21-year-old actress, Roxana Sorina Buta, walked along the streets of Manhattan, not knowing that one-day, while engaging in that activity, it would ultimately result in her death. One day, Buta crossed the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway. Buta walked with the light when she was run over by a Department of Transportation truck. The truck ran over and crushed Buta’s body.
The Department of Transportation truck is owned by New York City. The truck did not stop even though Buta was walking with the light. In fact, the truck did not stop driving even after hitting Buta. The identity of the driver was unknown until six days after the incident. Police officers discovered the identity of the driver. At that point, the driver was not charged criminally.
Buta’s mother, Christina Oprea, filed a lawsuit against the city for $30 million in New York County Supreme Court. She alleges that even after the police identified the driver, the driver did not “‘even get a traffic ticket.’” Her lawyer expressed his concern, indicating that it was inconceivable that a person who crossed the street with the light would instead get hit and killed by a city owned dump truck.
The lawsuit alleges that the city is aware that the intersection has been known to be dangerous. Nonetheless, the city has not done anything to make the intersection safer for pedestrians and the like. The NY Post article indicates that the intersection on 14th Street and Broadway is known to a dangerous intersections in Manhattan. In fact, while Buta’s friends and family rallied on one the corners of the intersection last month, a cab hit a pedestrian at that intersection.
Oprea hopes that the city will make changes to the intersection so that it will be safer for the public.
