A family celebration took a horrific turn when a Jeep mounted a sidewalk in the Bronx and struck six people, critically injuring one. According to the New York Daily News, the two men inside the vehicle ran away leaving a 16-year-old boy and his mother pinned under the vehicle that had crashed into the gathering outside Grant Park at East 170th Street and Sheridan Avenue early morning on June 20.
Injuries and Ongoing Investigation
A witness told the Daily News that the Jeep sped up and hit the crowd. The boy who was pinned under the vehicle sustained broken bones while his mother was critically injured. Another 16-year-old boy, a 40-year-old man and two adult women all suffered non-life-threatening injuries. All the victims are part of the same family, officials said. Medics took all six victims to a local hospital.
The Jeep came to a stop when it hit a tall chain link fence ripping through part of it. Police were investigating the possibility of whether the driver intentionally struck the victims. The two men who fled the scene have not yet been apprehended. A relative said the family often got together in that area for small gatherings.
She said her mother, aunts, uncles and cousins were among those injured. She also said the boy suffered severe leg injuries and will likely need a lot of treatment. An aunt, she said, suffered injuries to her torso and had internal bleeding. Another aunt suffered a laceration to her head, she said. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the injured victims of this terrible crash. We wish them all the very best for a quick and full recovery.
Surge in Traffic Accidents
According to a recent study by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and based on preliminary data provided by all 50 states for the period between January and June 2020, 2,957 people were killed nationwide in pedestrian accidents. This number represents a total increase of six deaths from the 2,951 killed during that same time span in 2019.
The GHSA report shows that during the first half of 2020, vehicle miles traveled dropped 16.5% across the country when compared to the first half of 2019. When accounting for miles traveled, the U.S. pedestrian fatality rate per billion vehicle miles traveled increased by about 22% year over year. If this trend continued throughout the year, it would mark the largest ever year-to-year increase in the U.S. pedestrian death rate.
Sadly, it’s not just pedestrian deaths that has increased in 2020. Recent numbers from the National Safety Council (NSC) showed that about 42,060 people died in traffic accidents in 2020 marking the highest number of roadway fatalities in the United States since 2007. In New York, the number of motor vehicle fatalities increased approximately 10%, from 873 in 2019 to 963 in 2020, according to the data.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
It is important that a victim immediately contacts an experienced New York personal injury lawyer who has extensive experience with car accident cases – specifically those that have caused permanent or catastrophic injuries. In such cases, victims may be able to receive compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, hospitalization, cost of rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. 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.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car 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.
For nearly 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://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-jeep-bronx-crash-famiily-20210620-dg7vkrpgdzdddmo2xzmrd5e2ii-story.html