Charges in b’klyn crosswalk hit

THE DRIVER who rammed into a woman as she crossed a Brooklyn street, critically injuring her, was charged under the city’s new rightofway law, police said Tuesday.

Alexander smotritsky, 39, was three blocks from his Bath Beach home when he struck Xiali Yue, 61, on Monday at 21st and Cropsey Aves., cops said.

Yue was walking on 21st Ave. at the crosswalk and had the light when smotritsky’s Ford Fiesta turned right onto Cropsey Ave. around 8:13 a.m., police said.

The rightofway law, in effect since August, makes it a misdemeanor to strike a pedestrian who has the walk signal. Twentytwo people have been charged under the law, including smotritsky.

steve Vaccaro, an attorney who helped write the law, said the maximum penalty is $250 and 30 days in jail.

“The hope of the people who are behind this law is that it will lead drivers to take these cases more seriously,” he said.