Pablo Serrano, 61, of Queens was killed and 45-year-old Claralee Correa of Brooklyn was injured after they were struck in a crosswalk in Amityville, Long Island, by an SUV and a Suffolk County bus. According to a Newsday report, the deadly pedestrian accident occurred the night of Feb. 20 at the intersection of Broadway and Oak Street. The pedestrians were trying to walk from the northwest to northeast corner of the intersection in a crosswalk when the driver of an SUV turning left on to Broadway from Oak, struck them.
Ongoing Pedestrian Accident Investigation
Right behind that vehicle was an eastbound Suffolk County Transit bus that then struck both pedestrians. Serrano was declared dead at the scene while Correa was transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip for non-life-threatening injuries. Neither driver was injured. We offer our deepest condolences to the family members of Pablo Serrano and wish Claralee Correa the very best for a quick and full recovery.
According to Newsday, in 2024, 308 pedestrians in New York State were killed by drivers, including 63 on Long Island; 37 in Suffolk and 26 in Nassau, based on statistics from the Albany-based Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research. Newsday has also previously reported that roads on Long Island are among the state’s deadliest to walk and bike on and that drivers involved in pedestrian collisions rarely face criminal charges. This most recent pedestrian accident is still under investigation.
Pedestrians’ Rights in Crosswalks
In New York State (including New York City), pedestrians are legally protected when using crosswalks. Vehicles must yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing a roadway within a marked or unmarked crosswalk, even if drivers have a green light. Drivers must slow or stop to allow pedestrians to cross safely when no traffic control signal is present, and vehicles stopping for pedestrians must not be overtaken by other drivers.
Here are some factors that routinely lead to dangerous conditions for pedestrians in crosswalks:
Failure of drivers to yield: A leading cause of serious crashes is drivers ignoring pedestrians in crosswalks, especially during turns.
High traffic volumes and congestion: Busy streets, delivery vehicles, rideshares and turning traffic create unpredictable conflict points.
Distracted behavior: Drivers distracted by phones or navigation increase the risk that each may not see the other until it’s too late.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a bicycle accident or pedestrian 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. It is in the best interest of injured victims and their families in such cases to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer before contacting the people responsible for the injuries, and definitely before contacting or communicating with any insurance company, or their lawyers, investigators, or adjusters.
Pedestrian accident victims and their families should remember that they can seek compensation for injuries or losses in collisions even if the victim was not walking in a marked crosswalk and even if the driver involved in collision was not charged. Our law firm recovered the full one-million-dollar insurance policy for a girl who was not in the crosswalk when a motor vehicle hit her.
For over 54 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 $2,000,000 in a hit-and-run accident, 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. We also recovered $1,500,000 for a lady who was hurt by a bus, although there was only a 1 million dollar insurance policy and we got $500,000 above that insurance policy.
We also obtained $295,000 out of a $300,000 insurance policy in compensation for the victim of a bicycle dooring accident (where a car door opens into the path of a bicyclist). 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. Also, we got a $1,400,000 verdict in a motorcycle accident.
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, lead poisoning, paraplegia cases and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy 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://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk-bus-crash-accident-amityville-ey77dfa9