New York – A young woman driving in a busy shopping district of Midtown Manhattan initially rear-ended an SUV truck but then tried to flee the scene, according to witnesses. The hit-and-run car accident was followed by another car crash when the woman backed into a different car, injuring the other driver. Police investigations show that the initial car then collided with and crushed five more pedestrians when the woman’s car jumped the curb. It is unclear if this was another attempt at escaping the scene of the crash. The pedestrian accident left all of the victims injured on the sidewalk, necessitating transport to an emergency room for further evaluation and treatment of unknown injuries. The incident then ended with the woman’s car slamming into a building, injuring her as well. That brought the total of injured people to seven, according to hospital officials. Police suspect that the woman was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, sparking her reckless driving and attempt to flee the scene of the collision. She possibly faces drunk driving charges pending the outcome of testing.

Reports show that three additional serious motor vehicle crashes occurred elsewhere in New York City over the past two weeks. The first involved a middle-aged pedestrian who was struck by a car and killed on the Lower East Side. An unrelated pedestrian accident approximately several hours later killed another victim who was walking near a Brooklyn intersection. That collision has been labeled as a hit-and-run accident as well and police continue to search for the driver. Then, only minutes later, a bicycle collision caused fatal injuries to the bicyclist after he was struck by a taxi cab in Lower Manhattan. Find out more about the rising epidemic of severe NYC traffic accidents here.

Illustrative photo by MrFish (friend’s work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons