Taxi Driver Injured After Crowbar Falls from High Rise, Crashes into Cab

A taxi driver was hospitalized Thursday after a crowbar fell from a 35-story building under construction on Manhattan’s East Side and smashed into the cab’s roof.

Impact Causes Taxi’s Roof to Cave In

According to ABC 7, the incident occurred on Third Avenue near the East 59^th Street intersection around 9:15 am.

The crowbar fell from more than 30 floors up and struck the taxi with such force that the vehicle’s roof caved, shattering the windshield and injuring the cabbie.

The taxi driver was transported to New York Presbyterian Hospital for treatment and has since been released.

The accident is under investigation.

Construction Accident Statistics

The following information was provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA):

• 4,836 workers were killed on the job in 2015. This averages to more than 93 deaths a week or more than 13 deaths every day.
• Of the 4,379 worker fatalities that occurred in private industry, 937 were associated with construction.
• The leading causes of construction-related deaths are:
  • Falls
  • Struck by object
  • Electrocutions
  • Caught-In/Between