A 70-year-old woman was severely injured when she was struck by an MTA bus which dragged her nearly 30 feet before finally coming to a stop and leaving her pinned under the vehicle on Monday, February 11, 2019.
The woman was walking northbound on 2nd Avenue near East 35th Street and attempted to cross the street at a crosswalk when she was struck by a Q44 MTA bus which was attempting to make a left turn at around 9:30 a.m. The victim was then dragged nearly 30 feet by the bus before it rolled over her foot and left her trapped beneath the vehicle.
“She was trying to cross the street, and the bus was turning, and the two clashed,” a witness told the New York Post. “You could hear screams coming from under the bus — she was pinned underneath.”
Emergency personnel were quickly on the scene, and firefighters from the FDNY were able to rescue the victim from underneath the bus. She was then brought to Bellevue Hospital in serious but stable condition with a broken pelvis. The bus driver remained on the scene and no arrests or summons have been issued as of this writing.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and her family.
NYC has not gotten off to a good start in terms of pedestrian traffic safety in 2019, despite the fact that the City is 5 years into Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero program intended to finally put an end to traffic fatalities.
Sadly, in just the first 28 days of 2019, there were 19 traffic fatalities in New York City, compared to just 10 over the same time period in 2018.
While Vision Zero may have brought improvements to overall traffic safety in New York City, such as reducing the default citywide speed limit from 30 mph down to 25 mph, this accident reveals just how much more work is left to be done. If drivers employed by the New York government cannot be trusted to operate their vehicles safely, how far is the city from reaching its goal of ending traffic fatalities?
To this end, one initiative on the Vision Zero Scorecard specifically addresses the need to “expand outreach and enforcement program for intercity buses, charter buses, and commercial trucks.” On the government website, the status for this initiative is marked Complete and Ongoing.
Hopefully one day soon Vision Zero can help make our streets truly safe for the people of New York. Until that happens, however, victims who are injured in bus accidents and other avoidable traffic accidents need to be able to receive compensation for the damages they’ve suffered.
Since 2012, no other law firm has won more results exceeding one million dollars than Block O’Toole & Murphy. Our experienced motor vehicle accident lawyers have a long history of winning top results for bus accident victims, such as:
- $3,450,000 settlement for a man who was struck and dragged by a bus while he was crossing the street within a crosswalk in Queens
- $3,000,000 settlement for a man who suffered severe injuries after he was struck by a bus which was attempting to make a left turn
- $2,200,000 settlement for a woman who was struck by a city-owned bus as she attempted to cross the street at a crosswalk in Brooklyn
Call 212-736-5300 to receive a free legal consultation-there is no charge unless we win your case.