A suspected drunk driver struck a for-hire vehicle in Brooklyn early morning on Nov. 6 leaving a passenger in critical condition and partially paralyzed. According to a report in the New York Daily News, police said a pickup truck with Ohio license plates was traveling south on Bushwick Place against traffic in east Williamsburg when the driver T-boned a white sedan traveling west on Johnson Avenue.
Three People Injured
Both vehicles mounted the sidewalk and slammed into a building, police said. The
48-year-old driver of the pickup truck abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot. A 28-year-old woman in the backseat of the sedan was left partially paralyzed as a result of this car accident, officials said. Emergency personnel rushed her, a 27-year-old friend who was also in the backseat and the for-hire driver to a local hospital.
The other passenger and the driver were not seriously injured. As police investigated the crash, the driver of the pickup truck returned to the scene and was taken into custody on suspicion of drunk driving, driving on a suspended license and leaving the scene of an accident. The investigation is ongoing.
Paralysis After a Car Accident
According to the Cleveland Clinic, paralysis refers to loss of body function because of a traumatic injury to the spinal cord. Damage to the spinal column may involve not just broken bones or inflamed discs, but also tears to the spinal cord. Depending on the nature, location and severity of the spinal injury, victims may suffer from reduced or complete loss of control over their limbs or organs below the point of their injury.
Unlike most other tissue, nerves do not heal well over time. So, damage to the spinal column could potentially result in permanent injuries to the spinal cord that have an impact for the rest of your life. Approximately 1 in 50 Americans, or 5.4 million people, have some form of paralysis.
Victims of spinal cord injuries after a car accident may suffer partial or complete loss of sensation and movement. Paraplegia refers to paralysis that affects your body from the waist down. You may have reduced control or completely lost control of the nerves in your legs or pelvic organs. Quadriplegia or tetraplegia refers to paralysis that affects the arms as well as legs and internal organs. This damage could partially or completely affect the body below the neck. Patients will generally require the permanent use of a wheelchair.
There are a number of ways in which you can suffer paralyzing injuries in a car accident. A blow to your skull, neck or back may result in paralysis because of the damage sustained to nerve tissue. Many victims sustain such injuries even in low-speed accidents.
A permanent or long-term injury and one that leaves a victim paralyzed can significantly affect his or her quality of life and ability to carry on routine activities or make a livelihood. In some cases, victims may require extensive rehabilitation and lifelong care — the costs of which can add up to millions of dollars over the victim’s lifetime.
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 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 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-woman-paralyzed-following-hit-and-run-crash-20211106-bjdic5nt3vbvbn6kzjkmp4sqny-story.html