February 5,2012 (Kearny, NJ) When Kearny Resident Nelson Coelho was involved in a car accident in Staten Island, New York, the New York Police summoned an ambulance but Coelho was not injured and decided not to go to the hospital. That decision and a policy of the New York Police Department not to give accident victims rides from accident scene and a tow truck company's policy to do the same started a chain of events that lead to Kearny Resident Nelson Coelho tragic death. Coelho was just 23 years old and a student at the University of Virginia. He was struck by a car as he walked along a darkened roadway.

According to a report in SILive, Coelho's mother stated that her son sounded frustrated when she spoke with him after his car crash on Victoria Boulevard in Staten Island. Apparently, the car crash was severe enough to cause the air bags on Coelho's car to deploy.



SILive had a nice editorial on how the New York Police Department's policy of not giving accident victims rides after their accidents contributed to Coelho's death. KOTW agrees. It seems silly to secure an individual's car after an accident but not have a means of securing the human being driving that vehicle. What is a person to do if the police department tows their vehicle? Stay at the accident scene or start walking to try to get to somewhere you can rent a car, or hire a taxi or wait for a family member to give you a ride?

KOTW extends our condolences to the Coelho family and friends.