This weekend in New York, two motorcyclists, one teen driver and one pedestrian died in traffic accidents.
In Queens two people died in a motorcycle accident on Saturday. The two motorcyclists were knocked off the bike they were riding after they clipped a SUV and crashed into the back of another car.
Source: Daily News
Traffic fatalities recorded during the last five years are at the lowest level ever recorded in New York City according to the recently released 2012 edition of “Sustainable Streets Index“.
In 2008, The New York City Department of Transportation launched a strategic plan called “Sustainable Streets” with the objective of improving traffic condtitions and increasing street safety with a special focus on pedestrians. The yearly publication of the Sustainable Street Index provides an overview of the efforts undertaken by The New York City DOT over the last year and measures their effect on traffic conditions and street safety.
Some of the projects completed in 2013 significantly reduced personal injuries related to crashes and improved traffic conditions. Among them it is worth mentioning:
Four young people died in a car accident at 5:00 am Saturday morning on a highway in Westchester, New York. The 19 year old driver Bruno Vaccarezza, a fast car enthusiast, was driving a Volkswagen Golf that his dad rented for him after Bruno crashed his Mini Cooper three weeks ago.
According to the police, the car was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control of the car and slammed into the pillar of an overpass The impact was so severe that the vehicle was completely destroyed and caught fire. The occupants were burned beyond recognition.
Vacarezza’s hobby was to soup up cars and his facebook profile shows pictures and video of such cars. One of the Youtube videos he posted was titled Craziest Car Wreck EVER.
A woman was struck and killed by a hit and run driver in the Bronx, New York, yesterday night after a a club bouncer asked everybody to exit the club because someone had a gun. Over a hundred patrons started to run out of the club and poured across the street in a panic. As she was running away, a young woman was struck and killed by a car who sped away without even slowing down.
Nightclub owners are responsible for providing adequate safety for their patrons. This includes the responsibility to hire an adequate number of properly trained security employees who can monitor the crowd in any type of situation and are able to act effectively when problems arise. In this particular case, the security staff seems to have been completely overwhelmed by the situation. Therefore the club owner may be liable for negligent security.
After a woman was struck by a truck causing her death at the Ocean Parkway Intersection in Brooklyn last June (see our previous blog), the New York Sate Department of Transportation finally approved a $200,000 crosswalk makeover that had been delayed since 2012.
A pedestrian island and other enhancements that will improve safety for all users will be installed on Ocean Parkway near Church Ave where cars funnel onto the expressway.
The construction is expected to start this fall.
4 people suffered injury including one in serious condition after a truck hit a car driving in the same direction on Bushwick Ave in Brooklyn, New York. The shock was so violent that it propelled the car across the sidewalk into a light pole. The truck crashed into 3 cars for sale at a nearby auto dealer before it stopped. Firefighters had to cut the top of the car to rescue the driver.
Read More in the Daily News.
A 19 year old driver whose driving license was suspended crashed his car into an elevated subway pillar on Rockaway Freeway killing the 15 year old passenger and severely injuring the other teen passenger. The driver who sustained only minor injuries was driving over the speed limit according to the police. Read More in the Daily News.
Speeding is a factor in a third of fatal crashes involving teen drivers in the United States.
A taxi jumped a curb yesterday in New York City at Rockefeller Center stricking a British tourist and severing her left leg and severely injuring the other. Her foot was recovered at the scene and doctors at Bellevue Hospital tried in vain to reattach it. The 24-year-old cab driver, Faysal Kabir Mohammad Himon of Queens lost the control of his car during a road-rage duel with a bike messenger. Himon who has a hack license but wasn’t authorized to drive the cab had a history of negligent driving. He was previously involved in a car accident injuring one person in 2010 and had many traffic violation on his record.
For more see Daily News
If a car, a motorcycle or a small truck is defective, the manufacturer has to initiate a recall campaign to correct the defect by repairing or replacing the vehicle or by offering a refund to the consumer. Despite the manufacturer’s efforts, recall campaigns are not always successful especially when the cars, motorcycles and trucks being recalled are older and are likely to have been resold at least once. Too many vehicles owners are not aware of recalls and continue to drive unrepaired cars, trucks or motorcycles unknowingly exposing themselves, their passengers and other road users to potential accidents, damages or injuries.
Starting next year every owner or potential buyer of a car, a motorcycle or a small truck will be able to check if all recalls related to their vehicle were addressed. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) just announced its plans to require automakers and motorcycle manufacturers to provide consumers with a free online tool that will enable them to search recall information by Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Consumers will be able to instantly check if their vehicle is safe and address any defect related issue if necessary.
This new measure is a step ahead to protect consumers from the harm and property damage that can be caused by a vehicle with a serious safety defect.
LATCH stands for “Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children”. They became mandatory in vehicles in 2002 to help parents better secure the baby seat in the car and eliminate seat belt incompatibility. Pursuant to the actual law the lower anchors are designed to support a maximum weight of 65 lbs. Most parents are not aware that this weight includes the child and the child seat. When the total weight exceeds 65 lbs the child seat must be secured with the car seatbelt.
In order to make this information clear to parents the new LATCH law effective in February 2014, will require child seat manufacturers to modify their label to make sure parents understand that their child weight determines how long they can use the lower anchors.
This legislation was heavily pushed by automakers in order to protect themselves from product liability lawsuits as baby seats these days are heavier than those manufactured in 2002 and are putting increased strain on the lower anchors.
New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog