Articles Posted in Car Accidents

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Turley v. City of New York involved a high-speed police chase that resulted in a serious accident, and it has become an important precedent in cases involving police use of force and municipal liability.

Background

On April 22, 1999, Gary Turley was driving his car in Queens when he was struck by a police car driven by Officer Francis X. Lavelle. Officer Lavelle was pursuing a suspect in a high-speed chase when he lost control of his vehicle and collided with Turley’s car. As a result of the accident, Turley suffered serious injuries.

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Anderson v. Aloe highlights the legal responsibilities of motorists when sharing the road with motorcycles. In this case, the plaintiff, Mr. Anderson, suffered severe injuries when a vehicle driven by the defendant, Ms. Aloe, made an abrupt left turn in front of his motorcycle, causing a collision. The case presents a number of important legal issues, including negligence, proximate cause, and comparative fault.

Comparative negligence is a legal principle that is applied in personal injury cases in New York and other states. Under comparative negligence, a plaintiff who is partially at fault for their own injuries can still recover damages from the defendant, but the damages will be reduced by the plaintiff’s percentage of fault.

New York follows a “pure” comparative negligence rule, which means that a plaintiff can recover damages even if they were more than 50% responsible for their own injuries. For example, if a plaintiff is awarded $100,000 in damages but is found to be 30% at fault for the accident, their award will be reduced by 30% to $70,000.

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Pedestrian accidents can result in severe injuries, and the victim may be entitled to compensation for their damages. The law in New York provides protection to pedestrians, and drivers have a legal obligation to exercise reasonable care to avoid causing harm to them. In Stathis v. Leonardis, the New York Court of Appeals considered the issue of whether a pedestrian was entitled to compensation for injuries sustained in an accident involving a vehicle. This case is significant as it provides guidance on how courts in New York determine fault and damages in pedestrian accidents.

Background

The plaintiff in the case, Stathis, was a nine-year-old child who was walking home from school when he was hit by a car driven by the defendant, Leonardis. Stathis suffered severe injuries, including a fractured skull and a broken leg. The accident occurred on a busy street in Queens, New York, during rush hour traffic.

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Weininger v. Hackel deals with the issue of negligence and the duty of care owed by drivers to pedestrians. New York State has a unique set of laws that govern the rights and responsibilities of pedestrians on the roadways. In New York, pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, whether marked or unmarked. Drivers are required to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and are also prohibited from passing vehicles that have stopped for pedestrians. However, pedestrians also have certain responsibilities, such as using crosswalks when available and obeying traffic signals and signs. Failure to adhere to these rules may result in a citation or legal consequences.

Background

On March 7, 1953, Margaret Weininger was crossing a street in Brooklyn when she was struck by a car driven by Max Hackel. Weininger sustained serious injuries, including a broken leg and a fractured skull, and was permanently disabled as a result of the accident. Weininger sued Hackel for negligence, alleging that he failed to exercise reasonable care and caution while driving and was therefore responsible for her injuries.

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In this personal injury case, the defendant disputes that the plaintiff suffered a “serious injury” as defined by § 5102(d) of New York Insurance law. Under New York law, in order for a plaintiff to be able to recover damages based on the negligence of another person or entity, the plaintiff must have suffered an injury that is serious. A serious injury is one that results in significant disfigurement; permanent loss of a body organ, member, function or system; permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; a significant limitation of use of a body function or system; or a medically determined injury that prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts that the person usually performs.

On March 5, 2008, at approximately 5:00 a.m., the plaintiff was riding a bus owned and operated by defendant Metropolitan Suburban Bus Co. According to the plaintiff, the bus driver stopped short, causing her to slip and fall on the wet floor of the bus. Plaintiff claims that as a result of the fall, she seriously injured her lower back, right knee, and right ankle. About 8 months later, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the defendant. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment dismissal of the claim.

Because the defendant filed the motion for summary judgement, it has the burden of showing that there are not material issues of fact and that as a matter of law, it is entitled to win the case. In this case, the defendant must show that the plaintiff did not sustain a “serious injury.” If the defendant meets its burden, then the burden shifts to the plaintiff to raise an issue of fact as to the existence of a “serious injury.” The court will view evidence in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, which in this case is the plaintiff.

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The issue in this case is whether a defendant in a truck accident personal injury case can escape summary judgement after the death of the co-defendant whose actions were the direct cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

Defendant Stern was an employee of defendant Schor & Rosner. On October 31, 1958, Stern was driving a truck owned by Schor & Rosner when he backed into another vehicle, causing that vehicle to collide with the vehicle occupied by plaintiff McCarthy. As a result, plaintiff McCarthy was injured. McCarthy filed a personal injury lawsuit against Schnor & Rosner, and now moves for summary judgement. The court will grant the motion for summary judgment if the plaintiff can show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact, and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Defendant Stern, the driver of the truck, died before he was served with the summons and complaint. Defendant Schor & Rosner does not deny the allegations in the complaint that Stern was driving the truck that day. However, Schor & Rosner denies knowing any of the specifics of the accident because the driver is no longer available to testify. Schor & Rosner asked the court permission to not be held to as high a standard of proof for this case because they are unable to know the details that led up to the accident. The court points out that following the accident, the company asked for and obtained a statement from the now deceased driver in reference to the circumstances surrounding the accident. In addition, the court contends that the Schor & Rosner is in fact in possession of an affidavit made by the driver and a copy of the accident report. Thus, the defendant does know the details that led up to the accident.

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In a birth injury case, the court examines whether the actions of a volunteer midwife fall under the “Good Samaritan” rule, and as a result, the defendant should be granted summary judgement.

The plaintiff Lacy, who was carrying twins, opted for a home birth instead of giving birth at a hospital. She wanted to be assisted by a midwife and nurses. She hired defendant Delettera, a midwife, to assist with homebirth. Defendant Delettera invited defendant Chachere to assist with the process. On June 24, 2004, plaintiff had a sonogram which indicated a deceleration in the heartbeat of one of the twins. After following up at Stony Brook University Hospital, the hospital determined that the baby’s heartbeat had stabilized. The plaintiff then indicated that she wanted to give birth at Nassau University Medical Center. She requested that defendant Delettera assist, but Delettera did not have birthing credentials there. The plaintiff was told that if she wanted to deliver her baby at Nassau, it would have to be under the care of a doctor. The plaintiff refused and decided to give birth at home. On July 1, 2004, the plaintiff gave birth at home and one of the babies was stillborn. The plaintiff filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a number of defendants, including Delettera, Delettera’s company, and Chachere.

Chachere filed a motion for summary judgement, arguing that she was merely a lay student observer, and that the claim against her should be dismissed. Chachere claimed that her role was restricted to observing, taking pictures, making chart entries, and injecting Pitocin at the direction of defendant Delettera. Therefore, she argued, there was no connection between her presence and the harm to the plaintiff because she did not assist in the actual birth and had no contact with the mother or the deceased child. In support of her motion for summary judgement, defendant Chachere submitted an affidavit of a board-certified maternal-fetal physician. His opinion was that the baby’s death was due to the failure of the nurse/midwife to document the fetal heart rate during the home birth. He also asserted that because Chachere had no role in the pre-natal or post-natal care of the mother or the twins, the baby’s death cannot be attributed to any of her actions.

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The issue in this medical malpractice claim based on the death of an infant during childbirth is whether the mother must suffer a physical injury in order to sustain a claim for emotional distress.

In March 1983, plaintiff was admitted to the labor and delivery unit of defendant hospital. During the course of her labor, plaintiff’s attending physician, defendant doctor, prescribed Pitocin to stimulate contractions. The Pitocin was administered intravenously to plaintiff and, as a result, her contractions increased in intensity and frequency. Plaintiff gave birth to a baby boy. The infant was in respiratory distress at birth and died approximately 6 1/2 hours later.

Plaintiff filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital, as well as against the doctor and nurse who attended to the plaintiff throughout her labor and delivery. The plaintiff seeks recovery for serious personal injuries, physical and emotional pain, disappointment, sadness, anxiety and psychological trauma.

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In Fabiano v. Philip Morris Inc., the court is presented with the issue of the circumstances under which false and misleading advertising of cigarettes by multiple manufacturers can be the basis for recovery in a product liability claim.

The decedent, Fabiano, smoked cigarettes for over 40 years, starting in 1956 when she was 14 years old. Over the years Fabiano and her husband smoked several different brands of cigarettes. Oftentimes Fabiano switched brands to the brand that her husband smoked. She also was concerned about her health, and sometimes opted for brands that were advertised as “lite,” and, therefore, healthier. In addition, Fabiano made multiple attempts to quit, but, because of her addiction, she was note able to until a few year prior to her death. Fabiano died in 2002 from lung cancer.

Fabiano’s daughter and her husband filed a product liability claim against several of the major cigarette manufacturers seeking damages. The defendants seek to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims for fraudulent misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation. In addition, their claims also include, failure to warn, fraudulent concealment, concerted action, conspiracy, aiding and abetting, defective design, addiction, wrongful death, loss of consortium, and punitive damages.

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This medical malpractice action arises out of the labor and delivery of plaintiff Bustos’ son. Due to the large size of her baby, Bustos suffered a fractured pelvis bone during the vaginal delivery. Bustos filed a medical malpractice claim against her doctor, asserting that he departed from good and accepted standards of medical practice by failing to properly evaluate the size of the fetus and failing to recommend a cesarean section. As a result, Bustos sustained symphysis pubis diastasis—a separation and/or fracture of the lower pelvic bone—following the vaginal delivery of her son, requiring surgical intervention and pinning.

The standard for whether a doctor committed medical malpractice is whether the doctor’s care and treatment of the patient deviated from accepted community standards of medical practice, and as a result, the patient was injured.

Defendant Segarra cared for Bustos during her pregnancy. She had regular appointments with him throughout her pregnancy. On the morning of April 1, 2003, Bustos was admitted to Lenox Hill where she delivered a healthy 10-pound baby boy via vaginal delivery. During delivery Bustos was positioned flat on her back on the delivery table and her legs were spread apart with her heels hitched onto the stirrups. The bones where the two halves of her pelvis met were relaxed by the hormones of childbirth but the doctor performed a hyper flexion-abduction maneuver after she was given an epidural. Following the delivery, Bustos complained of bilateral back and leg pain. She then had surgery to repair her fractured pelvis. Bustos maintains that her pelvis would not have fractured if the doctor had properly determined the baby’s delivery weight and delivered her baby via cesarean section. The baby was large, as is common when the mother suffers from gestational diabetes—as did Bustos. The pelvic fracture could have been avoided if the baby was delivered via a cesarean section.

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