Motor Vehicle Accidents

“Trucks Are Killing Us”, says NY Times and Central NY Injury Lawyer

August 25, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Just read a New York Times op-ed piece titled “Trucks Are Killing Us”. As Syracuse NY trucking accident lawyers, we already knew that. And we also knew that truck-accident fatalities are increasing at the same time as car fatalities are decreasing. That’s because trucks are getting bigger and heavier, and their drivers are not getting any better. And that puts all of us who are on the road in danger.

We’re on the road – so to speak – to a major national trucking accident crisis. And what is congress doing about it? Making matters worse! Here are some of the things Congress has done according to the article:

trimmed back well-considered safety improvements ordered by federal regulators, including, for example, a rule that allowed truck drivers to work only 70 hours a week (the new rule allows for 82 hours);

New York’s Highest Court Grants Dog Owners Impunity For Releasing Dogs Into Traffic.

June 12, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

I have a love/hate relationship with dogs. I love my dog, but I hate dogs who chase me on my bike or who snarl at me on my runs. When I go bike riding out on the country roads near Geneva, NY where I live, I even carry a small pepper spray canister to defend myself from man’s best friend.

Yes, I protect myself from “unleashed” dogs. But unfortunately, New York State negligence law does not. Believe me. As a NY personal injury lawyer who handles dog bite / attack cases, I know first hand!

The problem in New York – unlike in other states – is that to hold a dog owner liable for injuries, you need to show the owner knew or should have known the dog had “vicious propensities”. If you do, the owner is “strictly” liable to you for your injuries. That’s all well and good where a dog with a history of biting or attacking bites you, but not much else.

Girl Hit By One Car And Then Run Over By Another In Auburn, NY

June 9, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

I was glad to read in the news today that the condition of a 15-year-old girl who was struck on Monday by one car and then run over by another, in Auburn, New York, has improved. The girl’s condition has been upgraded from “life-threatening” to “fair” at Upstate University Hospital, according to police.

It doesn’t surprise me that this accident happened on Grant Ave, one of the busiest — and most accident prone – roads in all of Cayuga County. We have represented many car accident victims who were hit on that busy arterial. The posted speed limit is rarely obeyed there — motorists are in a hurry, rushing between Auburn and Syracuse and all the places in between.

The girl was trying to cross Grant Ave in a rain storm shortly after 9 p.m., near the Metro Mattress store. She was apparently trying to reach the MacDonald’s on the other side of Grant Ave. A driver trying to make a left turn from Grant onto McIntosh Drive struck her. Then, to make matters much worse, a second car ran over her as she lay in the road.

When Man Tries To Kill Mom With SUV, Does Auto Insurance Cover it?

June 4, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

I read recently about the case of a man charged with attempting to murder his mom by ramming her with his SUV as she sat in her living room. He ran it right through the wall. Why? Apparently he had a financial dispute with her. In my humble opinion, that’s a pretty lame excuse for murdering your mother. And geez, the weapon he chose was pretty bizarre, too.

The guy obviously has a screw loose, or more likely a brain full of loose screws.

The mother, of Mamakating, in Sullivan County, NY, ended up in the hospital with severe injuries. The son/driver, of Bloomingburg, NY, was charged with several crimes, including second-degree attempted murder. (Shouldn’t there be a separate and more severe charge for attempted mom murder?)

Central NY Injury Lawyer Gives Free Legal Advice!

June 1, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Who says nothing in life is “free”? Here’s some free legal advice from your Central New York injury lawyer:

Do not — I repeat, do NOT – drop the F-bomb on a cop while he is arresting you for homicidal drunk driving after you have just killed a teenager.

