Driver Fails to Yield and Kills 67-Year-Old Yuenei Wu in Midtown

A livery car driver turning left onto Eighth Avenue from 38th Street struck and killed 67-year-old Yuenei Wu yesterday afternoon. Police charged 39-year-old Edip Ozlemis for failing to yield to a pedestrian, an unclassified misdemeanor.

Witnesses told the Daily News and the Post that Wu was crossing in the crosswalk at 4:31 p.m. when Ozlemis struck her with a Chevy Suburban, pinning her beneath the vehicle.

“After he hit her, he stopped, but then he kept driving because he didn’t realize what had happened. People were yelling for him to stop,” witness James Green told the Post.

A crowd lifted the car off Wu in an attempt to save her. She was unconscious and unresponsive when officers arrived at the scene, according to NYPD. Wu was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.

Under Section 19-190 of the city administrative code, also known as the Right of Way Law,
Ozlemis was charged with misdemeanor failure to yield, which carries a maximum sentence of a $250 fine and 30 days in jail. NYPD’s investigation is ongoing.

This was at least the second fatal crash in the Midtown South Precinct this year, according to data compiled by Streetsblog. Both collisions reportedly involved livery car drivers behind the wheel of SUVs.

If you’d like to voice your concerns about traffic violence to Inspector Russell J. Green, commanding officer of Midtown South, the precinct community council meets on the third Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eighth Avenue.

The City Council district where this crash occurred is represented by Corey Johnson.