Suzanne Schmeider, 57, was killed by a hit-and-run driver outside a social security center in Queens the afternoon of March 11. According to a report in the New York Post, Schmeider was crossing Jamaica Avenue in front of the facility when a dark-colored car struck her. The driver of the sedan fled the scene, leaving Schmeider in the roadway with severe trauma to her head and body. Schmeider, who lived just a mile away from the scene, was pronounced dead from her injuries at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, officials said. Our thoughts and prayers are with Suzanne Schmeider’s family members. We offer our deepest condolences for their tremendous loss.
No arrests have been made in connection with this deadly pedestrian accident. The hit-and-run driver is still at large, officials said. One security guard told The Post that he recalled seeing the hit-and-run vehicle speeding by at the time of the crash. He said the vehicle “blew through the light and hit the woman and hit a bus and kept going.” This deadly hit-and-run comes just a week after 4-year-old Brooklyn boy, Zachariah Padilla, was fatally struck by a driver who also fled the scene. That fatal pedestrian accident occurred near Linden Boulevard and Rockaway Parkway across the street from Brookdale University Hospital. That driver has not been apprehended either.
Compensation in Hit-and-Run Crashes
Leaving the scene of an injury or fatal crash is illegal under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 600. Drivers in such cases are required to provide their contact information, help the injured and/or report the incident to law enforcement. They are also required under the law to exchange information with other parties involved.
In a hit-and-run collision, the driver and vehicle owner are both responsible parties even if the owner was not driving when the accident occurred. If the driver was on the job and/or operating a company vehicle at the time, his or her employer can also be held liable. When the driver is apprehended in a hit-and-run case, he or she and the owner of the vehicle can be held financially liable for the injuries, damages and losses caused.
Such drivers can be held financially responsible whether or not they are arrested and/or charged. If a hit-and-run driver has injured you, please remember that you can seek compensation through the uninsured motorist clause of your auto insurance policy (even though the driver has not been identified) or through a quasi-state agency if there is no motor vehicle in the victim’s household. You should consult a personal injury lawyer immediately to protect your rights in every case.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bicycle accident or pedestrian accident, or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a negligent (careless) driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. It is in the best interest of injured victims and their families in such cases to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer before contacting the people responsible for the injuries, and definitely before contacting or communicating with any insurance company, or their lawyers, investigators, or adjusters.
Pedestrian accident victims and their families should remember that they can seek compensation for injuries or losses in collisions even if the victim was not walking in a marked crosswalk and even if the driver involved in collision was not charged. Our law firm recovered the full one-million-dollar insurance policy for a girl who was not in the crosswalk when a motor vehicle hit her.
For over 54 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and $2,000,000 in a hit-and-run accident, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. We also recovered $1,500,000 for a lady who was hurt by a bus, although there was only a 1 million dollar insurance policy and we got $500,000 above that insurance policy.
We also obtained $295,000 out of a $300,000 insurance policy in compensation for the victim of a bicycle dooring accident (where a car door opens into the path of a bicyclist). One of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases. Also, we got a $1,400,000 verdict in a motorcycle accident.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury, lead poisoning, paraplegia cases and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://nypost.com/2026/03/13/us-news/woman-57-fatally-struck-by-a-hit-and-run-driver-outside-nyc-queens-social-security-center-cops/