No Charges for Taxi Driver Who Plowed Into UWS Restaurant, Injuring Seven

Monday, March 30, 2009 5 Comments

No Charges for Taxi Driver Who Plowed Into UWS Restaurant, Injuring Seven

Photo: Fox 5

The horrific death of a young mother in Midtown wasn't the only instance of curb-jumping mayhem on Friday. Shortly before Ysemny Ramos was pinned against a building by an allegedly drunk driver on E. 37th Street, a yellow cab lurched off Amsterdam at W. 106th, plowing onto the sidewalk and into a pizzeria.

Though seven people were hurt, with one in critical condition as of Friday, and though witnesses told the Post "the cab was competing with another car to make a turn when it careened, skidded and hit a pole, then veered into the pizzeria," Gothamist reports that "The police told us no charges were filed because there was no criminality involved."

For insight into the parallel universe of the New York City motorist, who bears no responsibility for his actions as long as he drives sober, see this piece from Gotham Gazette.

Larry Littlefield

This goes back a long way. Most Americans drive, and identify with the driver. It could be them.

Consider this Bob Dylan song from more than 40 years ago.

http://www.metrolyrics.com/percys-song-lyrics-bob-dylan.html

A young woman hears that a friend has been sentenced to 99 years for manslaughter, as a result of a highway crash that killed four people. She goes to see the judge, who states “the witness that spoke he left little doubt” about the driver’s culpability. But the woman claims that “he ain’t no criminal and his crime it is none, what happened to him could happen to anyone, I know him as well as I know myself, and he wouldn’t hurt a life that comes to someone else.”

Now think about this — how many songs aimed at teens in the rock era have featured motor vehicle crashes? How many movie scenes? But the “cool,” reckless drives ONLY KILL THEMSELVES. That’s what happens in “Bat Out of Hell.” And that’s what happens in “Rebel Without a Cause.”

That’s why this song stands out to me — it is the only example I can think of in which a driver kills someone else and is left living with the aftermath for the rest of his life. Can anyone think of any others? This is our culture folks.

I think the statistics don’t quite match the anectdotal evidence that has been presented.
Jeffrey W. Baker

I agree with the commenter on the NYT who suggests that the killer in the 37th St incident should be shot in Times Square on live broadcast television. If the DA doesn’t bring felony charges against that guy, New Yorkers should be rioting.
Jeffrey W. Baker

Furthermore, honestly I cannot understand why bystanders didn’t just beat this guy to death on the spot. Why was it up to the cops to chase the perpetrator half a block down the street? Are the streets of New York really populated with shocked, passive people who can’t even tackle a man running away from a gruesome killing?
http://www.livablestreets.com/people/ddartley ddartley

If the Posts’s eyewitness account is true, things like this NEED TO GO TO A GRAND JURY.

I’m getting a case of “call the DA” fatigue, but it’s not going to stop me from calling them.

If your’e jockeying with another car for inches of space, and your stupid gunning of the engine to win a few feet causes you to go up on a curb, I’m sorry, you’re a criminal.

PS: if you ride a bike, riding in the middle of a car lane helps prevent aggressive drivers around you from being as dangerously aggressive as this taxi apparently was. Sure, it might take a year to get over the fear of asserting your right to the space, but you’re doing a public service.
PaulCJr

Only in NYC can you speed and not get a ticket, kill people with your reckless driving and not go to jail, and drivers feel like they own the city and can drive how they please. When will New Yorkers demand the city and our police force enforce traffic laws. I can’t remember that last time I saw a drive get a ticket for anything besides a parking violation. Maybe we should start referring to our city as Jersey, where the car is king! No wait! Jersey cops actually give out moving violations.

Streetsblog New York City

No Charges for Taxi Driver Who Plowed Into UWS Restaurant, Injuring Seven

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