Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Once winter comes along, many people know that it’s important to winterize their home. They may clean their gutters, flush the water heater, replace filters and cover their windows with insulation film. While we try not to forget our home in terms of winterization, some of us might forget that we need to winterize our vehicles as well. But what does that entail?

First, it’s important to keep your car maintained. Make sure you check the fuel system, belts, ignition system and exhaust system. Make sure you have windshield wiper fluid that can withstand the freezing temperatures and that your windshield wipers are in working condition. Drivers will often have to clear their windshield of snow and dried road salt, which can severely block visibility.

Make sure your gasoline tank is full, especially if you are entering long stretches of road. Having a full gas tank can also reduce the risk that a gas line will freeze.

Car accidents can happen during any time of the year, but New York drivers are all too aware that the winter season brings many unique dangers that can lead to horrific accidents and injuries. While most drivers understand that they need to take extra precautions on snowy and icy winter roads, there are some tips that they may not be aware of.

There are those that are pretty obvious: don’t drink and drive, know the road conditions in your area, leave room between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you, and make sure to not be distracted while driving.

Some tips that may not be as familiar could also save your life. If you have antilock brakes, don’t pump them. Just steer and step gently on the break. If you begin to slide, don’t jerk the wheel. Instead, take your foot off the gas and steer into the skid and slowly apply the brakes if needed.

When our readers think about personal injury cases, they may first think about a two-car collision that happens on a New York road and leads to serious injuries. While this scenario does happen quite a bit, personal injury cases that result from car accidents can come in many different forms.

For example, a personal injury claim may be brought as a result of a one-car accident. This may happen if a passenger is injured due to the negligent behavior of a driver. The driver may have been distracted when the vehicle crashed or may have even been intoxicated. The difficult part about these types of cases is that the two individuals in the vehicle may be friends or acquaintances. One-vehicle accidents can also happen if a hired driver is transporting passengers and ends up causing an accident due to negligent behavior.

It’s also important to remember that you don’t have to be severely injured in order to file a personal injury claim. Some victims may feel like their injuries are not severe enough to seek financial recompense. But the fact is, a seemingly minor injury may end up causing years of pain that may lead to years of physical therapy. For example, whiplash may seem like a minor injury at first and may not even be noticed right away. But with time, whiplash can lead to constant pain that may need to be treated with regular therapy sessions.

Many people hit the road almost daily in order to get to work or run errands. Most of those car rides will be uneventful and conclude with a safe arrival to the person’s intended destination. The possibility of a car accident may not even cross their mind as they take the same familiar route to work or to the grocery store. Unfortunately, accidents typically happen very suddenly and without little warning. This is especially the case when a vehicle is hit in a chain-reaction accident.

A recent chain-reaction accident in New York led to the injury of seven individuals. It happened on Monday around noon in Clay. According to police, the incident started with a driver leaving a grocery store parking lot. That driver tried to exit onto a road heading southbound. As the driver did so, another southbound driver swerved to the side to avoid hitting the first vehicle.

That vehicle then hit another southbound vehicle. Both vehicles on the road ended up in the northbound lanes, hitting yet another vehicle. The northbound car then hit another northbound car and a disabled truck that was on the side of the road. While five cars were involved in this domino-like incident, the car that was pulling out of the grocery store was not hit.

The holidays can be extremely stressful for some people. While most hope to spend the holidays relaxing in front of a fire, that is not always how it turns out. Many individuals are out running around trying to get presents, planning holiday parties and attending work events. There is a lot to get done and a lot of people to see.

Combine all these activities and the cold weather and you often end up with a variety of ailments. There are some pretty typical ways that people can hurt their health during the holidays. These ailments can even result in unfortunate consequences for others.

A typical health problem over the holidays is weight gain. It’s not uncommon for people to become more sedentary and to eat more food (especially sweets) during the holiday season. This can lead to overeating and eventual weight gain.

Losing a loved one any time of the year is difficult, but it can be especially hard during the holiday season. Most people are planning holiday get-togethers and thinking of what to buy each other. No one ever expects to suddenly lose a loved one in a senseless car accident.

An accident in a Brooklyn neighborhood recently took the life of a 30-year-old woman. The woman was apparently hit and killed by a driver at about 5:30p.m. on a Sunday evening. The driver of the car involved was apparently uninsured and unlicensed.

There were two other pedestrians that were seriously injured. The 30-year-old woman was taken to the hospital but was later pronounced dead.

Car accidents happen throughout Syracuse and the state of New York every day. While they are unfortunate, many of them are merely fender-benders that take up time and bring stress to the day. But for the truly unlucky, these accidents can bring severe injuries or even death.

Recently, a man driving a pickup truck in the town of Hannibal was killed when another driver failed to stop at a stop sign. The other driver, age 71, was headed down Route 7 just before 11p.m. on a recent Tuesday when he failed to stop. After the two vehicles collided, the situation was made even worse by an oncoming fuel tanker.

The tanker, being driven by a 31-year-old man from Weedsport, crashed into both vehicles and caused a fire. The pickup truck driver died at the scene of the accident. The 71-year-old man was seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Syracuse. The tanker driver got off with only minor injuries and was treated at the scene of the crash.

In New York City, there has been a recent flourish of pedestrian accidents which demonstrate how serious the consequences of a car crash can be. Over a dozen pedestrians have reportedly been killed in the Big Apple since Halloween, despite Mayor de Blasio’s ongoing efforts to completely eliminate traffic deaths in the city.

While these efforts have obviously not yet eliminated traffic fatalities, pedestrian fatalities are at least lower than they were in 2014. So far this year, a total of 109 pedestrians died in traffic accidents. Over the same period in 2014 there were 121. 

Mayor de Blasio’s plan to eradicate traffic fatalities, known as Vision Zero, has so far involved the reduction of speed limits to 25 miles per hour, increasing law enforcement presence setting up speed cameras, and changing traffic flow for particularly risky streets and crossings. Police have been focusing particularly on offenses like reckless driving, speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians, parking in traffic lanes and distracted driving.

In our last post, we began speaking about recent data showing an increase in car accidents in the first half of 2015, which may be partly due to increase cell phone use. As we noted, distracted driving is a problem every state is currently grappling with, using a variety of means.

In terms of distracted driving legislation, most states have a special statute aimed directly at cell phone use by drivers. These laws vary from state to state, both in how cell phone by drivers is regulated and how police officers may enforce the laws. Here in New York, the law is fairly straightforward in both of these respects. 

First of all, New York prohibits drivers of all ages from texting while driving. Texting is probably the distracted driving activity most banned among the states, and for good reasons. The texting ban is classified as a primary law, meaning that police officers may enforce the law even when there are no other violations. Secondary laws, by contrast, may only be enforced when there are other violations. Second, New York law bans the use of handheld devices by drivers of all ages. This is also classified as a primary law.

Recent data released by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration showed there was an 8.1 increase in the number of fatal accidents in the United States in the first half of 2015 following a decrease in 2014. The increase was reportedly the biggest six-month jump in traffic fatalities reported since 1977.

It is speculated that the widespread use of smartphones may have had some role in the increase, though officials have said it is still too early determine exactly what factors are behind the increase. Regardless of what exactly was behind the increase, it is well known that cell phones continue to contribute to many accidents.

One reason for the prominent role of cell phones in car accidents is that they are a significant source of distraction for drivers. Even when a driver uses a hands-free device, talking on the phone while driving can significantly reduce the amount of attention a driver devotes to safe driving. Another reason is that the use of cell phones is so widespread. According to the Pew Research Center, almost two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, which are particularly distracting when used for texting or surfing the Internet.