The parents of a 26-year-old woman who was fatally struck in February by a green cab as she walked home in Rego Park have filed a wrongful death suit against the cab driver and several others — alleging that unsafe traffic conditions played a role in her death.
In papers filed Thursday in Queens Supreme Court, Sherena Hundalani’s parents, Prakash and Bina Hundalani, allege that cab driver Lakhvinder Singh isn’t the only one to blame for the loss of their daughter — they are also suing the city and Alliance Energy, which owns the Mobil gas station where the accident occurred.
They claim that, like other cab drivers who pass through the area, Singh used the gas station as an illegal “cut-through” just before he collided with Sherena Hundalani. There are no warning signs to alert pedestrians about heavy automobile traffic from the station, the suit states, and there are no barriers to protect pedestrians from traffic.
“She was just walking by,” Prakash Hundalani said through tears in an interview with The Post. “He ran his tire on top of her ribs. When the ambulance came, she told them, ‘I can’t breathe.’ She couldn’t breathe. Her ribs were broken off. We think about it and we can’t take it.”
Sherena Hundalani worked as a manager at one of her parents’ Mexican restaurants, Mamasita Bar and Grill in Hell’s Kitchen — where customers have included actress Priyanka Chopra.
The grief-stricken parents also say that Singh’s employer, Grand Transportation, and the city Taxi and Limousine Commission should also be on the hook — arguing that Singh was “grossly medically unfit” to be behind the wheel of the cab, though neither the lawsuit nor an attorney for the Hundalanis would specify what condition Singh suffers from.
The Hundalanis’ lawsuit does not specify how much they are claiming in damages, though they said in a notice of claim filed with the city earlier this year that they are seeking $25 million.
According to the suit, Singh struck Sherena Hundalani around 4 p.m. Feb. 24 after he used the parking lot of a Mobil gas station at the corner of Queens Boulevard — once dubbed the “Boulevard of Death” — and 63rd Road.
Singh had just hit two pedestrians near the gas pumps at the Mobil station and was trying to flee when he drove onto the sidewalk and collided with Sherena Hundalani, the suit states.
Hundalani died about two hours later at Elmhurst Hospital Center. According to the suit, the Queens District Attorney’s Office did not pursue charges against Singh. The office did not respond to a request for comment.
“We’re not going to get our daughter back, but we have to get the city to pay for what happened,” Prakash Hundalani said. “We need justice now for her. We just need justice.”
Neither Singh — who was never criminally charged — nor Alliance Energy could be reached for comment. TLC did not respond to a request for comment.
“This was a tragic loss of life. We’ll review the case,” said city Law Department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci.