Four vehicle passengers sadly lost their lives in a recent single-vehicle collision in New York. The driver, who was the sole survivor in the accident, suffered severe injuries. The accident took place on a recent Wednesday morning and very well may lead to wrongful death claims filed against the driver.
Police said they received word that an automobile had gone over an embankment at about 11:40 a.m. The vehicle was carrying five individuals who were heading south on a street. All of a sudden, the driver did not properly make a turn at an intersection. The automobile kept going south and went down a privately owned drive. That is when it went over an embankment and fell more than 100 feet onto a street before landing on its roof.
Before the vehicle came down, the car hit a house and extensively damaged it. Police said it appeared that the automobile had actually accelerated when the accident happened and that the driver did not apply any brakes; they did not know why the car accelerated. The driver, 19, was freed from the car and was transported to the hospital with injury to her spinal cord; her condition was considered to be stable. Meanwhile, the four passengers in the car died at the accident scene.
The families of the four passengers who died in the crash may choose to file wrongful death lawsuits against the driver, seeking damages. These damages, if awarded, may help to cover the passengers’ funeral costs and other financial losses tied to the crash. Claims for financial damages will be determined only if liability can be established in a manner that the New York civil court finds satisfactory.
Source: news10.com, “4 killed in single car crash in Saugerties”, Lindsay Nielsen, Aug. 26, 2015
