A 3-year-old child and a woman were injured in a hit-and-run crash in Brooklyn on Aug. 31. According to a CBS News report, police said 61-year-old Olubunmi Awoluyi was driving a minivan while under the influence, down Rockaway parkway when he struck two vehicles. He then allegedly made a U-turn and struck a 26-year-old woman and a 3-year-old girl before driving away. Officials said the child suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but that the woman was unconscious and unresponsive when emergency personnel arrived at the scene. Both were taken to a local hospital and are said to be in stable condition.
Ongoing Investigation
Awoluyi was charged with DWI, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, police said. Officials also said that a minute after hitting the pedestrians, the driver crashed into two unoccupied parked vehicles a few blocks away at Howard and Blake avenues. Surveillance video shows the minivan speeding down the street, slamming into the side of a parked Jeep, pushing it onto the sidewalk, and then overturning to the side and striking a parked pickup truck before coming to rest.
A crowd of good Samaritans helped roll the vehicle upright. One witness said he saw Awoluyi bleeding out of his mouth and that a liquor bottle fell out when a firefighter opened the vehicle’s door. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured woman and child. We wish them the very best for a speedy and complete recovery.
Laws Relating to DWI and Hit-and-Run
In New York, the legal limit for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08% for drivers aged 21 and over. For commercial drivers, it’s 0.04%, and for those under 21 years of age, any detectable alcohol can lead to penalties. According to New York State Police, drunk drivers nationwide cause more than 17,000 deaths annually. In New York State, a little over 30% of the fatal crashes are alcohol-related. There is also an injury every two minutes associated with drunk driving.
A hit-and-run accident occurs when a driver leaves the scene without providing contact information or aiding the injured. The law mandates that drivers involved in accidents must stop and exchange information, including name, address, insurance details, and driver’s license number. If someone is injured, the driver must render aid and wait for law enforcement. Penalties for a hit-and-run in New York are severe. If the accident results in serious injury or death, the driver can face felony charges, with possible imprisonment of up to seven years for serious injury and up to 25 years for death. Negligent (careless) drivers can also be held financially responsible for the injuries, damages and losses they cause.
Compensation for Hit-and-Run Victims
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.
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.
Victims and their families in such cases should retain an experienced personal injury lawyer right away to help protect their legal rights. A family that 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
If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident or 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 over 52 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. We 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. 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://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/child-injured-brooklyn-hit-and-run/