A fatal New York City bus accident left one woman dead and left many questioning the safety precautions employed by City drivers. The unnamed 50-year old victim was pinned under the bus’s wheels shortly after stepping off the B44 bus in Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Witnesses say the woman dropped her phone as she was exiting the bus and bent to retrieve it. The driver put the bus in motion while the woman was still under the bus. She was killed instantly when the rear wheels rolled over her.
The bus continued on its route until witnesses chased it down and got the driver to stop.
The woman was not carrying identification and a report from the scene said that police were considering using fingerprints to identify the woman.
While witnesses at the scene say the bus driver appeared not to have noticed the woman, and video assist tools inside the bus reportedly didn’t capture the woman as she bent down, the victim’s surviving family members could potentially pursue legal action against the MTA and the bus driver for failing to be aware of their surroundings.
This past 12 month period has been exceptional for the number of MTA bus accidents in New York City. Just days prior to this fatal accident, an MTA bus stuck and killed a Queens woman as she crossed the street. In July, a cyclist was killed after a bus collision. Before that several people were injured and a driver killed when a stolen truck crashed into an MTA bus. Last August, a distracted bus driver using his cell phone killed an 8 month old girl.
While officials say the victim is partly to blame for this particular bus accident, that also means the driver and MTA were partly to blame as well and can be held accountable in a civil lawsuit.
If you or a loved one has been injured in any motor vehicle accident or while using any of New York’s public buses, contact an experienced New York motor vehicle accident attorney today. Call the Law Offices of Nussin S. Fogel for a free consultation at or 212-385-1122 to learn your rights.