Driver of car that hit Midtown taxi at 100 mph says he wasn’t drag racing
A motorist accused of nearly killing a cabbie while speeding through Midtown Manhattan at nearly 100 m.p.h. said he was not drag racing.
Driver Hamza Salman, 27, offered few details about his Fifth Avenue foray that ended early Sunday morning when he crashed into a yellow taxi driven by Golam Uddin, 51, who miraculously survived the collision with a shattered collarbone, a broken patella and several fractured ribs.
Cops said Salman ran several red lights in his white 2018 BMW M5, and was racing against a blue BMW before the crash at W. 44th St.
The force of the collision sent the taxi a full block south, where he came to a rest at W. 43rd St., according to a criminal complaint.
The blue BMW driver fled the scene, police said.
Salman was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and participating in a speed contest or race.
But Salman, who was let go under supervised release, said there was no other car involved.
“I was by myself,” Salman said at his home in Queens. ”AII was alone in the car. Who would I be drag racing with?”
Salman said the incident was a blur.
“Honestly, there’s not much to remember,” he told the Daily News. " I was pretty concussed. I went to the hospital. I have a black eye. I hit my head and it was bleeding. I’m just trying to figure out what I can. Whatever I can control to move forward and let this pass, and to make sure that all parties involved are okay.”
Uddin’s wife Masuma Akter was outraged that Salman was released after the incident.
She said it was a “miracle” that her husband wasn’t killed, and that he remains hospitalized in constant pain, worried if he will be able to return to the work that sustained his large family.
Akter said she and Uddin met in Bangladesh in 1995. They have seven children ranging from 7 months old to 21 years old. She said his taxi driving has kept the family together.
“My husband’s suffering,” she said. “We have kids. They released this guy. I don’t feel good. They only keep him one day and they release him.”
Salman said he was concerned about the taxi driver.
“I hope his family’s okay,” Salman said. “Honestly, the main priority is to make sure he has a speedy recovery.
“There’s nothing happy about this situation,” he added.
