By Nathan Duke
A Bayside mother who was struck by a van last week on 53rd Avenue after dropping her son off at school died Wednesday, City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) said.
Binhui Zheng was hit by the van June 6 after taking her 6-year-old son to PS 162. She was pronounced brain dead and left on life support at New York Hospital Queens, but she died Wednesday after her parents arrived from China.
“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.”
U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) secured visas for Zheng’s parents, allowing them to travel from Fuzhou, China to Bayside this week.
Zheng, whose birthday was Saturday, lived in Bayside with her husband and son.
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.
Zheng’s family contacted Ackerman last weekend to help secure visa applications for her parents.
The defendant had allegedly been driving a light blue minivan at a high rate of speed. 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.
The defendant 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.
Lu 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.
