Ariel Russo family pushes for change in negligence law after suit hampered by loophole

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The parents of a 4-year-old girl killed by an unlicensed teen driver on the Upper West Side are pushing for a change in the law.

Ariel Russo's family members claim delays in New York City's 911 dispatch system contributed her death last June, but their $40 million negligence lawsuit was impacted by the fact that a bystander called for help instead of a family member, forcing them to settle for just $150,000.

Sophia and Alan Russo, having already lost their daughter, now say they struggle again over an unusual legal battle with the city.

"To this day haunts me that Ariel did not receive the help she needed on time," Sophia Russo said. "I spend every day wondering what would have happened if Ariel's 911 call had been answered right away."

Ariel Russo and her grandmother, Katia Guitierrez, were walking to school when they were run down by a car. The driver, Franklin Reyes, was a teenager with only a learner's permit. Ariel died, while her grandmother was critically injured.

The family filed a $40 million negligence lawsuit against the city, claiming critical life-saving help was delayed. The New York City Department of Investigation found in 2013 that human error caused the delayed response, and records show there was a four-minute delay in dispatching an ambulance to her, and it then took another four minutes for the emergency vehicle to arrive.

But the family's attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, says the negligence claim was dismissed.

"Because a fatally injured 4-year-old child or her horribly injured grandmother did not personally call emergency services themselves, the police called, there was no direct contact between the victims and EMS," he said. "So the city of New York could not be held legally responsible.

The family was awarded just $150,000.

Calling Ariel's death a tragic loss, the city law department issued a statement saying, "New York's highest courts have consistently held that lawsuits against the city when first responders provide emergency services are not appropriate. We agree with the courts' opinions."

To change the current law, State Senator Ruben Diaz and Assemblyman Nick Perry have agreed to draft Ariel's Law, which they believe would hold the city accountable for negligence.

"I call on the mayor to revisit this and take the moral high road," Perry said.

The family insists it is not about the money.

"The gross negligence on that day was inexcusable, and I will fight so this doesn't happen again," Sophia Russo said.

After the incident, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the "Ariel Russo Response Time Reporting Act" into law in 2013 after the accident, changing the way New York City monitors emergency response times.