By Nathan Duke
A Bayside mother who was struck by a van earlier this month on 53rd Avenue after dropping her 6-year-old son off at school died last week, City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) said.
Binhui Zheng was hit by the van June 6 after taking her son to school at PS 162. The 38-year-old, whose birthday was the day after she was struck, was pronounced brain dead and left on life support at New York Hospital Queens.
But Zheng died June 9 shortly after her parents arrived from China, Weprin said.
“I am so sorry for the victim’s family as well as for the entire PS 162 community,” Weprin said. “As a parent, I can only imagine the pain that follows the loss of a young mother.”
The councilman said he has asked the city Department of Transportation to examine measures that might enhance traffic safety near PS 162.
Zheng lived in Bayside with her husband and son.
U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) secured visas for Zheng’s parents to travel from Fuzhou, China, to the United States. The Bayside woman’s family contacted the congressman to help speed up the process to secure visa applications.
Hsin Lu, 61, of 221-04 58th Ave. in Flushing, was arraigned Sunday on charges of driving without a license, reckless driving and failure to obey a police officer or flag person, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. The defendant, who was held on $2,500 bail, could spend up to one year in jail as well as pay $1,000 if convicted, a DA spokeswoman said.
Lu had been driving a light blue minivan allegedly at a high rate of speed, the DA said. A crossing guard at the school attempted to signal for Lu to slow down as Zheng was walking in the street, but Lu is charged with not slowing down, the DA said.
The van struck Zheng, causing two skull fractures, bleeding and swelling of the brain as well as fractures to multiple parts of her body, Brown said. A doctor at the hospital told the DA’s office earlier in the week that the Bayside mother was also brain dead and on life support.
Lu is alleged to have told police he was blind in his right eye and that he did not see Zheng crossing the street because of sun glare, the DA said.
He was scheduled to return to court Friday, a DA spokeswoman said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
