pedestrian accident

Published on: July 1, 2020

$12.5 MILLION DOLLARY RECOVERY FOR PEDESTRIAN STRUCK BY BUS

$12,500,000 RECOVERY – PLAINTIFF PEDESTRIAN STRUCK BY BUS TURNING LEFT FROM BEHIND HIM AS PLAINTIFF WAS IN CROSSWALK – NYCTA’s INVESTIGATION TEAM CONCLUDED THAT PLAINTIFF WALKED INTO SIDE OF BUS SOME 70 FEET FROM CROSSWALK – PLAINTIFF OBTAINED TRANSCRIPT OF INITIAL CALL BETWEEN DRIVER AND NYCTA THROUGH STATE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW, IN WHICH DRIVER INDICATED THAT INCIDENT OCCURRED AS BUS WAS TURNING – PLAINTIFF WOULD HAVE ALSO POINTED TO OBSERVATIONS OF INDEPENDENT EYEWITNESS WHO WAS NOT REFERENCED IN NYCTA REPORT

Queens County, NY

The plaintiff pedestrian, 40 at the time, contended that as he was crossing in the crosswalk, the defendant driver of a NYCTA bus made a left turn from behind him without making adequate observations, striking him with the left front of the bus and rolling over him. The plaintiff maintained that he suffered severe crush injuries to the lower half of his body and that the injuries included a severe wound to the groin , and the need for a hemipelvectomy in which the leg was amputated at the hip. The defendant sent out a “rapid response investigative team” who concluded that the incident occurred approximately 70 feet from the intersection, after the defendant had completed her left turn and that the plaintiff had walked into the side of the bus. The police report was largely consistent with the NYCTA position.

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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: 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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