Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

Move over taxi services. You’re sooo “old school”! I mean, come on, making us stand on a corner and hale you down? Geez.

Uber is the new black. Just download the Uber app on your smart phone and it will “connect you with a driver at the tap of a button”, according to the Uber webpage. An Uber driver will appear out of nowhere, having almost instantly obtained your location from his or her Uber drivers’ app. No cash exchanges hands — the rider’s “fare” is paid automatically through his Uber online account.

Uber essentially connects freelance, self-employed drivers with anyone needing a ride in major cities, including New York City. It now operates in 26 countries and 50 cities. But at least here in the U.S. sticky questions are coming up about Uber’s liability for crashes its drivers might cause.

If you are like me, you might end up downing a few more drinks than usual during the Holiday Season, especially at the dreaded “office party”! And I am sure I don’t have to tell you that it is illegal, dangerous, and plain wrong to drink and drive — your judgment, coordination, and reflexes are all impaired.

But did you know it may not not be safe to drive the next day, either? According to two recent studies, being hungover, even with zero alcohol content in your blood, impairs your driving performance almost as much as being drunk.

Participants in the experiments went out drinking on the designated night (I am sure they found plenty of “volunteers” for this experiment), had about 10 drinks each (yowzer!), and the next morning took a 20-minute simulated drive through urban and rural settings.

Blow a stop sign, speed, or turn without signaling, and a cop can see it, stop you, and ticket you. Even talking on a hand-held cell phone (illegal in New York) can be seen from outside your car. But texting-while-driving is different. How does a cop “catch” you doing it? Most texters keep their phone down on their lap or at least below the window line, so a cop traveling behind, or even beside the texter, is not going to see it happen.

Until now. New York has recently given State Troopers thirty-two tall, unmarked SUVs for the express purpose of peering down at drivers’ hands and catching them “red-handed”.

This reminds me of a funny scene from the 1960’s Peter Sellers’ film, “A Shot in the Dark”, where Peter Sellers and a young lady end up having to escape naked in a small car. They are able to navigate the narrow streets of Paris without other motorists noticing they are naked, until a tall tourist bus pulls up next to them. Hilarious. See the scene here.

As New York car accident lawyers, we have represented many critically injured motor vehicle accident victims over the years. One thing we have learned is that first responders who arrive at the scene of a wreck aren’t always able to take into account the victims’ health history or medical conditions before rendering treatment. And that’s too bad, because that knowledge can mean the difference between life and death.

For example, I am on a blood thinner (Xarelto) because if have developed some atrial fibrillation – a common and minor disorder of the heart. And I sure would want anyone performing emergency medical care on me to know about that. After all, I could bleed to death if they do surgery on me without knowing I am on blood thinners.

Now there is a potentially life-saving program from the New York State Sheriffs’ Association that can help you, your family, and your friends alert first providers about their medical conditions and medications. It’s called the “Yellow Dot Program” and it works like this:

I recently blogged about Governor Cuomo’s new beefed up penalty for texting while driving (from a 3-point violation to 5 points). But apparently the Gov ain’t done tackling texting. His latest anti-texting initiative is to designate old rest stops along the Thruway and other major highways as “Texting Zones” (see photo).

Here’s my take on the Gov’s new laws: I know the Governor might be naïve to think that his “texting zones” are going to make a lot of texters pull over, just as I know that increased penalties are not likely to put a dent in the texting while driving problem. But I submit he’s moving in the right direction.

The truth is that texting while driving is now so pervasive in New York, and probably everywhere else, too, that the Governor’s anti-texting measures are the equivalent of sticking your finger in a dike that has already burst. Believe me, I know how ubiquitous the practice is, since I sue texting drivers for the broken lives their habit leaves behind.

Texters beware! You might be held liable for a distant car crash happening right now as you sit in the comfort of your living room texting a friend. To find out how this is possible, read on!

A New Jersey appellate court recently held that texting to a driver you know is reading your texts, or is likely to do so, while driving, can make you liable, along with the driver, for any resulting accidents (Kubert v. Best, 2013 WL 4512313, N.J. Super. App. Div. Aug. 27, 2013). This is the first case in the nation expanding tort liability for car accidents to remote texters. Until now, only the texting driver could be held liable for the accident he caused while texting, not the companion texting with him from some remote location.

The case was cleverly argued by plaintiffs’ counsel. They pointed to case law that said a passenger in a motor vehicle has a duty “not to interfere with the driver’s operations”. For example, it has long been the rule that a passenger can be held liable, along with the driver, for showing him a road map to read while driving where the distraction causes an accident.

This Central New York Personal Injury lawyer handles a fair amount of car accident cases. I see a lot of bloody and broken tragedy behind the wheel. Young inexperienced teenagers are the worst. How many kids have I seen wreck their lives, and those of others, in stupid car accidents? Every time one of those kids’ parents walks in my door, I cringe – will that be my kid someday?

So letting my own 16-year old boy get a driver’s license does not come easy. My parental paranoia increased ten-fold when one of my partner’s 17-year old kid wrapped his car around a tree this year. He, lost consciousness for several hours, and ended up with a traumatic brain injury. Luckily he healed well after several months, but jeez, what a fright and worry for his poor parents.

But it’s time to cut the umbilical cord. No more helicopter parenting for me. Today he takes his mandatory four-hour driving course, which then allows us to sign him up for his driver’s test. He’ll be showing off his driver’s license by his 17th birthday (September 30).

Hey text-a-maniacs, you just got a raise! Starting yesterday, your habit will cost you five points on your license instead of three. Of course it could also cost you your life, and the lives of others.

To put this into perspective, texting while driving will now cost you as many points as driving past a stopped school bus or speeding 30 miles per hour more than the posted speed limit. It is now at the top echelon of driving offenses.

And for good reasons. Gov. Cuomo justified the new law (not that he needed to) by stating the obvious: Texting while driving is a growing problem, especially among young drivers.