Sian Green, the 24-year-old British tourist who lost her leg after being struck by a New York City cab earlier this summer, is set to sue the city for $27.5 million, her attorney told The New York Daily News.
The driver of the cab, Mohammed Faysal Himon, shouldn't have been behind the wheel in the first place, Green will claim in court.
"The Taxi & Limousine Commission should have suspended his license BEFORE the time of the accident,” Green's lawyer, Dan Marchese, wrote in a notice of the lawsuit. "Admittedly, due to a ‘computer glitch,’ TLC failed to ensure pedestrian safety, and specifically [Green’s] safety and well-being.”
Himon had seven points worth of violations on his license before the crash, enough to get him suspended. The TLC admitted he shouldn't have been on the road, and that a "glitch" in their computer system over the past four years had in fact allowed 4,500 cab drivers with over six points of violations to continue driving.
In August, Green, a former beauty queen, was eating a hot dog on the sidewalk near Rockefeller Center when Himon's cab careened onto the sidewalk and slammed into her leg, which later had to be amputated.
Himon has blamed the crash on a bicyclist. “He was in my way and I got upset, so I gave him notice that I wanted to pass through,” he told The New York Post. “He started pounding on my car with his hands and was yelling things at me. I suddenly felt like I had to get out of there. It was becoming a bad situation. So I accelerated to get in front of him.”
After accelerating, Himon told The Post things get "cloudy" and that he doesn't remember hitting Green.
Himon was suspended for 30 days after the crash and is now back behind the wheel of a cab.