Latest accident brings NYC pedestrian death toll above 40 in 2014

Our last post focused on a fatal slip-and-fall accident on a New York sidewalk that took the life of a British philanthropist and in-law to a member of the British royal family. Although the victim’s fame gives the accident a higher profile, the accident scenario itself is sadly common.

As if to confirm that sentiment, another life was lost earlier this week in a pedestrian accident on New York’s Upper East Side. The victim is one of more than 40 New Yorkers killed in pedestrian accidents this year alone.

News sources report that an unidentified woman was struck by a school bus as she was crossing a street Thursday around 3:30 p.m. Children aboard the bus and other witnesses to the accident were horrified to see the bus completely run over the woman, who died underneath the large vehicle.

A man in his 30s who saw the accident told the New York Daily News that “there was a bus and a large truck right in front of a whole line of cars. I noticed there was a leg sticking out from under the bus and realized it had run over someone.” He also said the fact that children were aboard the bus at the time “just makes it that much more horrific.”

It is unclear at this point if driver negligence was a factor. But all drivers in New York – and bus drivers in particular – need to understand just how important it is to pay careful attention and to expect the unexpected. When pedestrians and motor vehicles face off against one another, vehicles are nearly guaranteed to come out ahead.

Source: New York Daily News, “Woman fatally struck by school bus on Upper East Side,” Thomas Tracy, May 8, 2014