Uber driver hurt when concrete falls off overpass files $10 million lawsuit against New York

NEW YORK (WABC) -- An Uber driver who says debris that fell from a bridge and badly damaged his car has filed a lawsuit against the state.

Mohammad Hossain said several pieces of concrete, one weighing 25 pounds, came off the 7th Avenue Overpass bridge and smashed his windshield and hood.

He and his passengers were fortunate not to have been seriously injured.

"Two, three pieces fall down into my windshield, and windshield broke and fall down and into my shoulder," he said.

He was driving southbound along the Prospect Expressway just after 5 p.m. on June 23 with five passengers in his car coming, coming from Sunnyside, Queens, when the chunk fell.

"In front of my eyes, it was right here," he said. "I got upset."

Two of the pieces crashed through the windshield, striking him.

"It struck the vehicle diagonally in the front and broke into pieces, with two pieces ending up inside the car," attorney Alex Omrani said.

The second piece landed at the feet of one of his passengers.

"I am scared to, you know?" Hossain said. "Five minutes and I cannot do anything."

He says he suffered a badly bruised shoulder and was covered with shards of glass. He was out of work for 40 days.

The passenger sitting next to him was not hurt, nor were three women and a baby in the back seat.

"Passengers that he was transporting could have been hurt," Omrani said. "People that were under his car, under his control, could have been seriously hurt."

Hossain has filed a notice of claim against New York State and is seeking damages of $10 million, as well as $20,000 for damages to his vehicle.

State officials who oversee the inspection of the overpass had no comment about the pending legal action, but Hossain's attorneys believe the incident also speaks to the larger issue of a troubling infrastructure.

"Hopefully it won't take a larger tragedy than this to finally wake them up to have them take this problem seriously," attorney Michael Taub said.

Hossain is back driving again, but he still feels some of the effects from his injuries.