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A Legal Perspective for a Recent Tragic New York Accident

On April 1, 2015, a tragic car accident occurred in the Bronx on a snowy Grand Concourse service road. A cab driver, suffering from a seizure lost control of his cab. The cab hurled through the air, landed, and careened into four pedestrians. Footage of the accident posted on Facebook showed one of the victims being thrown across the median near the service road and E. 170th street and sliding into the curb. According to the news report, it was unclear which victim this was.

Kadeem Brown, a 25 year-old man died at the scene. The cab also struck a 39 year-old woman, Sarequa Howe and her five year old daughter. The mother survived, but her daughter was transported to Lincoln Hospital’s pediatric ward, and despite the physicians’ best efforts, they were unable to save her life. Manuel Quinones, age 55 was the other accident victim and he was in critical condition. The cab driver,44 year-old Emilio Garcia who had suffered the seizure, also survived the crash.

From the standpoint of a personal injury case, who is at fault? Do the victims have the right to sue?

In New York, the Insurance Law allows a personal injury victim in a traffic accident who suffers from “serious injury” to sue for negligence.

The law defines serious injury as the following:

• Death
• Dismemberment
• Significant disfigurement
• Fracture
• Loss of a fetus
• Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system
• Permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or member
• Significant limitation of use of a body function or system
• Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from carrying out usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during a period of 180 days immediately following the injury

In this case, it is likely that the cab driver and possibly the cab company, if the driver was not an independent cab driver, are liable parties in the accident case.

If you have been seriously injured in a car accident that was not your fault, an experienced NYC accident lawyer can work with you so you do not have to worry about legal matters. Medical expenses in serious accident cases can be exorbitant, and it is important for you to receive adequate compensation to offset the costs.