Automobile Accidents Godosky & Gentile Attorneys New York New York

Automobile Accidents

BROOKLYN WOMAN FATALLY STRUCK IN CROSSWALK BY EMERGENCY VEHICLE
Posted by: William Gentile
December 15, 2009

A woman in Brooklyn was killed by an ambulance early this morning. NY1 reports, "Sources say an emergency medical services vehicle struck a 80-year-old woman as she was standing in a crosswalk on Bay Parkway by the Belt Parkway just after 6 a.m. The ambulance was transporting a 100-year-old woman with stomach pains to Lutheran Hospital."

Assigning fault (legal liability) for a car accident is a matter of deciding who was negligent. In many cases, prompt investigation will reveal what rule or rules were violated - and by whom. In others, the answers may be harder to find such as where the design of a car or even of an intersection or road was the major cause of the wreck.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) - a car accident happens to someone, somewhere in the United States, every 10 seconds of every day. Unfortunately, car accidents do not "just happen." In almost all cases, and especially in the most serious and deadly ones - someone is to blame. Emergency vehicles do get certain protections under the law, however, those injured by emergency vehicles should contact an attorney as there are situations where the acts of the driver of a emergency vehicle can lead to liability.

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QUEENS MAN TRAGICALLY KILLED AND DRAGGED 17 MILES
Posted by: William Gentile
February 11, 2009

The Daily News reports that a Queens man was struck by a car this morning in Corona, Queens and then dragged by a second vehicle through 17 miles of highway from Queens into Brooklyn. The body was dragged from the Grand Central Parkway then onto the Van Wyck Expressway and then onto the Belt Parkway before other motorists got the driver's attention. The van's driver smelled something burning and pulled over once along the way, but did not discover the body until other motorists flagged him down in Brighton Beach,

Police Commisioner Ray Kelly said:

"People were signaling him to stop the vehicle, That's when the body was discovered under his car Uniformed police officers was retracing the van's route in search of body parts and articles of clothing.

The van's driver, identified as Manual Gaspar Latuna Sanchez of Corona, thought the car in front was trying to avoid a pothole and kept driving straight ahead - inadvertently picking up the body. Investigators believe the body got stuck in the van's chassis, so when the driver of the SUV pulled over to call 911 that he hit someone, the victim had already vanished.

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HORRIFIC CHINADOWN ACCIDENT
Posted by: William Gentile
January 24, 2009

A tragedy in Chinatown: One child is dead and others are injured after a minivan jumped a curb and struck them. The incident occurred around 38 east Broadway, near Catherine Street. WCBS 2 reports, "Police say the van apparently backed up onto the sidewalk, striking the children. At least two of the victims were pinned below the vehicle." Two of the victims were taken to NY Downtown Hospital. NY1 now says 14 people-10 children and 4 adults-were struck by the van. Two children are in critical condition and three children are in stable condition. Apparently a second child has died at the hospital. The children were in a day care program walking in a "daisy chain" with their adult chaperones. The children were walking from a library visit back to the Red Apple Child Development Center at 25 Market Street.

Apparently there was no driver in the van. Some how the van accelerated after in reverse after the driver left the van.

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TRAGIC ACCIDENT UNDER FDR DRIVE
Posted by: William Gentile
November 25, 2008

Anthony Maschi, a worker for New York City schools, was struck by a Brooklyn man driving under the FDR drive. The Daily News reports that Mr. Maschi was crossing a service road when the vehicle hit him. There are not many details about the accident in the artice; the Daily News seemed more concerned about the driver's business background. However, the drivers actions were considered so egregious that he has been charged with vehicular manslaughter (the article does not say why but a good guess is intoxication).

A friend of the victim, Joseph Campanella, stated "It's a shame people have to lose family because of irresponsibility." The question we always ask when faced with cases like this is will the victims family get justice through the civil system. It is clear from the Daily News article that the owner of the vehicle has a successful restaurant business. However, drivers are not required to have large insurance policies and often families of tragic automobile accident victims are left with inadequate compensation from the civil justice system. The minimum policy to insure and drive a car in the State of New York is $25,000. One potential mode of recovery in this case would be to show that the driver was acting in the scope of his business. The accident happened at 6:30AM so this may be difficult, but it depends on the circumstances of the case.

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