Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309141778 - Utica Enterprises

Inspection Information - Office: Manhattan Area Office

Investigation Summary

On July 2, 2005, Employee #1 was working at the Utica Enterprises car wash. He was drying the back of a black Jeep, when he was struck from behind by a 1980 Jaguar Daimler being driven off the car wash line by a Utica coworker. The Jeep was pushed forward and to the left, and the Daimler continued forward and to the right. It accelerated, dragging Employee #1 out the car wash driveway and across a city street until it struck the brick wall of a building. Employee #1 ended up with the car, on the sidewalk across the street from the car wash. He sustained a concussion, and he was killed. New York City Police Department Highway Patrol Unit Number 2, working in Precinct 71 in Brooklyn, conducted an accident investigation. It issued a vehicular summons for operation of a vehicle without a driver's license. A coworker who witnessed the accident stated that it looked as if the driver of the Daimler panicked after striking Employee #1; his response was to step on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal. The police were investigating to determine whether the cause of the accident was the way the vehicle was being operated or an equipment malfunction with the car's brakes or accelerator.

Keywords: ACCELERATOR PEDAL, HEAD, TRAFFIC ACCIDENT, BRAKE, DRAGGED, STRUCK BY, CONCUSSION, MOTOR VEHICLE