Fatal accident claims the life of New York woman

The change to standard time on Nov. 1 may have impacted more than just our sleep patterns. The Chief of the New York Police Department Transportation Bureau has speculated that it may have had something to do with the recent increase of fatal accident occurrences in the city. Since Nov. 1, at least 11 people have been killed in traffic accidents in the city.

The most recent fatality was that of an 88-year-old woman who was killed while trying to cross a street. The driver was a cabbie who was 73 years old. According to reports, he had been driving for 16 hours straight.

The situation has become so critical that the city has taken special action to encourage safe driving and to crack down on speeding, failing to yield and the use of cell phones. The Transportation Chief said that the earlier period of darkness during the day may have something to do with the increased fatality rate. The initiative will be limited to 10 days because the department finds that short crackdowns somehow bring more dramatic results and more impact.

During the stepped-up enforcement period, Mayor de Blasio has ordered hundreds more police to be on duty. The spike in fatal accident occurrences has tarnished the success of the mayor’s Vision Zero program. In any event, injured victims and the families of those who died are entitled to bring insurance claims for compensation if the victims were injured or killed at the hand of a negligent driver, whether that be a bus driver, cab driver or a private operator of a vehicle. Negligence must be proved, but determinations of whether a claim is viable should not be made without the benefit of first consulting with a personal injury attorney who is experienced in handling New York injury and death claims.

Source: pix11.com, “Elderly woman’s death marks 11th vehicle-related fatality in NYC since Halloween,” Christopher Brito and Monica Morales, Nov. 9, 2015