New York may have more mass transit options compared to other cities, but particularly in Manhattan, a significant amount of travel is done in the taxicabs that have become synonymous with the City. And while the vast majority of taxi cab travel occurs without incident, some taxi trips can turn tragic. New Yorkers witnessed how grave the damage can be on August 20th, when a taxi jumped a curb and collided with a woman near Rockefeller Center, causing her to lose her left leg. Now, the woman — Sian Green, a 25-year-old visitor from Great Britain, plans to sue the City of New York, alleging the taxi driver should not have been permitted to drive a cab. Auto accidents are nothing new in New York City. However, the incident that caused the accident included a bicycle messenger with a long history of arrests and a taxi driver with several moving violations and an accident on his record. The question that only the courts can decide is: was the City negligent in issuing a taxi license to a driver with a bad safety record? If you find yourself in a situation involving an auto accident, contact a New York accident attorney that will fight to obtain a full and maximum settlement for you.
According to the woman’s attorney, the taxi cab driver at fault in the incident — Mohammed Faysal Himon, 24 — had seven points on his license and demonstrated a failure to keep pedestrians safe. A computer glitch in the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s system apparently allowed Himon to maintain his license, which ended up being a tragic mistake. Himon was driving near Rockefeller Center when he began jockeying for position with a bike messenger. Himon then lost control of the cab, causing it to lurch over the curb and collide violently with Green. In addition to losing her left leg, Green has severe nerve damage in her right leg and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
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