A 36-year-old contractor was fatally injured after a vehicle struck him on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens. According to a WABC news report, the construction accident occurred when the man was working on the side of the highway. A car spun out of control and hit him. The victim was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
A spokesperson with the New York State Department of Transportation confirmed that the contractor working on a wall inspection on Grand Central Parkway was struck by the vehicle. Police are investigating the incident. We offer our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased victim. They will be in our thoughts and prayers.
Common Causes of Work Zone Crashes
Last week, officials announced a new program to keep highway workers safe on the job. The pilot program places new speed violation monitoring systems along New York state highways in active work zones. The system comprises cameras mounted on 30 vehicles parked in various active highway work zones across the state. Safety advocates say there were a total of 225 highway worker fatalities in 2020 and 2021 in New York. The fatality rate has continued to increase in 2021, which saw a 14% increase in work zone fatalities involving drivers and passengers.
Work zone accidents occur due to a number of reasons. When vehicles are forced to slow down while approaching, entering or passing through work zones, traffic may back up and lead to accidents caused by inattentive or distracted drivers. A sudden traffic slowdown may increase the risk of accidents. Drivers may cause rear-end crashes that can turn into pileups.
There is also the danger of a vehicle getting struck, going out of control and crashing into workers on the jobsite. Some work zone crashes are also caused by lack of signage or incorrect signage in the construction zone. Poor lighting is another factor that can lead to accidents after dark at these types of locations. Impaired drivers also pose a serious risk to construction workers at these road projects.
Liability Issues in Work Zone Accidents
There are a number of parties who can be held liable for a work zone accident in New York. Your personal injury lawyer will help identify all such accountable parties in your case, such as:
• Negligent (careless) motorists who are impaired, distracted, inattentive, speeding or otherwise negligent (careless) and cause a work zone crash.
• Other workers in a construction site who cause a collision with a worker.
• A construction company that fails to erect proper signage and compromises worker safety.
• Company that fails to erect guardrails or other protective structures to safeguard workers.
• A government entity that is in charge of site safety.
An experienced New York construction site accident attorney can review your case and identify the potentially liable parties that should be included in your lawsuit. Construction workers who have been injured in such accidents may be eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits, which covers medical expenses and a portion of lost wages. In addition, workers may also be able to file a third-party claim against a negligent (careless) party other than the employer or co-employees for significant monetary damages and have two sources of compensation available for their losses.
Examples of third parties include, but are not limited to, general contractors, construction companies, sub-contractors, building owners, managing agents etc. In cases where a worker dies from injuries suffered on the job, surviving family members may seek death benefits through workers’ compensation and/or file a wrongful death claim against a third party who may be held liable for the fatal incident.
Contacting a Construction Accident Lawyer
If you have suffered injuries in a construction-related accident, 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.
Our law firm recovered $3,375,576 for a construction worker (an undocumented immigrant) who was injured on the job — one of the highest construction case settlements in New York that year. Our law firm also recovered $3,000,000 for a man who fell and suffered two broken legs when he walked into an open elevator shaft. 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, lead poisoning 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://abc7ny.com/contractor-killed-highway-queens/13188928/