Harlem Mom Dies Days After Being Hit By Curb-Jumping Driver: Police

HARLEM, NY — A Harlem mother has died days after she was hit by a curb-jumping driver while walking with her young son, who reportedly remains hospitalized, police said.

Jennifer Tolliver, 38, succumbed to her injuries around 3:30 p.m. Monday. She lived just a couple of blocks away from the corner of West 145th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, where she was struck last Monday, March 28, around 8:30 a.m.

Police said Tolliver was walking with her six-year-old son when a 68-year-old man driving a Toyota Camry lost control of his vehicle, jumped the curb, and hit the pedestrians on the sidewalk.

All three were rushed to Harlem Hospital, where Tolliver and her son were initially in critical condition, while the driver was serious but stable. Police had no updates on the boy's condition Tuesday, but ABC7 reported that he was still in the ICU at Columbia Presbyterian Children's Hospital.

Hours after Tolliver's death was announced, City Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan called on the city to install safety improvements at the intersection, which she called notoriously dangerous.

"Harlem must have bike lanes, curb adjustments and retimed traffic lights," Richardson Jordan said in a statement shared by Transportation Alternatives. "The senseless traffic deaths along 145th could have been prevented with a few safety adjustments."

No charges have been announced against the driver, who may have had a medical episode before losing control, according to the Daily News. After hitting Tolliver and her son, the driver plowed into a flower stand on the corner, the Daily News reported.

The intersection where the crash occurred is a busy one, with several lanes of traffic that lead directly to the 145th Street Bridge. Since 2012, 119 people have been injured in crashes at that intersection, including 20 cyclists, 24 pedestrians and 75 drivers — not including the latest crash, according to city data.

Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, noted that safety complaints about the 145th Street intersection have been longstanding.

"Dangerous conditions on 145th Street have been documented for nearly a decade, yet the street has not been redesigned for safety," he said Tuesday. "This is unacceptable."

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