New York, NY Personal Injury Law Blog

In the wake of two tragic bus crashes in the state of New York that left 23 people dead in total, a new $1 million program has been launched to improve the process for safety inspection of buses. Rather than simply inspect each bus several times each year, the new program uses a performance-based system to identify the bus companies with the worst safety records and targets those companies for increased inspections - hopefully reducing New York bus accidents in the process. Regardless of their safety record, every bus company will receive at least two inspections per year.

The new inspection program was kick-started after some extremely egregious behavior by bus companies. In October 2011, a New York Trailways bus rear-ended a truck in Sloatsburg, killing eight people. A second, much worse, crash occurred in March 2012, when a bus returning from a Connecticut casino tipped over and collided with a pole, ripping the roof off of the bus and killing 15 people. It was revealed that the driver had been going almost 80 mph at the time of the crash, and a background check of the driver showed that he was a convicted felon. Following this accident, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for an investigation into how a convicted felon could obtain a commercial driver's license, and spurred the increased safety inspections.

The dangers of construction work were realized first hand when an accident left one worker dead and two others seriously injured. Construction crews were demolishing a one story building owned by Columbia University located on West 130^th Street in Harlem. Shortly before they began working it, the building crumbled, crushing one worker and trapping two others.

While an investigation into the New York construction accident is still ongoing, it appears that the collapse occurred when a beam supporting the main structure gave way. Whether this was due to human error or structural integrity remains to be seen.

Injured workers may be entitled to a variety of remedies, including workers' compensation and possible third party actions. Workers' compensation benefits help to maintain a reasonable standard of living and maintain their financial obligations while they are unable to work. Award payments are based on a claimant's ability to work, and the extent of work they are to perform based on a doctor's restrictions.

New York residents are all too aware of the problem of drunk driving. It is now common for 30,000 or more drivers to be arrested annually for drunk driving in the state. However, what people may not be aware of is the rapid increase in another type of impaired driving: driving while under the influence of prescription drugs.

While driving under the influence of drugs is not mentioned in the press as much as drunk driving, it is just as dangerous and just as likely to lead to car accidents on New York roadways.

Across New York, drugged driving arrests rose from 1,669 in 2001 to 2,248 in 2011, a statewide increase of 35 percent over ten years. Parts of the state experienced a much greater increase. In New York City for example, the numbers more than quadrupled in the same time period, going up from 81 to 357.

Recent fatalities attributed to drugged driving include a Medford mother, killed as she stood next to her car by a driver alleged to have taken prescription drugs, and a five-year-old West Islip boy who died when his father's truck was hit by a driver who apparently was under the influence of oxycodone.

It is more difficult for police to determine that a driver is impaired by drugs than it is to identify a drunk driver. Drugged drivers do not necessarily exhibit the same kind of behavior that characterizes those who are drunk. Few police forces have any equipment and technology to test for the influence of prescription drugs. They have no approved detection devices comparable to breathalyzers used with drunk drivers that can be carried in police cars and used on the spot when a suspected drugged driver is pulled over.

Cell phone use while driving has become a social norm. While it is a common habit of drivers, it also causes distracted driving that can result in injuries or fatalities. Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made a recommendation that would ban all non-emergency cell phone use by drivers.

The NTSB is a Federal agency whose mission is to review transportation accidents, define the reasons for the accidents and promote transportation safety. In review of cell phone related motor vehicle accidents, the NTSB created a recommendation that will drastically alter cell phone use while driving for all 50 states.

The recommendation creates total ban on all cell phone use while driving. The total ban includes all cell phone use, including hands-free devices and bans cell phone use by drivers of all ages. The ban encompasses all cell phone usage that is non-emergency. While the ban is aimed at drivers, it does not affect passengers.