A 44-year-old man riding an e-bike in Brooklyn was struck and killed in a hit-and-run collision
the night of Oct. 2. According to Streetsblog.org, the victim was riding his electric bike east on Linden Boulevard when the driver of a dark sedan traveling northbound on Snedikar Avenue in the New Lots section of Brooklyn hit him and didn’t stop at the scene of the crash.
The bicyclist was found with severe body trauma and taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries. The driver hasn’t been identified yet. The investigation is still ongoing. We offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the deceased bicyclist.
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Streetsblog.org reports that in 2020, police said they only caught 0.8% of the perpetrators of the 39,299 hit-and-run crashes in the city that year. On Linden Boulevard alone, there were 27 hit-and-run crashes just in 2020 including two at the very intersection where this Oct. 2 fatal bicycle accident occurred. None of those incidents were solved. On the entire 75th precinct, according to Streetsblog, there were 1,635 hit-and-run crashes in 2020. In 2019, there were 1,743 hit-and-run crashes in the precinct.
Streetsblog further reports that Linden Boulevard is a dangerous stretch of roadway mostly because of its three-lane design and one-lane service road. In 2019, there were 234 reported crashes on just the nine-block stretch between Van Sinderen and Pennsylvania avenues that left two bicyclists, six pedestrians and 84 motorists injured. At the intersection of Linden and Snedikar, according to Streetsblog, there have been 39 crashes since January 2019, about one a month, injuring two pedestrians and 18 drivers.
Under New York law, it is illegal to leave the scene of an injury or fatal crash. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 600 states: “Any person operating a motor vehicle who, knowing or having cause to know that personal injury has been caused to another person, due to an incident involving the motor vehicle operated by such person shall, before leaving the place where the said personal injury occurred, stop, exchange information and report the incident to the authorities.”
Liability Issues
In a hit-and-run crash, the driver and vehicle owner are both responsible parties even if the owner was not driving when the accident occurred. If the driver was on the job and/or operating a company vehicle at the time, his or her employer can also be held liable. When the driver is apprehended in a hit-and-run case, he or she can be held financially liable for the injuries, damages and losses caused. Such drivers can be held financially responsible whether or not they are arrested and/or charged. If a hit-and-run driver has injured you, please remember that you can seek compensation through the uninsured motorist clause of your auto insurance policy (even though the driver has not been identified) or through a quasi-state agency if there is no motor vehicle in the victim’s household.
Victims and their families in such cases should retain an experienced personal injury lawyer right away to help protect their legal rights. A family who has lost a loved one in a hit-and-run crash can file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation as well.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
Injured victims of bicycle accidents can seek compensation from at-fault parties for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families that have lost loved ones in such accidents can seek compensation for damages such as lost future income, medical and funeral costs, pain and suffering, etc.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bicycle accident, or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a negligent (careless) driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
For 50 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2021/09/26/e-bike-rider-killed-by-hit-and-run-driver-in-brooklyn/