New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A high school youth was struck and killed on a rainy night by a 20-year-old woman about a year ago. That woman plead guilty to a car accident involving wrongful death and was sentenced to one to five years in prison, the minimum mandatory sentence for a felony charge.

The defendant is eligible for the work release program offered at the Montgomery County Prison where she is to serve. She also agreed to pay $500 to the scholarship fund set up in the victim’s name. The judge did point out that such a pledge was not legally binding.

The 17-year-old victim walked in front of the woman’s car and died because of injuries sustained at impact, according to a witness. The defendant was not impaired by either drugs or alcohol, but she ‘panicked’ after hitting the girl and kept driving. Her car was stopped less than three miles away where she admitted her involvement.

Had the defendant stopped at the scene, she would not have been charged with a crime. The investigation ended up determining that the defendant was not the cause of the accident, but that the teen walked into the road herself.

The popular teenage high school student, who was active in lacrosse and field hockey, was out celebrating the school’s basketball championship with other students and had been drinking. The victim’s father said that the girl had been arguing with her boyfriend that night. The boy followed the young lady in his vehicle after she stormed out of his house on foot. He actually saw the hit and run.

An earlier charge was brought against the defendant stating that she was driving without a license, but that charge was eventually dropped. Apparently, when she moved from one state to another there was an administrative error following a paid traffic ticket.

 In Brooklyn as well as Long Island these mistakes are often made.

The girl’s parents are trying to keep the memory of their daughter alive through scholarships and other means. The scholarship is to help student athletes and the Senior Class Trip Fund is to help students at her alma mater attend school functions. “Going positive is a fight, but it’s the only way to go,” the victim’s father states. “She was the kind of kid when she walked into a room, she put a smile on your face.”

Continue reading "Driver Sentenced to Prison for Fleeing the Scene of Accidental Run Over " »

Anytime an 18-wheeler is involved in a car wreck, the results are never pretty, said the New York Injury Lawyer. This case is a prime example of a terrible wreck that killed two elderly people; a pastor and his wife. The collision happened at an intersection and involved two semis. Somehow or other, the pastor’s vehicle was caught in between the two trucks and the truck behind them rear ended their car, causing an underride accident.
The police want to know a whole lot more about this accident and are asking anyone with any information to come forward. They want to find out if anyone saw the accident or saw the two trucks just before the accident. Given the fact that the truck behind the car rear-ended them, indicates that he was not paying attention to the road and it may also indicate he was speeding, as the force of the impact shoved the car under the truck in front, commented the authorities.
Accidents like this are devastating for the family left behind and in this case, the family would likely have a solid wrongful death case to take to a New York City injury Lawyer. There will be other things that the police want to find out, including what the trucker was doing before the accident. In cases like this where a truck rear-ends another vehicle, you can count on the fact that the driver was not paying attention to driving.
All it takes is one split second with their eyes off the road and it’s too late to stop. In fact, big rigs can’t stop on a dime. While they may be able to slow down some, by the time they hit, they still do an enormous amount of damage. Courts in Manhattan and Long Island handle cases like this all the time.

Continue reading "Two dead in car wreck involving semis" »