Yesterday our neighbor Larry Roberts reported at 1:35 p.m.: “there was a horrific accident involving a van and a motorized wheelchair early this (Thursday October 7, 2010) afternoon. The ambulance had just pulled away when I took the attached photo. It took FDNY 10-15 minutes to dislodge the wheelchair from under the van. Evidently, the van was making a right onto 47th from Ninth-not sure of the circumstances or condition of victim.”
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We reached out to District Attorney Vance ‘s Office of Vehicular Crimes and asked them to investigate this crash and subject the driver to the penalties called for by recently enacted “Elle’s Law”. “Elle’s Law” suspends driving privilege to drivers who – while committing an infraction – cause serious physical injury to another person. It was signed by Governor Patterson in August 2010 .
D.A. Vance is familiar with our neighborhood’s plight for having participated in our Memorial March last year. Earlier this year he announced the formation of a vehicular crimes unit , honoring a commitment he made during his campaign. The chief of this unit indicated they will look into this crash. They are asking for witnesses and photos . If you know anyone who was there and saw the circumstances, please get in touch with us.
There was no indication in this article about what happened to the person using the motorized wheelchair. Did he/she survive?
We are following up on this.