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British Tourist Maimed in Taxi Accident to Sue City for $27.5M

By Janon Fisher | December 10, 2013 4:25pm
 Sian Green, a British tourist maimed during a Midtown road rage accident involving a bicyclist and cab driver, has notified the city of her intention to sue.
British Tourist plans to sue TLC and DOT
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MIDTOWN — The British tourist who lost part of her leg over the summer when she was hit by an out-of-control cab in a road rage spat plans to sue the city for $27.5 million, claiming that the driver should not have been on the road, records show.

Sian Green, 25, of Leicestershire, had her left leg amputated, suffered a traumatic brain injury and severe nerve damage to her right leg when Mohammad Himon slammed his cab into her on Sixth Avenue and 49th Street on Aug. 8. 

Himon, who had seven points on his license, hit the gas instead of the brakes in an attempt to shake bicycle courier Kenneth Olivo, according to a notice of claim filed with the city comptroller's office.

"Due to the amount of Motor Vehicle Violation points that Mr. Himon had accrued on his license, the Taxi & Limousine Commission should have suspended his license BEFORE the time of the accident," her lawyer, Dan Marchese, wrote.

"Admittedly, due to a 'computer glitch,' TLC failed to ensure pedestrian safety, and specifically, [Sian Green's] safety and well-being, therefore breaching its duty of care to her."

The TLC admitted after the accident that up to 4,500 cab drivers, with an excess of six points on their records, should have had their hack license suspended or revoked.

The agency blamed a "computer glitch" for failing to transfer the cabby infraction information from the state department of motor vehicles to the city. The TLC has said it has fixed the problem.

The accident received international press coverage, due in part to TV talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz, who saw the accident from his studio and rushed to the scene with camera crew in tow.

He supervised good Samaritan plumber David Justino, apply a tourniquet to Green's leg, possibly saving her life, before she was rushed to Bellevue Hospital.

Green, a part-time sales clerk for Hugo Boss in the UK, making $10 an hour, claims that she nearly lost both her legs in the crash.

"When his cab hopped the curb it then violently struck [Green], severing her left leg, mid-shin and nearly cutting off her right leg," Marchese wrote in the court documents. "Her right leg was stitched and re-attached."

She lost 47 days of work because of the accident, according to the notification, filed Nov. 13.

A law department spokeswoman said the agency was looking into the matter.