Reckless Driver Severely Injures Scooter Rider in Midtown

A recidivist reckless driver who should not even have been on the road struck a scooter rider in Midtown on Friday, injuring him, before leaving the crash uncharged, police said.

Police said the driver — whose SUV has been nabbed by city school-zone speed cameras 16 times since just July 29, 2021 — was driving along Eighth Avenue early Friday afternoon when he turned onto W. 35th Street, striking the user of an electric scooter. The victim was trapped under the vehicle and suffered serious injuries. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in serious, but stable condition.

The driver was not charged, police said. Other information was not provided by the NYPD.

Camera-issued tickets do not count against a driver’s record, but three police-issued speeding tickets in 18 months is enough to trigger a license suspension. The only legal mechanism to get drivers like this off the road is to tow their cars away once they have been found guilty of failing to pay $350 in fines. The driver of the SUV involved in Friday’s crash currently has more than $1,569 in unpaid fines “in judgment,” yet his car was not towed away.

The driver has gotten speeding tickets in Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. It is unclear whether he has undertaken the city’s required safety course for drivers who accumulate more than 15 speeding tickets in a 12-month period. The Department of Transportation has a policy against revealing whether specific drivers have completed the course.

FreedomNewsTV had a video of the aftermath:

Midtown Manhattan is a dangerous area for people outside cars. So far this year just on Eighth Avenue between 34th and 42nd streets, there have been 43 reported crashes, injuring seven cyclists, three pedestrians and five motorists, according to city records.

Last year in just the small area bounded by Seventh and 10th avenues and 42nd and 34th streets, there were 457 reported crashes, injuring 33 cyclists, 53 pedestrians and 85 motorists, killing one pedestrian.