White Plains Motor Vehicle Accidents Law Blog

When New York recently made texting while driving a primary offense, the government indicated how dangerous the activity is. While it is undeniable that distracted driving and, more specifically texting while driving, is extremely risky behavior, there is another kind of driving that is even more likely to lead to severe injuries -- failing to properly use a turn signal.

In a single year, there are approximately 950,000 accidents caused by distracted driving, but there are about 2 million car crashes linked to turn signal misuse in the same time period. Although it may seem simple to use a turn signal when changing lanes or making a turn, it seems that many people in New York and across the country just don't comply with the obligation to use a turn signal.

The New York City car accident that recently left seven family members dead in a remote corner of the Bronx Zoo was certainly tragic. What it was not, however, was an isolated event. In fact, the stretch of the Bronx River Parkway where this fatal car accident occurred has one of the deadliest histories of any road in the entire state and has been in dire need of serious repair for decades.

This is not news to city and state officials. A federally-mandated report issued just last year included the elevated stretch of the Bronx River Parkway near the 177^th Street exit where this most recent accident as one of the worst five percent of "problem roads" in New York. The same report also said that the north and southbound lanes of this section currently need at least $37 million in repairs and safety improvements.

In October we covered a horrific accident that left a 37-year-old man from Maspeth, Queens, dead, the driver of the livery car that he was in injured and the passenger of the car that hit them with a head injury. In the five months since the fatal hit-and-run accident, the United States Marshal's Regional Fugitive Task Force worked with the New York Police Department to capture the driver of the 2002 Chrysler Sebring who was driving the wrong-way down a one-way service road to the Long Island Expressway driver and charged him with negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run.

While the driver has pled guilty and can expect a 3 1/2- to seven-year sentence, the family of the 37-year-old Queens man is unhappy with the punishment. Although it is unknown if they have filed a wrongful death or motor vehicle accident lawsuit against the driver, the family members could work with a personal injury attorney to hold the driver civilly liable for his role in their loved one's death.

With the large number of motorcyclists in New York, it is no surprise that there are also quite a few motorcycle accidents. Unfortunately, many drivers in White Plains and across New York consistently ignore bikers or fail to yield to their right of way, causing New York motorcycle accidents. Until drivers pay enough attention to everyone on the road, there will continue to be very serious motorcycle accidents.

Upstate New York was the site of one of these serious accidents when a couple from Cheektowaga, just outside of Buffalo, crashed into a car pulling out of a parking lot. Police are still investigating the accident and it is unclear exactly what happened, but the couple were thrown from their motorcycle and died.