Parents of deaf boy killed by cab suing driver’s company

Parents of deaf boy killed by cab suing driver’s company

By Selim Algar

December 18, 2013

The devastated parents of a deaf 5-year-old Texas boy who was fatally struck by a cabbie during a visit to see the Brooklyn Bridge last year are suing the driver’s company for negligence, according to a Brooklyn federal court filing.

Texas tourists Joseph and Eva Keith, who are also deaf, were on their way to visit the landmark for the first time with their only child in April 2012 when Timothy Keith broke free from them and ran into Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights.

Cab driver Usman Gul slammed on his brakes but was unable to avoid smashing into Timothy as his horrified parents and stunned bystanders looked on, according to the suit.

The panicked father picked up his motionless tot and rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was declared brain dead and taken off of life support after fighting his injuries for three days, court papers state.

While Gul was not charged in the incident, the parents claim that his company, Autumn Cab Corp., of Brooklyn, is liable for the tragic accident that reduced even veteran hospital workers to tears.

The suit charges that Gul was driving his Yellow Ford Escape too fast along Hicks Street and that his company failed to properly supervise and train him.

The stunned cabbie said he couldn’t avoid hitting the child after he ran out into traffic.

“There was no time,” he told the Post at the scene of the accident at the time. “He stepped out and I hit the brake.”

Keith’s parents, who live in Texas, have suffered immense psychological harm by their boy’s death and are seeking unspecified damages, according to their complaint.

Eight pedestrians have been struck and killed by hacks in New York City over the past 15 months.

SOURCE:

http://nypost.com/2013/12/18/parents-of-deaf-boy-killed-by-cab-suing-drivers-company/

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