In a tragic car accident that occurred last Sunday, 7 family members were killed after tumbling off the Bronx River Parkway near the Bronx Zoo in New York. The family, including Maria Gonzalez, her 85-year-old father and 81-year-old mother, her daughter, two nieces ages 3 and 7, and her sister, was on the way to a reunion.
According to officials, the SUV that the family was traveling in bounced off the median, crossed three lanes of traffic and ultimately fell 50 feet from an elevated portion of the road at about 12:30 p.m. Maria apparently lost control of the vehicle but officials are unsure what exactly caused the accident. Juan Gonzalez, Maria's husband, was devastated. He stated: "I lost my family. What is there to say? I don't want to be here, I want to die."
The Bronx River Parkway was cited as one of the most dangerous stretches of road last year. The American Automobile Association's New York affiliate says that the Bronx River Parkway lacks basic safety features and also has narrow lanes, steep hills, tight turns, inadequate guardrails and no breakdown lane. The accident was the second this year–the first occurred when a car fell from the same place last year, although there were no fatalities. In 2006, 6 people were killed when a car crossed the median into oncoming traffic.
