January 18, 2014
Incoming Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, has promised to address the issue of traffic accidents, which resulted in 286 deaths in 2013 alone. Mayor de Blasio has his work cut out for him, as demonstrated by the events on Saturday, January 18, 2014, when two people were killed and one seriously injured in three separate auto accidents in Queens and Manhattan.
In Queens, 68 year-old Angela Hurtado was killed after being struck by an unlicensed driver making an illegal left turn onto Grand Avenue from 69th Place. Hurtado was rushed to the emergency room of Elmhurst Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The driver was taken into police custody for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Apparently the driver was a mechanic test-driving a 2002 Mitsubishi Montero at the time of the fatal auto crash.
Also in Queens, a homeless man died after being struck by a 2011 Ford Expedition on Cross Island Parkway. The man was pronounced dead at the scene of the auto accident. The Ford driver was not criminally charged.
In a horrific Manhattan accident, a 63 year-old woman was struck by a truck driver and dragged along as the driver failed to realize that he struck the woman. People waiting at a bus stop screamed at the truck driver to get him to pull over. The woman lost her leg in the truck accident, but she is luckily expected to survive. The truck driver has been arrested and criminally charged for running a red light.
The New York mayor is expected to announce a series of measures designed to decrease the troubling rate of fatal accidents in the Big Apple. The measures expected include redesigns of dangerous intersections, harsher criminal and civil penalties for reckless and negligent drivers and lower speed limits.
Car accidents can result in serious personal injuries and even death that can greatly disrupt the lives of the victims and their families. If you or someone you love has been injured in a Massachusetts car accident, call the experts to learn whether you are entitled to personal injury damages.
