A motorist killed a 10-year-old girl and injured her pregnant mother as the pair crossed a street in Borough Park Tuesday night. Blima Friedman was at least the eighth child age 14 and under killed by a New York City driver in 2014, and the third in the last six weeks.
The crash occurred at around 8:57 p.m. The Daily News cited unnamed police sources who said Blima and her mother Sara Freeman were "crossing midblock" on 18th Avenue at 60th Street when Bilal Ghumman hit them with a Honda minivan. But a police spokesperson told Streetsblog the circumstances of the crash, including who had the right of way, remain under investigation, and photos of the scene appear to indicate the victims would have been at most a few feet outside the crosswalk.
Police said Ghumman, 22, was northbound on 18th Avenue when he made a left turn onto 60th Street and struck the victims. Ghumman was reportedly working as a valet for a nearby wedding, and NYPD said he was driving the minivan elsewhere without the owner's consent. Ghumman had an outstanding warrant for a drug-related offense, according to NYPD and published reports, and he was arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
NYPD and Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson filed no charges against Ghumman for killing Blima Friedman and injuring her mother.
From the Daily News:
The mother, apparently pinned under the vehicle, remained conscious after the collision and screamed for her severely injured daughter as both lay on the ground, witnesses said.
“We saw the lady and her child on the ground. She was in shock,” said witness Angel Santos, 18, who was walking to a bodega when he came upon the scene. “She was still on the ground. She was screaming, 'Oh my God, is (she) OK? Is (she) OK?'"
The frantic woman was also grasping her belly, apparently in the first throes of labor, witnesses said.
"She was holding her stomach, she looked like she was in pain," said Jasmine Torres, 19.
Freeman, 33, was taken to Lutheran Medical Center, where she delivered her baby. Both were in stable condition as of last night, according to the Times. Blima was declared dead on arrival at Maimonides Medical Center, NYPD said.
This fatal crash occurred in the 66th Precinct, and in the City Council district represented by David Greenfield.
Tuesday's crash was the second incident in two days involving a motorist striking a mother and child on a city street. A woman and her 4-year-old son were hit at Broadway and W. 65th Street, on the Upper West Side, as they walked to the boy's preschool at around 9 a.m. Monday, DNAinfo reported. The mother, who pushed her child out of the driver's path, was hospitalized with serious injuries. The driver left the scene.
Traffic crashes consistently rank as the leading cause of injury-related death for children in NYC. According to crash data compiled by Streetsblog, city motorists killed 11 pedestrians age 14 and under in 2013, when pedestrian injuries and deaths reached a five-year high. Drivers killed eight child pedestrians in 2012, when injuries and fatalities were closer to the five-year mean. Eleven months after its launch, Mayor de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative is having no discernible effect on the number of children killed in traffic.
