Brickell Bay Drive by the Four Ambassadors Condo Building sent an SUV flying onto the sidewalk and a young woman to the hospital. Transit Miami reader and eyewitness Mark Batey sent us this report:

Having witnessed the aftermath of yet another accident on Brickell Bay Drive, I decided enough was enough and went online to try to find some statistics and contacts. I came across your site TransitMiami.com which is great. The crash was about the third such accident I have seen on almost the very same part of Brickell Bay Drive in the last 6 months or so. It followed the same pattern, according to information from another eye-witness in my building.

Apparently a black vehicle was traveling “way too fast” from south to north on Brickell Bay Drive. It lost control, hit a parked car which was propelled straight into a pedestrian and the pedestrian was knocked to the ground. The attached image is a blurred one out of respect for the pedestrian – a young lady who just happened to be passing by wearing running clothes.

What the photo shows is the black car on its side, the other vehicle fully mounted on the pavement from the impact, and the poor young lady lying on her back, bleeding and with serious injuries. I was alerted to the crash by the sound of the impact and the screams of the young lady which I will never forget.

A few months ago, I was walking by that same spot and saw the aftermath of an almost identical accident, this time with an older lady lying badly injured on the ground. Shortly after today’s crash I watched another lady walking by pushing a baby in a stroller. She has no idea how lucky she was.

From my vantage point I have a perfect view of the chaos of Brickell Bay Drive. It makes my blood boil when I see drivers driving straight by pedestrians on the pedestrian crossing – often at high speed.

I read the posts and comments about the traffic situation on Brickell Avenue and, having lived here for 8 years, and being a frequent pedestrian on Brickell, I can only agree with what I read. It is nothing short of a disgrace.

I would welcome your advice about the best way to make my voice heard on this issue.

Regards,

Mark

Thank you for the excellent report Mark. We agree that even though Brickell Avenue itself receives the brunt of the criticism, the surrounding roads are equally as deplorable for pedestrians, cyclists and even motorists. Brickell Bay drive from SE 8th Street south is in desperate need of traffic calming and enhanced pedestrian and cyclist measures. With 4 lanes of traffic here, vehicle speeds are often completely inappropriate for a dense residential neighborhood. We recommend a ‘road diet‘, reducing the road to two travel lanes and use the reclaimed space for a buffered bicycle lane. (Brickell Bay Drive at 14th street goes back to two lanes and traffic seems to flow just fine).

How many more people out for an evening jog have to be maimed by motorists until some serious action is taken?

Street level view of the aftermath after the jogger had been taken to the hospital.

Update: Reddit has an active thread on this crash. One eyewitness reported: “I was across the street when this accident happened. The black SUV hit the woman jogger and her lower leg snapped. I watched her look down and start screaming. I called 911 then bailed, that s*** was freaking me out.”