In Dominicci v Ford, an appeal to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department from a July 3, 2014 decision by the Supreme Court of Monroe County, the appellate court affirmed the lower courts decision to deny a request from State Farm Automobile Insurance Company to quash a subpoena for records belonging to a doctor working for […]
Motor Vehicle Accidents
8 Tips for Avoiding a Nighttime Auto Accident
Studies show there are increased incidents of auto accidents during than during the day. Nighttime driving can be more than annoying. For some drivers it can also be dangerous. Low-light conditions lead to decreased depth perception, ability to distinguish color, and worsening of peripheral vision. Additionally, people tend to be more tired at night. From bad vision […]
87-Year-Old Long Island Woman Killed after Car Hits Tree
Francine Schenkel, an 87-year-old resident of Ridge, New York, died in July 2014 after the car she was driving veered off the road and crashed into a tree. Quoted in NY Newsday, police officials investigating the accident surmise that Schenkel was traveling northbound on Rocky Point-Yaphank road when she crossed into the southbound lane and veered off […]
Elderly Driver in Diabetic Shock Crashes into White Plains Gas Station
A 69-year-old driver who was in diabetic shock crashed his vehicle into a gas station off of the Hutchinson River Parkway in White Plains in June 2014. The elderly man, who was incoherent at the time of the accident, was pulled from his burning car by an off-duty state trooper before it was engulfed in flames. The […]
NY Cardiologist Charged with DWI after Car Crash Kills Mother of Three
Thomas Stavola, a 54-year-old cardiologist, was arrested and charged with a DWI in June 2014 after he crashed into a vehicle driven by Monica Peterman, a 45-year-old mother of three. Peterman was taken by ambulance to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Stavola was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was […]
NYPD: Speed a Factor in Car Crash that Claimed Four Young Lives
New York Police Department (NYPD) officials stated that speed was a contributing factor in a car accident that killed four young Queens residents in April 2014. The victims of the car crash were Darius Fletcher, 21; Jada Monique-Butts, 19; Crystal Gravely, 19, and Jaleed Furtado, 20. Andrew Gramm, 20, the driver of the vehicle was […]
Federal Report: Motor Vehicle Crashes Cost U.S. Economy $871 Billion Per Year
According to a May 2014 report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), automobile crashes cost the U.S. economy $871 billion in 2010. The costs include lost productivity, property damage, and medical and rehabilitation care. The economic impact also includes court and legal costs, emergency services costs as well as costs associated to insurance premiums. […]
Self-Driving Cars Raise Safety and Legal Questions
In May 2014, Google introduced its first prototype of a self-driving car. The vehicle doesn’t contain a steering wheel, brake, or accelerator petal. Occupants of the car simply enter their destination into a computer and then hit a button to be driven to their destination. The vehicle is directed by multiple sensors and cameras linked […]
Toyota Agrees to Pay $1.2 Billion Federal Penalty Over Safety Issue that Killed Family of Four
United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced in March 2014 that Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to pay a $1.2 billion federal penalty for misleading the American public and regulators about a safety issue that killed a family of four. The penalty is the largest ever imposed by the United States on a car manufacturer. The settlement […]
Crash Avoidance Technologies Can Prevent Crashes or Mitigate Injuries Caused by Car Accidents
According to a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, if all passenger vehicles were equipped with front crash prevention, lane departure warning, blind spot detection and adaptive headlight systems, one in three fatal crashes could be avoided and one in five crashes resulting in an injury could be prevented or mitigated. While […]
NHTSA Announces New Rule Requiring New Vehicles to Have Rear Visibility Technology
Officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced in March 2014 that all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds, including small buses and trucks, must have rearview visibility technology by May 2018. Rearview visibility technology often consists of a small camera placed on the back of a vehicle; the camera takes live video which […]
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Accuses General Motors of Knowing about Faulty Ignition Switch for 10 Years
According to a lawsuit filed in March 2014 on the behalf of several Minnesota families of three teenagers severely injured or killed in a 2006 crash linked to a faulty ignition witch, General Motors knew about the switch’s defect for over a decade but never took action to solve the problem. Since February 2014, after […]
Pregnant Woman Killed by Snowplow in Brooklyn; Baby Delivered by Emergency C-Section
A pregnant woman, Min Lin, 36, was struck and killed by a vehicle clearing snow in a Brooklyn parking lot during a large snowstorm in mid-February 2014. Lin was nine months pregnant, and her baby was delivered by emergency cesarean section. According to a hospital spokesperson, the baby boy is six pounds and six ounces […]
