New York Legal Authority
While the following car accident story may not be the freshest of news, it did happen here in Manhattan, New York — and the circumstances are just another reminder that a drunk driver could be held liable, both in criminal and civil court, for their negligent choice to operate a vehicle while intoxicated.
A 32-year-old man from Queens rented a car in the middle of June. He was driving around the East Village of Manhattan one morning when he lost control of his vehicle and struck the curb, sending the car flying through a tree, a fire hydrant and a parking meter. The car struck with such a violent force that those three things were flung from the area, plowing into pedestrians near a corner market.
All in all, four people were hurt in the car accident — one of them, a 62-year-old who works at the corner market, was seriously injured. The other three people — two other corner market employees and a biker — were either in better condition than the 62-year-old or were released from the hospital shortly after they were taken in. The 32-year-old driver was arrested for driving under the influence because he refused to take a breath test.
Though no blood alcohol level is available for the driver, the police do know that the 32-year-old has at least one prior DUI, and another conviction for possessing cocaine. Upon his arrest for this accident, the police discovered drugs in his sock.
Clearly, this is an irresponsible man who has repeatedly put the lives of innocent people at risk with his dangerous driving habits. The injured victims of this accident could file a lawsuit against the driver — and in addition to the compensatory damages they could receive to help pay for medical bills, punitive damages could also be assessed, given the driver’s transgressions.
Source: Wall Street Journal, “Four Hurt in Violent Crash,” Pervaiz Shallwani and Tamer El-Ghobashy, June 19, 2013
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Drunk driver hops curb, leaves four injured in Manhattan
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