Summer 2024 Personal Injury Review
The summer of 2024 saw, several significant accidents involving serious personal injuries and even fatalities. Our NYC personal injury lawyers and Westchester accident attorneys discuss the legal issused involved in these accidents.
DWI ACCIDENT IN HUDSON VALLEY RESULTS IN MULTIPLE INJURIES
On July 23, 2024, five member of a family suffered personal injuries, in a drunk drving accident, in Carmel, N.Y., which caused by a A 37-year-old Putnam, who crossed into the oncoming lane and crashed into the family's vehicle. The drunk driver is not facing felony drunk driving charges The driver who is from Mahopac was arrested on Sunday, July 7 in connection with a another drunk driving crash. New York's vehicle and traffic law makes it a crime to operate a vehicle when a person's ability to control a vehicle is impaired by alcohol or they have a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. Our New York drunk driving accident lawyers know that consumption of alcohol affects a driver's judgment, both by reducing judgment and inhibition, which translates to higher operating speeds and reduces reaction time. In 2022, there were more than 7,000 alcohol-related traffic crashes in New York state which includes 335 fatal accidents. In a case like this, there are several legal issues that arise which sometimes can seem counter-intuitive. First in New York State, the car that the person is in pays the medical bills and lost wages, even though the drunk driver is completely at fault. Next, our NY Drunk Driving accident lawyers know that people who cause drunk driving accidents, often do not have enough insurance to pay for the damage they do. One of the most common question our injury attorneys are asked is what can I do if a person with minimal insurance caused and accident and caused serious injuries. To combat this unfairness, if the car you were in, or a car in your household has higher insurance limits, then you can make a supplementary under insured motorist claim and present a claim for the difference between the insurance that the drunk driver had and your own insurance limits. Additionally, in some cases, where the drunk driver became intoxicated at a bar, you can sue the bar, for the illegal sale of alcohol to the drunk driver under New York's Dram Shop law.
MANHATTAN PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENT FATALITY
A tragic fatal accident occurred in Harlem on 3-year-old girl was killed and her 2-year-old sister was injured while crossing 135th Street, on July 11, 2024 at about 7:40 pm. The driver made a left hand turn and hit the three year old and her sister, resulting a fatality to the three year old and injuries to the girl's sister. Our New York City pedestrian accident lawyers know that in New York, pedestrians have the right of way over turning vehicles, which means that drivers who are turning at an interseciton have to yield to the pedestrians who are already in the crosswalk. New York's vehicle and traffic law 1146 also requires car, truck and bus drivers to operate their vehicles with due regard to avoid hitting pedestrians. In 2022, over 7500 pedestrians were killed in accidents where they were hit by cars, which is up from 2021, in which just over 7300 pedestrians were killed in car accidents.
This tragic case reminds us of the unfairness caused by New York's present wrongful death law. Despite widespread support and calls to reform the law, New York's antiquated wrongful death statute Governor Hochul has twice vetoed the Grieving Families Act. The present law holds that the only damages which the dead girls parents can sue for is their financial loss as a result of their daughter's death, and in the name of the Estate, they can present a claim for the girl's pre-death pain and suffering, however, the law places no value and even prohibits the parents from suing from their own grief, depression and emotional loss (unless they witnessed the accident). As was said in a famous movie quote, If that is what the law says, the law is an ass. Unfortunately, for New Yorkers who have suffered the tragic loss of a child, the law continues to limit their ability to seek meaningful damages in Court for the full extent of their loss. Our NY Wrongful Death lawyers continue to fight these fights and use every means available to maximize the recovery of parents whose children have been killed in tragic accidents.
BROOKLYN MARTIME FATALITIES
On July 6, 2024, at just before noon, a pleasure boat crash resulted in the death of one man and personal injuries to three other people. The crash occurred in Gerritsen Creek, on the Brooklyn waterway. Our New York boat accident lawyers, know that most vessel collissions occur because of excessive speed and a failure to follow the maritime rules of navigation. Our founding member, has a personal watercraft captain's license and has years of experience in captaining personal watercraft in the Long Island Sound as well as on the waterways of Florida and Texas. Maritime navigation rules provide for the safe operation of vessles and to prevent collissions. In the case of motor vessels crossing paths, the vehicle that has the on coming vessel to thier starboard side, has to give way, (yield and let the other vehicle pass). Another factor is operation at an unsafe speed, since most inexperienced vessel operators fail to appreciate that boats don't have brakes and can't stop like a car can. Since this accident occurred on the New York water-ways, there is concurrent state and federal jurisdiction, which means that claims for injuries and wrongful death can be filed under New York State Law, or under the General Admiralty Law and the Death on the High Seas Act. Our New York boat accident lawyers, some of the few attorneys with experience litigating maritine accident cases, including Jones Act and Death on the High Seas Act cases.
LONG ISLAND CRASH INTO STORE RESULTS IN MULTIPLE FATALITIES
On June 28, 2024 at about 4:30 p.m., several salon customers who were receiving treatments at the Hawaii Nail and Spa in Deer Park, were tragically killed when an SUV crashed into the salon. Accoring to one witness the SUV was racing through the parking lot before losing control and crashing into the salon. In addition to those who were tragically killed, several injured patrons had to be extricated after being trapped in the salon. While people who cause these accidents, often claim it was just an accident and that they lost control, and therefore shouldn't be held liable. Our New York City car accident lawyers know that New York's Vehicle and Traffic law requires that all drivers operate their vehicle at a reasonable speed under the circumstances. and when they fail to do so, they can be sued. In this case, the negligent driver caused not only Tens of Thousands, if not Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in property damage, he caused the death and serious personal injuries of several people who were just trying to receive spa treatments. In all likelihood the driver's insurance is not going to be sufficient to cover all of these damages, so the families of the decesased and the injured parties will have to seek underinsured motoris coverages through their own insurance policies.