Suffolk County police were out in full force Wednesday, cracking down on speeding drivers along an East Islip road where a young mother was killed Tuesday just feet from her home.
According to police, an out-of-control vehicle struck Skye Brunetti, 25, on Union Boulevard around 9 a.m. Tuesday, just after friends say she had put her 5-year-old son on his school bus.
Neighbors say the mile-long stretch of Union Boulevard, between Connetquot and Carleton avenues, is like a racetrack. It's a straightaway with no stop signs, no traffic lights and a 35 mph speed limit that the neighbors say is rarely obeyed.
Police say highway patrol officers issued about 12 tickets in a two-hour period, with at least one driver hitting speeds as high as 60 mph.
Pat Brunetti, the victim's grandfather, says he is glad to see drivers being forced to slow down, at least for now.
"It might keep somebody else from getting killed or hurt," he says.
Another crash occurred at the same location about a year ago. In that incident, a driver swerved out of the way of a mail truck and crashed through a fence onto the property.
News 12 has learned that Suffolk's Department of Public Works recently completed a traffic study of the area. Several recommendations for that stretch of Union Boulevard were made, including more visible lane lines, additional speed limit signs and increased police patrols.
Legislator Tom Cilmi, who represents the area, says the recommendations are just not good enough. He demands that stop signs immediately be installed.