New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Product liability cases are often long and complex. This case was no exception to that rule. A dead woman’s estate brought a wrongful death action, stating that the woman had died in an accident due to the fact that the rear aisle seat of her SUV has only lap belts instead of lap-and-shoulder belts.

The case was dismissed at the state trial court level and on appeal it was affirmed. The court found material that specifically required the installation of passive restraint devices (seatbelts) pre-empted a state tort suit against an auto maker who failed to install airbags.

In this particular case, the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard stated that auto makers are required to install seat belts on rear seats and the must install lap-and-shoulder belts on seats next to car doors or frames. However, they may put in either lap belts or lap-and-shoulder belts on rear inner seats – meaning in an aisle.
The upshot of this case was that section 208 does “not” pre-empt state tort lawsuits that claim an auto maker should have installed lap-and-shoulder belts, rather than simple lap belts on rear inner seats of vehicles such as the minivan in which the woman was riding. There was a further interesting debate about various exemptions and pre-emptions on the state versus federal level. But suffice it to say that in cases such as this, a good representative will have their work cut out for them checking various legal precedents and safety standards.

Cases like this in the Bronx and Brooklyn always take longer to make their way through the courts for the simple reason that the law in this area is complex and often changes quickly.

Continue reading "Deceased died due to a lap belt being installed instead of lap and shoulder belt" »

Near the end of last month, a 38-year-old engineer died of a spinal injury when a part of the Freedom Park wall collapsed on his car he had been sitting in while talking on his cell phone. He leaves behind a wife and a 2-year-old daughter.
The mechanical engineer by training was one of the partners in a firm he and his childhood friend started seven years previously – SP Engineers and Contractors. His friend and business partner call the incident “an unbearable loss.” He’s lost a friend he had had for more than two decades.
The engineer was meeting his friends and had been looking for a parking spot; because of the rain, the task was more difficult than normal. He had been on his way to meet his business partner and two other friends as he did almost every day. When he didn’t show, his partner tried to call him, but didn’t get an answer. When they heard the wall had fallen, all three who were to meet him rushed to the scene and found him in his car crushed under the debris.
A New York Injury Attorney recalled the tragic incident and explains that it may be possible in such cases for the victim’s family to claim compensation of some type “from the parties who built the wall if it can be proven that negligence or shoddy craftsmanship was the cause of the collapse.”
The NY Injury Attorney said that it was still unclear if the rain led to the wall collapse.
On SJP Road, the rain downed electrical wires causing a 28-year-old IT professional to be killed by electrocution in the City that same weekend. The young man came in contact with a live wire which had fallen on the ground during the torrential rain. It is expected that he was crossing the road, wading through a puddle of water when he probably slipped and his hand touched one of the high voltage wires, his cousin reported. The post-graduate in mathematics, also had an MCA degree and leaves behind his parents and two younger siblings.
Similar places in The Bronx and Brooklyn are taking note.

Continue reading "Falling Rains and Walls Cause Injuries in April 2011" »