(James Carbone/New York Daily News)
L.I. mom killed saving daughter from car plowing onto sidewalk
A Mother’s Day stroll in Suffolk County ended in tragedy with a mom dying moments after shoving her daughter out of the way of an out-of-control car.
Police said that the mother, Diane Aluska, 55, was walking side-by-side with her daughter, Jenna, in Lindenhurst when the driver of 2005 Toyota Corolla lost control.
Ann Riolo, 80, failed to put her car into drive, sending the car careening onto a sidewalk on South Wellwood Ave. around 9:10 a.m., Suffolk County Detective Sgt. James Murphy told the Daily News.
“Her mom sees the car jump the curb, she actually grabs her by her shoulder and pushes her,” Murphy said.
“She saved her life, without a doubt.”
Riolo struck both the mother and daughter and then crashed into the Lindenhurst Fire Department, police said.
Aluska died at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip.
Jenna and Riolo were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the same hospital, police said.
The Corolla was impounded for a “safety check,” police said.
But Murphy said he did not believe Riolo would be criminally charged.
“It appears to be non-criminal, just a terrible accident,” he said.
Photos from the scene showed the trunk of the Corolla had been caved in. It remained against a wall near the garage of the firehouse, surrounded by crime scene tape.
Murphy did not know the severity of the teenage victim’s injuries.
Photos on Aluska’s Facebook page show the mom proudly posing with her daughter in front of a Christmas tree.
Newsday reported that Aluska had been pinned under the car and that bystanders lifted it off of her. They administered CPR, to no avail.
Rev. Msgr. Joseph DeGrocco, of the nearby Our Lady of Perpetual Help R.C. Church, told Newsday he’d heard a woman struck by the car had attended Mass an hour before the crash.
Church staffers could not be reached.
Old driver commit so many traffic accidents. They are also slow to react to changing traffic conditions and make driving around them very treacherous. After a certain age, all old people must be subjected to mandatory testing of their driving skills. It must happen so that we save some lives.
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Mother killed, daughter injured by car on Long Island
Posted: May 14, 2017 5:26 PM EST Updated: May 14, 2017 6:34 PM EST
LINDENHURST, N.Y. (AP) - Police on Long Island say a mother was struck and killed by a car after pushed her 16-year-old daughter out of the way of the oncoming vehicle which was vehicle backing out of a parking spot.
Suffolk County police say it happened just after 9 a.m. Sunday as 55-year-old Diane Aluska and Jenna Aluska were walking on the sidewalk on South Wellwood Avenue in Lindenhurst.
Police say a Toyota Corolla, driven by 80-year-old Ann Riolo, of Lindenhurst, mistakenly drove onto the sidewalk in reverse, striking the pedestrians before slamming into the Lindenhurst Fire Department.
The mother was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Her daughter and the 80-year-old driver were hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries.