Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Truck hit wall as mural dedicated to victims of fatal traffic accidents was being installed

In a case of life imitating art, a truck crashed into a wall in Brooklyn as safe-streets activists were putting up a mural on it dedicated to people killed in traffic accidents in New York last year.



The eerily timed accident took place on Saturday as about a dozen traffic safety advocates worked to install the memorial to the 264 people killed on city roads in 2014. The truck hit the same wall the activists were working on, but about a half a block away.



“We all observed the irony of the situation,” said Ed Ravin, 53, who was helping to put up the mural abutting a vacant lot in Williamsburg. “People were working on the wall down the street and definitely could feel when the truck hit. But no one was hurt.”



The truck eventually pulled away, allowing the volunteers to finish putting up the 500-foot mural. The powerful work of art, organized by pro-pedestrian group Right of Way, features black silhouettes representing each pedestrian, cyclist and driver killed on New York streets last year. Posted alongside the silhouettes are the victims’ names and the dates they were killed.

There's more information about the memorial mural, including videos, here.

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