The aftermath of a crash in the Bronx in April 2023.
File Photo by Dean Moses
Just a year ago, my life turned upside down in an instant. I was crossing the street with the right-of-way when a driver struck me and nearly killed me. In the months since, my life has been consumed by recovery from catastrophic injuries: collapsed lungs that forced me to carry my own blood in a briefcase, and extensive facial reconstruction after damage so severe my jawbones were described by my doctor as “cottage cheese” from the wheels running over my head.
This crash cost me my independence, my career, and the life I once knew. When I first regained consciousness, an immediate concern was the overwhelming financial burden I knew was ahead. The driver responsible carried minimal insurance, and it was only through my own limited health coverage that I was able to restore any degree of stability to my day-to-day life.
It is unjust for New York to further harm the injured by stripping away our access to the courts and denying accountability. It is outrageous that the governor is attempting to take away my rights when current insurance minimums do not even begin to cover the cost of my hospitalization. These priorities are deeply offensive to victims of dangerous drivers.
That is why it is encouraging that a chorus of legislators, clergy and consumer groups are all telling the governor to slow down.
If the goal is to reduce premiums, Hochul should focus on preventing crashes before they happen — not leaving victims with traumatic brain injuries, shattered bones, and lost limbs to navigate crushing medical bills and a dehumanizing legal maze. This proposal does nothing to make our streets safer. It simply makes it harder for injured New Yorkers to heal and shifts the financial burden onto families and taxpayers who are already struggling.
Alison Sirico is a Queens-based arts curator and an advocate for safer streets
