Kianna Underwood, a former Nickelodeon child actress, has been identified as the woman killed in a hit-and-run collision early morning on Jan. 16. According to CBS News, the 33-year-old was struck by two drivers in Brownsville, Brooklyn, while trying to cross the street. Police said they were still looking for the drivers involved in the fatal pedestrian accident and had not made any arrests.
Ongoing Investigation
Officials said the driver of a black SUV was crossing Mother Gaston Boulevard from Pitkin Avenue and crossed the double yellow line to pass a car in front when he struck Underwood. Surveillance video shows Underwood waiting for a few seconds before crossing and a dark-colored vehicle in the wrong lane striking her, CBS reports.
The video then showed Underwood’s body rolling out from underneath the vehicle near the corner of Pitkin and Osborn streets after she appeared to have been dragged for nearly two blocks. She was struck again by the driver of a sedan, who also did not stop. Underwood was pronounced dead at the scene. We offer our deepest condolences to the family of Kiana Underwood for their tragic and heartbreaking loss.
The victim was known for her role on the Nickelodeon show “All That.” Police are still looking for the hit-and-run drivers. Anyone with information is asked to contact NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Hit-and-Run Collisions and Victims’ Rights
In New York, leaving the scene of an accident without stopping to call the authorities, is a serious offense under the law, commonly referred to as a “hit-and-run.” Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §600, any driver involved in an accident must stop and provide their name, address and insurance information to the other party or to law enforcement. This applies in crashes where the other party is a driver, pedestrian or bicyclist, regardless of whether anyone was injured.
In a hit-and-run collision, 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.
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.
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