A Queens baby was fighting for her life tonight after being tossed from the back seat of a minivan as it slammed into a car owned by a local driving school, relatives and cops said.
The child — wearing a pink snowsuit and wrapped in a blanket — was not in a car seat and flew into the front dashboard when the two cars collided near the intersection of 102nd Street and 91st Avenue in Woodhaven, witnesses said.
The child, identified by an aunt as 14-month old Gianna Gonzalez, was in serious condition at Long Island Jewish Hospital.
Gianna had been in the van with her grandmother and the driver, family friend Jose Santiago, 67, her relatives said.
“I heard the impact. I saw the baby on the ground, and the grandmother was shaking her and screaming in Spanish, `The baby! The baby!’ ” said witness Kim Minerva.
“The baby was limp. She wasn’t moving or crying. There was no car seat.”
Cops arrived, put the child in the back of a squad car and started CPR.
“They were working pretty hard on her, trying to keep her alive,” Minvera said.
Using their own car, police rushed little Gianna to Jamaica Hospital in serious condition. She was later transferred to North Shore LIJ.
Santiago’s green minivan had crashed into the side of a black Honda, owned by D & E Driving School, shortly before 2 p.m., officials said.
The impact shattered the smaller car’s passenger window and pinned driving instructor Jahirul Islam inside, according to bystanders.
Driving-school owner Injoy Islam, no relation to the driver, ran to the crash site.
“Once I saw the child did not have a [car] seat, I just knew the child had to be very injured,” Islam said. “Those injuries are very bad. We are just hoping the baby is OK. ”
It was not immediately clear who had the right of way.
“I had the green light,” said Jahirul Islam, who has been a certified New York state driving instructor for 23 years.
“I’ve never hit anybody. I’ve never had a speeding ticket or a ticket from running a red light. I’m a safe driver,” Islam said. “I just hope the baby is OK. They had no baby seat, no nothing.”
Santiago claims Islam ran the light.
“He ran the red light. He drove so slow through it, that’s why I didn’t think he was going to run it,” said Santiago. “If he was speeding, I would have stopped.
“I was just doing them a favor” by driving, Santiago said of his tiny passenger and her grandmother. “The baby was unconscious. I just want to know if the baby is OK.”
Sources said Islam passed a Breathalyzer test; it was unclear whether Santiago was tested.
Santiago was issued a summons for not having a child in a car seat.
Queens baby in serious condition after traffic accident
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Queens baby in serious condition after traffic accident
