Woman Struck In Hamilton Heights Hit-And-Run

[Update: Some reports indicate that the victim is in critical condition after the crash.] Early this morning around 3:15 a.m., a woman was struck by a vehicle on Amsterdam Avenue near West 145th Street. WABC 7 reports, "According to one witness, the victim never had a chance to get out of the way of a car that was moving rapidly on Amsterdam Ave. The impact was so powerful, it sent the woman flying 10 to 15 feet in the air." The vehicle didn't stop and the police are looking for the driver. Witnesses say the vehicle was a silver or gray SUV; one of its side mirrors fell off and was recovered by the scene. The victim, who was in her 50s, had apparently been at a nearby restaurant with a friend before the incident occurred.

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By Jen Chung in News on July 20, 2009 8:07 AM

Comments [rss]

Clarice City

SUV hit and run? Look for a drunk, with a suspended liscence, and several other DUI's on their record. You caould start your search there, NYPD.

NannyState

Car companies need to put a kill switch into their engines so when you hit something, it turns off for ten minutes. Obviously you can't rely humans to do the right thing.

Proof your work

Jen - you can check out your error in this article at:

Jen Chung

Thanks!

mrguy

That stretch of amsterdam is bad. The lights don't run in waves so as soon as they turn green green, drivers put their foot to the floor in an effort to get as far as they can before they all turn red again as opposed to lights, like 10th ave, which are timed in a 'wave' so you basically can't go faster than 25mph once you hit the front edge of the string of green lights).

Jaywalking is also epidemic up there.

So, was the driver speeding? were they drunk? did they run a red? was the woman jaywalking?

Seems that the driver is at least dead-to-rights guilty of leaving the scene of an accident, but other than that, there are a lot of unanswered questions.

Gwinny

Good point re: the timing. I live right around the corner from there and would never cross against the light.

lornagrl

Unless the driver had been drinking..that way the driver has time to sober up before turning themselves in. Leaving the scene of an accident is not as serious as drinking and driving...which would be vehicular manslaughter.

jibbly

I guess the driver doesn't read the papers. All s/he had to do was stay at the scene and it would have been ruled an accident.

Manitoba

+1

Trilby16

The driver was probably on his/her cell phone.

Hit-and-runs get prosecuted more harshly than simple "accidents" once the perp is caught. That's something anyway.