Car Accidents

Published on: September 23, 2016

17 Cycling Deaths This Year Spell Trouble For Vision Zero

The New York City Department of Transportation enjoyed a small victory last week with the announcement that the city has surpassed its goal of constructing 15 miles of fully protected bike lanes in 2016. By the end of this year, 18 miles will be completed.

This achievement has been overshadowed by another statistic, however. With 3 months left in the year, New York has seen 17 cyclist deaths so far in 2016. That is already 2 more deaths than 2015’s tally.

The increase in deaths diminishes hope for the success of Vision Zero, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to eliminate traffic deaths by 2020.
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Published on: August 29, 2016

Millions Of Deadly Airbags Recalled; Is Your Car On The List?

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

What do BMW, Daimler AG, Fiat, Ford, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Saab, Subaru, Tata Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen have in common?

Aside from comprising some of the most popular and successful automakers in the world, these companies all opted to equip their cars with deadly airbags in order to cut costs.

At least 14 Americans are dead and more than 100 are injured as a result of the defective airbags produced by Japanese automotive supplier Takata Corporation. Over 100 million Takata airbags have been installed in American cars over the last two decades, resulting in what is now the largest auto safety recall in history.
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Published on: July 11, 2016

Why Did Fiat Wait Until Anton Yelchin’s Death to Start Fixing Its Cars?

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was killed on June 19th, crushed by his own 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee after it rolled backwards down his steep driveway. Mr. Yelchin was just 27 years old.

Recent Jeep Grand Cherokee models as well as Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s sedans—all owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles—have a history of rollaway incidents. The problem was first officially recognized in August 2015, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated a preliminary evaluation of the gear shifter design flaw that has been confusing drivers and causing accidents.
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Published on: May 4, 2016

Some States Have Thousands More Drunk Drivers Than Others

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

Nearly 10,000 Americans died from drunk driving collisions in 2014.

Statistics show that alcohol is a factor in over 30% of driving fatalities. Drunk drivers tend to be young—26 to 29 is the highest risk age range—and male—men arrested for drunk driving outnumber women 3 to 1.

Now, thanks to a survey published by CarInsuranceComparison.com, we know which states have the highest occurrences of drunk driving.

The survey gave each state a ranking that takes into account drunk driving fatalities, DUI arrests and penalties, and the laws in place to deter drunk driving, among other factors.
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Published on: March 28, 2016

8 Chinatown Bus Carrier Operators Arrested

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

26 Chinatown bus companies were shut down by transportation regulators in May 2012 for employing unqualified drivers and operating buses that were either not regularly inspected or in need of repair. The crackdown on companies that included Apex Bus, Inc., New Century Travel, Inc. and 1-95 Coach, Inc., was in response to multiple fatal bus crashes the year before, which left 17 dead and many more injured.

If you thought that mass shutdown meant the end of dangerous Chinatown bus companies, you were sadly mistaken.

Last week, police arrested 8 bus carrier operators that, along with 6 other individuals still at large, have been charged with impeding a U.S. Department of Transportation investigation as well as fraud.
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Published on: March 11, 2016

Are E-Bikes Dead in New York?

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

New Yorkers are no strangers to the aggravations of widespread e-bike use. Up until last year, pedestrians frequently dealt with e-bikes taking up the sidewalk, while many drivers experienced e-bike riders heading the wrong way into traffic.

That’s why, after over a decade of virtually unenforceable legislation, New York finally cracked down on e-bike use.

In July of last year, the NYPD was given orders to hand out tickets to e-bike riders with fines up to $500. Between July and October, police issued over 685 summonses for e-bike and motorized scooter use, and seized 96 vehicles.
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Published on: February 24, 2016

1 in 5 Vehicles on the Road is Defective, Says Carfax Report

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

In 2014, automakers set a new record for the number of car models recalled because of safety defects. In 2015, they obliterated that record.

Nearly 900 models were recalled last year, translating to 64 million recalled cars in the US.

More frightening than this, however, is the fact that many drivers never get their cars repaired after a recall is announced.

There are 47 million unrepaired vehicles with open recalls throughout the country, reports a new study by Carfax. That means that roughly 1 in 5 cars on the road are currently in need of serious repairs.
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Published on: December 17, 2015

Highway Guardrail Maker Sold Defective Rails For Years

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

At least nine motorists are dead because of a design change in the highway guardrails produced by Texas-based Trinity Industries Inc.

In 2005, Trinity changed the design of its ET-Plus guardrail systems in order to cut production costs, but in doing so the company created an added danger for the drivers and passengers of cars that collided with the rails.

Trinity was required by law to alert the National Highway Administration (NHWA) of the design change, but it did not. Instead, the company continued to sell its guardrails to state governments under the pretense that the design was the same. Continue reading →

Published on: December 8, 2015

The Biker’s Rules of the Road

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

Though it may not feel like it yet, winter is here. We’re all familiar with the shorter days, freezing temperatures and occasional snowfall that winter brings, but what about the added dangers for pedestrians and cyclists?

Colder weather means many cyclists are bundling up, limiting their range of vision and mobility. Ice on the road and sidewalk poses a threat to pedestrians and cyclists alike.

As darkness falls earlier each night, most New Yorkers are now forced to commute after nightfall. The greatest number of auto collisions occurs in the late afternoon and evening, and accidents during this time tend to be more deadly. Driving after dark carries a three times higher fatality rate than during the day.
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Published on: November 15, 2015

City Responds to 11 Pedestrian Deaths in Single Week

By Caesar, Napoli & Spivak PLLC

Last week was one of the worst for New York pedestrians, with 11 pedestrian deaths occurring across the city in a span of several days.

This recent surge in traffic fatalities reflects poorly on Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative, a plan introduced last year that reduced speed limits, increased the number of red light cameras and cracked down on jaywalkers in order to eliminate auto injuries and fatalities. Many critics say Vision Zero is not doing nearly enough to reach the mayor’s goal.

Last week’s pedestrian deaths included 3 trick-or-treaters killed when a car jumped the curb, as well as a grandmother struck by a dump truck on her way to a Bronx laundromat. 50-year-old Floria Burton, known as Ms. Pat by her friends and neighbors, was caught under the truck’s wheels while crossing the street with her friend Maritza Delesus. When Maritza banged on the driver’s door asking him to stop, the driver reversed back over Floria, crushing her body a second time.
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