When you get out of your car to help another in a car accident, there’s always a risk. Several people stopped to help driver Samantha Maloney, age 22 on Friday night after she was driving drunk and crashed her car into a divider. She was driving on Whitestone Expressway near the Grand Central intersection.
Various newspapers covered the accident, including the New York Post and Gothamist. According to the media, Samantha called her friend Victoria Garratt, also 22, to help her. When both gals were outside their cars surveying the damage, off-duty EMT Christopher Pierce pulled over to help them. Shortly afterward, an off-duty police officer crashed his car into Pierce’s vehicle, which set off a chain reaction. Victoria was struck and sent flying over the divider 30 feet onto the area below. She suffered serious injuries and is in critical condition at NY Presbyterian Hospital in Queens. Pierce suffered a broken arm and Maloney was not injured. However, after the crash, Maloney was in such a state of shock that she didn’t know what she was saying, according to a witness at the accident scene.
From a legal perspective, Maloney may be charged with reckless endangerment. She should’ve called 911 instead of a friend. Pierce, although he has been injured before at accident scenes, is happy to stop and help despite the risks. As an EMT, he is trained to assist people in desperate situations and takes pride in what he does. The off-duty police officer had also been drinking but tested at .02 BAC, which is not above the legal limit. He has not been charged and his name has been withheld. It appears Maloney bears the legal liability for the 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.
• 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.