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A week and a half ago, NY Times managing editor Jill Abramson was hurt in what an internal Times memo called a "traffic accident". Or, in Page Six parlance, it's called "crossing at the intersection of West [44th] Street and Seventh Avenue just as the garbage hauler was making a right turn" and having the truck ran over her foot. Ouch! The Post's Page Six reported at the time that the cops weren't charging the driver, since "no one did anything illegal," but now Abramson is making it very legal: She's suing.
According to the NY Sun, Abramson is "seeking unspecified damages" and accuses the driver, the Bronx company that operated the truck, and the truck's registered owner of "negligence, carelessness, and recklessness...severe and serious personal injuries to mind and body...[and] great physical pain and mental anguish." While we don't know the circumstances of this accident, trucks and truck drivers seem to be somewhat more reckless drivers, relatively speaking.
Abramson's husband Henry Griggs III is also a plaintiff, which gives Page Six opportunity to speculate, "It sounds like a crushed foot has wrecked the sex life"; Page Six also reveals that Griggs' complaint is that he lost the "services, earnings, consortium and society. But our favorite quote is from the Sun, when the reporter spoke to the Bronx company that operated the truck; a West Side Foods employee said, "I don't know what the exact story is, she was standing in the street…and the wheel of the truck went over her foot."
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I had a close call with a turning bus this morning. Be careful, pedestrians.
Doesn't the NY Times provide her with health insurance? Yes trucks etc. are a bit reckless, but suing?!@#$ Something tells me this is just greed based (as most lawsuits are these days).
while nobody may have done anything "illegal", if the light is green and the pedestrian is in the crosswalk the pedestrian has the right of way. period. unless the "don't walk" sign was on, i don't see how the driver wasn't cited with some kind of charge.
Pedestrian, clearly you don't visit this site much. There have been at least 5 stories about drivings killing pedestrians while making a turn, and not only were they not arrested, but there were no charges filed.
In this case, I side with the driver. If a pedestrian chooses to inch into a vehicle that has already made a turn, how is the driver supposed to know this? I've almost been smacked by bus side-view mirrors more than once, and you know what? Now I know not to stand in the street. Common sense, people?
You have to be damn close to a truck for it to run over your foot. Who gets that close to moving vehicles?
What Gothamist as well as the publications it cites fail to mention is that the incident was a HIT AND RUN. The driver is claiming that he "didn't see her." Also, FYI, her foot is shattered and her leg (femur bone) is also broken. She'll be in rehab for at least a year. While I expect such negligence from a forum as tasteless as Page Six, I would have thought that Gothamist, a trusted blog that I read on a daily basis, could have gotten it right. So shame on all for assuming to blame this woman just because she is a public figure.
Of course, if the driver's claim is true, it isn't hit and run. If her foot went under one of the rear wheels or even the front right side it is certainly plausible that he didn't know he hit her. There are two sides to the story and so far we haven't heard much of either.
"While I expect such negligence from a forum as tasteless as Page Six, I would have thought that Gothamist"...
Gothamist almost always rehashes info from other sources - if the other sources don't mention it, Gothamist doesn't know it.
Generally, I'm against people suing over shit like this. But commercial truck driverrs in NYC just altogether dismiss their responsibility to drive in a matter that is safe, and the NYPD seems to have little or no interest in changing that, so I hope she wins.
If the woman's leg is broken (and the femur is the largest bone in one's body, as well as the most resistant to injury), then the driver's claim cannot be true. Clearly Ms. Abramson was badly hit...it wasn't as simple as a wheel over the foot. I suppose the driver could maintain that he didn't see her initially, but I'm quite sure one would have eventually noticed such a traumatic incident.
As I read this blog daily, I am quite familiar with Gothamist's culling tactics. What is upsetting is the tone and the presentation of the information in a way that invites such accusatory comments as above. And Gothamist's editorializing such as the childish "Ouch!" is completely unnecessary.
While I agree that we live in an overly litigious society, I think our quick tendency to judge and blaspheme is far more concerning. Furthermore, that we accept so readily the news we read as the absolute truth is infinitely troublesome. Of course I speak not only of the matter of Jill Abramson.
Finally, I offer a few questions: Does anyone really think that the managing editor of the New York Times, a woman who holds a notoriously scrutinized and fleeting position, would file suit so carelessly?
The company probably has insurance. I don't think anyone is really going to get hurt by this.
*shrug*
having your foot shattered is one of the worst forms of bone breaks you can get though. This woman is going to be miserable for a long time.
[4] aristocrat: "how is the driver supposed to know this? I've almost been smacked by bus side-view mirrors more than once, and you know what? Now I know not to stand in the street. Common sense, people?
The answer to your question is that drivers are supposed to be LOOKING WHERE THEY ARE FUCKING GOING, particularly when going around corners and across crosswalks, and even more so when the crosswalk contains pedestrians. If you are in a moving vehicle, you should be looking in the direction that you are moving, and if you can't see very far, you should be moving slowly enough to stop. End of story.
Please don't tell me you are standing up for jerkoff truck drivers who race around corners clipping pedestrians by mere inches, just because behaving like a responsible human being is far too burdensome a task for their feeble minds.
Perhaps she has really big clown feet. Those suckers are hard to avoid.
If the front tires of a turning vehicle run over your foot, the vehicle hit you. If the back wheels run over your foot (feets), then you walked into the vehicle.
Simplicimo.
I drive for a living. it always irks me, when i am almost finish turn. somebody walks next to the side of the truck, on the turn. they could get smack or hit.
"Generally, I'm against people suing over shit like this."
Stuff like what - recklessly-imposed personal injuries? I don't see why people are getting up in arms about what's a standard personal injury case. Insurance doesn't cover everything and, yes, pain and suffering is compensable.
Also, the driver can certainly be held liable if he didn't see her, particularly if he didn't see her because he wasn't paying attention (which is highly likely).
#11 - There are parts of large vehicles that are "blind," where the drivers cannot be expected to monitor. Drivers of cars know to stay away from the right side of a truck when it is signaling a turn.
Being an absolutist about the right-of-way can get you killed. Much better to be practical and keep your distance from that turning truck or bus.
#15 - I'm just saying it's not hit and run (as #9 charges) if the driver isn't aware of the accident. The driver wasn't charged with leaving the scene (or anything, for that matter), so I'm still pretty dubious.
I don't believe everything I read, but that skepticism extends to an aquaintence of Abramson as well. The main question in my mind remains what part of the truck hit the person.
Her name's Abramson...is there any surprise she's suing? If she's the one at fault, I hope the company sues her for being a dumbass.
Dear Misfit:
Mighty white of you. What does her name have to do with it?