Federal Study: Buckling Up Children Reduces Injuries and Deaths in Car Crashes
According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in February 2014, automobile crash deaths among U.S. children 12 and younger decreased by 43 percent from 2002 to 2011. The data was compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSB) and then analyzed by researchers from the CDS. While the drop […]
Second Department Reverses Summary Judgment in Nassau County Car Accident Case
Last week, the Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department reversed a Nassau County Supreme Court finding of summary judgment for a defendant driver in an accident involving a pedestrian. The appellate Court found that the defendant had not established a baseline prima facie case for entitlement to summary judgment, rendering the plaintiff’s opposition to the […]
Driver Facing Numerous Charges after Brooklyn Car Accident
The driver responsible for a multi-car accident in Brooklyn that injured several people will face a variety of charges, according to ABC News. The accident occurred as the driver was attempting to evade police early Wednesday morning. The police car that had been chasing the suspect was also involved in the crash, as was another […]
NY Car Accident Lawyer Report: Accident Case Reinstated
On August 21, 2013, the Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department reversed an Order of the Supreme Court, which had granted summary judgment to the defendant in a Queens car accident case. The original granting of summary judgment for the defendant, and its subsequent denial on appeal, centered around the failure of the plaintiff’s lawyer […]
Chappaqua Teen Found to Have Been Texting During Fatal Crash
A New Windsor, NY judge has ruled that a teen was texting while driving, leading to a fatal accident that killed his nineteen year old friend, reports USA Today. The driver, also nineteen from Chappaqua, NY, claimed that he had fallen asleep at the wheel. The decedent’s family subpoenaed phone records from the driver during […]
New Study Finds Elderly More Likely to Die as Result of Pedestrian Accidents
A study released by the Centers for Disease Control in late April found that elderly individuals are more likely to be killed in pedestrian accidents than younger members of the population. The study used data compiled from 2001 through 2010, and based its results on a per-100,000 person standardization. The highest death rates found in […]
Bronx Car Accident Report: 70 Year-Old Dies in Tragic Williamsbridge Car Accident
In August 2012, a car accident occurred at the intersection of Bronxwood Avenue and Williamsbridge Road in the Bronx. Tragically, a 70 year-old passenger in a 2000 Mitsubishi was killed and the driver of the same car, an 86 year-old male, was in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center. Another passenger in the Mitsubishi, a […]
New York Personal Injury Attorney Alert: Second Department Reverses Summary Judgment Order in Queens Injury Case
Last week, the Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department reversed a finding of summary judgment for the defendant in a Queens County driving while intoxicated action. At the time of the accident, the defendant’s car was being driven by a third party, a non-party to the action. Junaid Tarar, the defendant in the original action, […]
Second Department Affirms Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment in Nassau County Car Accident Action
On November 14, 2012, the Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the Supreme Court’s finding of summary judgment for the plaintiff in an automobile collision action from Nassau County. The facts surrounding the case are simple. The plaintiff’s vehicle was stopped when it was struck from behind by the defendant’s vehicle. Quoting Volpe v. […]
White Plains Personal Injury Attorney Report: Second Department Rules in Favor of Plaintiff in Rear-End Collision Case
In a recent New York State Supreme Court, Appellate DIvision, Second Department decision, Delyons v. MTA., 2012 NY Slip Op 06060 (8/29/12), an award of summary judgment to the defendants was reversed in an action stemming from a rear-end car collision in Brooklyn. The plaintiff, Nakisha Delyons, was a passenger in Defendant’s “Access-a-Ride” vehicle owned […]
Westchester County Personal Injury Attorney Case Report: Summary Judgment Reversed in Queens (NYC) Motor Vehicle Accident Case
On Wednesday, September 12, 2012, the Second Department reversed summary judgment that had been granted to the plaintiff in an accident in which a tractor-trailer collided with a stopped car on a Queens street. Although the Supreme Court initially granted summary judgment for the plaintiff, the Second Department found that triable issues of fact did […]
New York Personal Injury Attorney Report: School Bus Driver Involved in Queens Hit and Run
A Queens school bus driver was apprehended shortly after colliding with an MTA bus in Corona yesterday afternoon, according to a Daily News report. Fortunately no children were on the school bus at the time. However, sixteen people in total were injured. A driver involved in a car, bus or trucking accident that hits another […]