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Driver Who Killed 3-Year-Old Will Probably Get His License Back In 30 Days
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 30, 2015
Modified Jan 30, 2015
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jan 30, 2015
Modified Jan 30, 2015
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Earlier this month, a DMV judge revoked the license of one Ahmad Abu-Zayedeh, a driver who struck and killed 3-year-old Allison Liao in 2013 as she crossed a Queens street with her grandmother. Considering Abu-Zayedeh was not criminally charged and two traffic tickets issued against him were tossed, that sanction was a meager one. And it's getting even more smaller—today it was revealed that revocation will last a mere 30 days.
Streetsblog reports that DMV administrative law judge Sidney Fuchs has mandated a revocation period [pdf] of "at least 30 days," after which Abu-Zayedeh can petition the department to get his license back. Earlier this month, Fuchs ruled that Abu-Zayedeh "failed to use due care" when he struck Allison while she crossed the street in the crosswalk holding her grandmother's hand, as evidenced by a brutal video, but apparently a month without a license is enough retribution for the loss of the toddler's life.
"Judge Fuchs correctly found that the driver was careless and broke the law when he killed Allison Liao. But it is incomprehensible to me that a 30-days license revocation is considered a meaningful penalty," the Liao family's attorney, Steve Vaccaro, told us today. "It is not even a slap on the wrist, and will do nothing to deter future reckless driving by others—or perhaps even by the unrepentant Abu-Zayedeh, who still maintains that the crash was the fault of little Allison and her grandmother."
Abu-Zayedeh's official license revocation period begins on February 13th.
Tagged
Ahmad Abu-Zayedeh
allison liao
cis
dmv
flushing
pedestrian fatality
pedestrian safety
queens
Rebecca Fishbein
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