Crash Witnesses: NYPD Won’t Charge Cabbie Who Hospitalized Cyclist

For every injury to a New York pedestrian or cyclist that briefly makes news, there are hundreds that get no attention whatsoever. Even when there are witnesses to such a crash, once the wounded are transported and police clear the scene, it becomes nearly impossible to glean information that might prevent another collision or help the next victim.

On Thursday, March 22, at 8:30 p.m., two Streetsblog readers were on Broome Street just west of Elizabeth Street, in Manhattan, when a cab driver “suddenly accelerated in reverse” and hit a cyclist who was riding with the flow of traffic. They wrote to tell us what happened.

He was thrown through the back window of the taxi and his face was crushed. The bicycle was mangled and broken in half.

I noticed after the ambulance took the cyclist away that he had an insulated square bag attached to his bike; he was on the job delivering food.

One of our tipsters, who asked to remain anonymous, was interviewed by NYPD as a witness. The next day they learned from the 5th Precinct that the victim was at Bellevue Hospital with a “broken facial structure.”

“Unfortunately the police have no intention of charging the driver for anything, even though several people saw him accelerating in reverse and crash into a cyclist riding correctly,” they report.

Streetsblog has queried NYPD for details, including the identity of the victim and whether the driver was charged. But unless a victim dies, it is virtually impossible to get a name. And unless a victim dies or is believed likely to die, the police investigation is limited to filling in the boxes. Because NYPD protocol mandates that an officer witness a violation in order to issue a summons under state vulnerable user laws, drivers who maim and kill are routinely exonerated of wrongdoing on the spot.

Writes one of the witnesses: “It is horrifying to think that he is out there driving around right now, having suffered nothing more than an easily replaced broken window while this innocent cyclist will be wearing the damage on his own face, for the rest of his life.”

Of course it’s possible that a civil suit will arise from this incident. But as far as the public is concerned, in all likelihood this crash will be represented as one number among thousands in a data set. Other than that, it will be as if nothing happened.

If you have any information on this crash, let us know.