That’s exactly what a Syracuse homicidal drunk driver did at Destiny USA. The crash happened at Hiawatha Boulevard and Solar Streets, at the entrance to Destiny USA. He had just gone through a red light and struck the side of a car carrying two teenagers. The teenage driver was killed and the passenger wounded. When the cops arrived on the scene, he explained the accident – in a drunken stupor – like this: “they pulled out in front of me, (f-bomb) them”. He also told the officer to “go (f-bomb) yourself” when asked to submit to a blood test for alcohol content. He is facing up to 25 years of prison if convicted, but I say they should tag on an extra ten for hubris. The guy has had three drunken driving charges in the past five years.

Lane Splitting On A Motorcycle Is Dangerous And Illegal In New York.

April 30, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

It’s motor cycle season again. While I don’t have the statistics for last year yet, I know that a total of 4,381 motorcyclists died in U.S. crashes in 2013. That’s about 30 times the number of people who died in car crashes, even though many more cars than bikes travel our roads.

Many of those deaths are not the bikers’ fault; four-wheel drivers just don’t see motorcycles. They then cut them off or come blasting out from stop signs into their right of way.

But of course many bikers cause their own death or serious injury, too. One way to do it is called “lane-splitting”. That’s where you ride through the space between cars in parallel traffic lanes. If a cop catches you, it’ll cost you 2-points on your license. If a car “catches” you, it could cost you your life.

Ouch! A $58,000.00 Speeding Ticket. Central NY Injury Lawyer Reports.

April 26, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

As a recipient of more than a few speeding tickets within the last few decades, I took an interest in this NY Times article about a $58,000.00 speeding ticket in Finland.

The offender was clocked at 64 miles per hour in a 50 mile per hour zone. Doing the math, that works out to $4,143.00 for every mile per hour above the limit.

Why so high? What determined the high price was not so much the offense as the offender. The speedster was a multimillionaire in one of the few countries in the world where fines for traffic infractions are calculated based in large part on your income. The mindset in this Scandinavian country is that the sting of the fine should be felt equally by rich and poor. The sting of a $100 fine is felt by the street sweeper but not by the banking tycoon. Thus, in ~~Finland~~ Fine-land the government calculates your fine based on half your daily net income multiplied by the number of days of income you should lose according to the gravity of the offense. This particular $58,000 ticket represented a half-a-day’s income of the wealthy offender.

A Wrongful Death Case That Will Make You Weap . . .

April 15, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Warning: This is a sad story.

A man’s 16-year old daughter was killed when her car veered off a bridge, overturned, and flipped into a creek. After the accident, the authorities agreed to install a guardrail on the bridge to prevent similar tragedies.

Thirty days went by and still no guardrail. The grieving father – who could not stand the sight of the unprotected bridge – decided to take matters into his own hands. He began to build a temporary guardrail. As he was in the act of doing so, the authorities asked him to stop. He refused. He just could not stand to see another car go by unprotected.

Caution, Graphic Video. Texting While Driving Kills. From Central New York Injury Lawyer.

April 9, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

This is not easy to stomach. Not for you. Not for your teenager. But watch it. And then make sure your teenager watches it. The driver of the car in the photo was texting and did not see the tractor trailor stop to turn left. The video below is very graphic. Don’t text and drive!

video of texting while driving accident

Keep safe!

Snow, Sleet And Rain Are Literally “Deadly” In Upstate New York

March 27, 2015 | by Michael Bersani

Did you see the recent article in the Syracuse Post Standard about weather-related motor vehicle death statistics? Statistics can be pretty boring. But I found this pretty interesting.

The new study shows that SNOW, SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN cause more than 800 vehicle-related deaths each year in the U.S. And one of the highest snow-related death areas was – you guessed it – Upstate New York’s “snow belt”. Hey, if Syracuse basketball can’t be number 1, at least Syracuse is number 1 at something . . . 🙂

Lake effect snow is literally deadly. Not surprisingly, the intensity of snowfall correlated strongly with the number of vehicle deaths. Also not surprisingly, New York City has a much lower rate of snow-related motor vehicle deaths than Upstate. Onondaga County and Oswego Counties had the highest rates in the state.