Nassau County personal injury Law Blog

As summer brings beautiful weather, drivers on the road should also expect to see more pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists on the road. When sharing the road, motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians all have a duty to obey traffic laws. However, despite the caution a person may exercise, Nassau County motorcycle accidents attorneys know that the negligence of another on the road may result in an accident which can cause serious injury or even death.

New York residents may have heard about a recent accident involving two cars and one motorcycle wherein six people, including a 4-year-old child, were injured. The accident is still under investigation, but preliminary reports note that the multi-vehicle occurred when the car right in front of a Harley-Davidson slowed down, but the motorcyclist was unable to stop and tried to avoid hitting the car. As a result of this action, the motorcyclist and a passenger were thrown off the motorcycle, but the motorcycle continued unmanned and struck another car. The collision between the second car and the unmanned motorcycle made that car go airborne, flipping and striking a utility pole and embankment.

Driving is a fact of life for most people, and necessary to get from point A to point B, to transport and to deliver goods. In today's fast paced and hectic life, personal situations such as an ill family member or new baby, and long work hours may lead to a lack of sleep. The risk of getting into an accident increases when a fatigued and drowsy driver gets behind the wheel of a vehicle.

In fact, New York residents will find it interesting to learn that according to federal statistics, from 2000-2010 more than 11,000 deaths alone were attributed to drowsy driving. If someone has lost a family member or suffered a serious injury in a car accident due to a drowsy or fatigued driver, a Nassau County car accident attorney may be able to assist them recover compensation to cover their medical expenses.

The accessibility, affordability, ease of using electronic devices and the need for society to constantly be connected with others, has increased distracted driving in recent years. Today everyone has a handheld device or smartphone and people often text, talk on phone or check the internet. However, using such devices while driving is one the leading causes of distracted driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration distracted driving is any activity that a driver of a car engages in which takes their attention away from the main task of driving. Text messaging, for example, requires drivers to take their eyes off the road for a total of 23 seconds. In 2011 alone over 3300 people were killed and nearly 387,000 people were injured in car accidents as a result of distracted drivers. Anyone who has been injured by a distracted driver should contact a Nassau county car accident attorney.

After a fatal drunk driving accident in New York, the authorities may choose to prosecute the responsible party for driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter or other crimes. For the family of the victim, seeing the driver convicted may bring some measure of justice or feelings of closure, but it often doesn't help much with the financial burdens that follow a fatal car accident.

A Nassau County jury recently convicted a man in connection with a 2011 drunk driving crash that left a man dead. At his sentencing hearing, the court gave the man the maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. The conviction reportedly represents just the third time a Nassau County court has convicted someone of the charge depraved indifference homicide in a DWI accident.