This is a very interesting and sad New York Wrongful Death / Personal Injury Case.

Since  records of the “rate of traffic fatalities” have been kept, 2009 has recorded the lowest rate ever! “Fatality rate” involves the number of traffic fatalities combined with the number of miles traveled.

In just the last year alone, there was an 8.9% in the number of deaths reported:  37,261 in 2008 and 33,963 in 2009.  The “rate” of deaths in 2008 was 1.25 per “100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT); in 2009 it was 1.16 per VMT–again, the lowest ever recorded!

Why the decline? According t the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is due to a combination of factors including the increased  use of seat belts prompted  by national campaigns to promote seat belt use, and campaigns to reduce drunk driving and distracted driving (which involve the use of cell phones for calls and texting). In addition to these items indicated by David Strickland, NHTSA Administrator, we should also look  to the increased presence of collision avoidance devices appearing in automobiles.

RECENT CASE A TWIST ON WHO CAN SUE THE BAR OWNER

As we saw in the previous post on Drunk Driving Lawsuits in New York, an injured person may sue the bar that provided liquor to a visibly intoxicated person, who caused the injury. If the person that was intoxicated injured themselves, the intoxicated person could NOT bring a lawsuit against the New York bar under the Dram Shop Act : The seller of liquor has no obligation to protect a consumer against the consequences of his own voluntary intoxication.
In this case, an injured lady had consumed very much alcohol at a bar, after she had ingested pain medication. When she left the bar, at about 5 AM, she attempted to cross a parkway. She was hit by a car. She sued the owner and driver of the car. (As noted above, she did not have the right to sue the bar that sold her the liquor).
The owner and driver of the car that hit the women then decided to bring the bar owner into the lawsuit. They made the point that the fact their vehicle hit the lady was due, in some significant way, to the fact that the bar allowed the lady to become excessively inebriated. Here, we have someone other than an injured party, seeking to make a bar owner partially or totally responsible for an injury, under the Dram Shop Act !
The trial (lower) court said this was NOT valid under the Dram Shop law. The Appeals Court (higher court) said it WAS a proper application of the intent of the Dram Shop law, and allowed the case to go forward !
The higher court ruled that the Dram Shop Act’s intention was to protect the communities of New York from the dangers that intoxicated people can cause the community, and allowing this lawsuit would further that intent.

It is interesting to see how the Dram Shop Laws will play out in the recent case against a New York City Police Officer Accused of Drunk Driving and Killing A Ministers Daughter in Brooklyn.

FIRST POST IN SERIES : DRAM SHOP LAWS IN NEW YORK

Those That Serve Alcohol can be Sued for Drunk Driving Accidents in New York

When a person drives while intoxicated and causes an accident, any person injured in that accident caused by the drunk driver may well have the ability to sue not only the owner and driver of the drunk driver’s vehicle.   You may be able to sue someone that supplied the liquor that caused the driver’s inebriation.   This applies, as well, to a person injured in any kind of accident at all that was caused by an intoxicated   person. (Caution: an intoxicated person causing injury to himself would NOT be able to sue the person that provided him with alcohol !).
This ability to sue the provider of alcohol  to an intoxicated adult “tortfeasor” (person that causes an accident) does have restrictions.  First, and most importantly, this law, in New York State, applies only to the commercial sale of alcohol.   Serving liquor to someone at a function or party, for example, would not bring the person  providing the liquor under this statute.
In order to hold a seller of liquor responsible, it is also necessary to show that the sale of the liquor went directly to the person that eventually caused the accident.   It is not enough to show that the person selling the alcohol sold it to one individual who then turned around and gave or sold it to the eventual “tortfeasor”.
Finally, it is essential in order to establish liability on the part of the person selling the liquor, to show that at the time the seller of alcohol  sold the liquor to the intoxicated  person, that buyer was VISIBLY INTOXICATED.   This may well be the most difficult aspect of  bringing a “Dram Shop Act” lawsuit,  since the requirements for the person bringing the lawsuit in showing “visible intoxication” at the time of the sale are very strict and burdensome.    It is this element alone that should make it immediately obvious toanyone injured by an intoxicated / drunk person  to contact experienced and knowledgeable New York Personal Injury Attorneys as quickly as possible  so that appropriated evidence can be gathered in an expeditious manner. DON’T ASSUME YOU KNOW THE ANSWER

“For the second time in five weeks, a New York City police officer has been arrested on charges of killing a pedestrian while driving drunk, this time in the Bronx, officials said on Friday.

Drana Nikac, 67, was killed.

The scene, Kingsbridge Avenue at West 232nd Street in the Bronx. It was the second recent fatality with a police officer at the wheel.

About 6:30 a.m., the police said, Detective Kevin C. Spellman, 42, a 22-year veteran of the Police Department, was driving south on Kingsbridge Avenue in his government sedan when he struck the woman, identified by relatives as Drana Nikac, 67, as she crossed the avenue near West 232nd Street in Kingsbridge.

Drunk Driving Accidents in New York should not be tolerated, especially by those that are commissioned with the protection of the citizens of New York. This is not only just an incident of Police Misconduct in NYC, this is seemd to be a further sign of a culture that seems accepting of shirking the responsibility to its citizens.  If you have been a victim of police misconduct or a drunk driving accident in New York, make sure to stand up for your rights and make your voice heard.  As citizens we have the responsibility to keep our protectors in check.

An 11-year-old girl has died after the car she was riding in overturned, and the driver has been charged with driving while intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter.

The accident happened early Sunday on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan.

Police say 31-year-old Carmen Huertas was driving with seven children, including her own daughter, to a sleepover at her Mount Eden home just before 1 a.m. Sunday when she lost control of the car.

The vehicle reportedly veered off road, flipped several times before hitting a tree.

Some girls were thrown from the car from the force of the impact, cops said.

Leandra Rosado, 11, of Chelsea, was taken to Saint Luke’s Hospital in Manhattan, and died there.

The other girls, ages 11 to 14, suffered broken wrists, broken legs, and contusions, according to a hospital spokesman.

Huertas’ 11-year-old daughter broke her wrist, he said.

Another tragedy in New York City involving speeding and children leads to death and unnecessary suffering of a family.  This is further proof that as a parent you must not only be directly responsible for your children but also for the lives of others.  As Car Accident Attorneys in New York City we see such preventable tragedy too often.

Don’t just think about your life, think about the lives of others. Imagine life with out your loved ones before you decide to endanger the lives of others, especially children, by driving recklessly or intoxicated.  One poor choice could be monumental.