BRITISH TOURIST LOSES LEG IN MANHATTAN PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT

Approximately 45 million people have visited New York City each year for tourist or business purposes over the past few years. And of those, about eight million come from other countries. Clearly, the influx of all of these individuals into the busy metropolitan area means that some of these visitors will, unfortunately, get injured.

Last August, a 24-year-old woman from Great Britain sustained gruesome injuries when she was hit by a cab that jumped the curb. Fortunately for her, a plumber in the vicinity used his belt to tie a tourniquet around her leg after he witnessed the accident. While this slowed the loss of blood, it could not prevent the most serious repercussion of her injury: the amputation of her leg. It did save her life, according to television star Dr. Mehmet Oz, who witnessed the aftermath of the accident. While the cab driver whose negligence caused the personal injuries to the injured tourist was not charged criminally, the victim’s attorney has filed a Notice of Claim against the City of New York, putting them on notice of her intent to sue.

The cab driver claims he swerved out of the way of an errant bicyclist, an assertion that the bike messenger rejects. He contends the driver hit him before hitting the young tourist. It is likely that the cab driver will seek to avoid liability by shifting blame to that cyclist. The cab driver may still face an uphill battle. He has three blemishes on his taxi driving record — a parking violation, a citation for smoking in his cab, and a citation for cutting in line at a taxi stand.  Additionally, his driving record for 2011 shows three moving violations for that year,  including running a red light and speeding, resulting in nine points against his license, As these incidents demonstrate a prior habit of erratic driving, they bear a greater chance to be used effectively in the case against the City which had knowledge of his record.