Articles Posted in Bus Accidents

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On March 12 of 2010, a school security guard was struck by the car of one of the parents while attempting to assist her with a traffic issue. He approached her car as she sat in the traffic line to drop off her child. After she pulled in, a school bus pulled in behind her. Her vehicle was blocked. The Westchester security guard approached her vehicle from the front. As he passed in front of her car, she inexplicably drove forward striking the security guard. He incurred a personal injury that resulted in a lawsuit against the woman and her insurance company, but also the owner of the car and their insurance company.

The car was owned by a vehicle leasing company. They had an internal policy against leasing cars to people with revoked or suspended driver’s licenses. Upon investigation, the security guard had discovered that the car had been leased by the woman’s boyfriend who had a restricted driver’s license. The security guard maintains that the company employee violated policy when he leased the car to the man. The man’s driving record clearly indicating that he was not a safe driver as per the standards set by the leasing company itself. The security guard believes that if the leasing company had not leased the car to the man in violation of their own internal policy, he could not have loaned it to his girlfriend, and she would not have hit him with it causing his injury.

The security guard maintains that he was injured so severely as to have to miss several days of work and suffering from injuries so severe that they have altered his lifestyle. He stated that he had a spine injury, head injury, hip and knee injuries that required surgery. He stated that he is no longer able to play ball with his grandchildren or to maintain a normal lifestyle.

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This involves a case where the court denied the motion of the defendants for summary judgment to dismiss the case against them.

Plaintiff alleged that, on June 16, 2007, he was injured when a New York City Transit Authority Bus driven by its employee made contact with a motor vehicle driven by defendant driver and owned by owner. Plaintiff was a passenger in defendant driver’s vehicle. By decision and order dated September 16, 2008, the court granted defendant owner’s motion to dismiss the complaint and any cross claims in this action as against it. (Martorella Affirm, dated 3/18/11, Ex E.)

The bill of particulars alleges that, as a result of this alleged car accident, plaintiff sustained herniated discs at C4-C7, and L5-S1, and injuries to his right hip, right arm, right shoulder, neck and back, some of which are believed or may be permanent in nature. (Martorella Affirm, dated 3/18/11, Ex C [Bill of Particulars ¶ 6].) In August 2008, plaintiff, who was represented by a law firm, apparently decided to represent himself. (Martorella Affirm, dated 3/18/11, Ex D.) Plaintiff testified at his deposition that, at the time of the accident, he was employed by Gotham Registry, a nursing agency, working per diem as a licensed nursing assistant.

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On August 24, 2002 nonparty driver was driving a van with eight passengers, one of whom was an adult and seven of whom were children. While driving on a divided highway in Pennsylvania, the driver lost control of the van when the right rear tire blew out. During the resulting crash, the van barrel-rolled across the median and became airborne before landing in the lanes of oncoming traffic. All of the children were ejected from the van and sustained varying degrees of injury. The adult passenger, who remained in the vehicle, died. The appellant lawyer was retained to litigate an action on behalf of the estate and the husband of the deceased, and on behalf of these five infant passengers.

Appellant based her action upon conclusion that the tire at issue had been improperly repaired and was not the proper size for the van. Second, she concluded that the van had a faulty liftgate latch, which allowed the liftgate to open during the car accident. Consequently, she named the manufacturer of the van as a defendant.

Appellant lawyer requested an award of an attorney’s fee in a sum consistent with her retainer agreement, representing one third of the net settlement from the manufacturer of the van and 25% of the net settlement from the driver’s insurer. The Supreme Court approved so much of the proposed infant’s compromise order as concerned the amounts recovered by the infant plaintiffs, but awarded appellant lawyer an attorney’s fee in a sum representing approximately 25% of the aggregate net settlement. The lawyer appealed.

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On 12 March 2010, at approximately 9:15 a.m. on Albany Avenue, Amityville, County of Suffolk, State of New York, personal injuries were allegedly sustained by plaintiffs as a result of a pedestrian knockdown or automobile accident with defendants. At the time of the automobile accident, plaintiff was a pedestrian and defendant individual was the operator of a 2009 Dodge Charger that was owned by a rental company, the defendant corporation.

Defendant individual’s girlfriend had rented the vehicle from the defendant corporation.

Allegedly, plaintiff who was a school security guard was struck by the front of defendants’ automobile when it was in the driveway in front of the school where plaintiff was working. Defendants’ vehicle entered the school driveway to drop off a child and was unable to back out of said one-way driveway due to a school bus pulling behind it.

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Defendants Platform Taxi Service, Inc. move for an on order, pursuant to CPLR 3212, dismissing the Verified Complaint of plaintiff Sheryl Azevedo, on the ground that she did not sustain a “serious injury” within the meaning of Insurance Law §5102 (d) as a result of the February 21, 2007 accident. Plaintiff alleges “serious injury” under the “significant disfigurement” category in Insurance Law §5102 (d), based upon facial scarring.

A Lawyer said that, in support of their motion, defendants submit the affirmed report of plastic surgeon Robert D. Goldstein, M.D., who examined Plaintiff, and a copy of the transcript of Plaintiff’s examination before trial. The results of Dr. Goldstein’s examination are stated in their entirety as follows: “Physical examination with specific reference to the area of scarring shows that there is no perceptible residual scarring of the upper lip. On the bridge of the nose, there is an inferior area of white hypopigmentation measuring 1.25 x 0.5 cms, and above this there is a linear scar that measures 1.4 cms. There is no disability associated with these areas of scarring.

A source in Nassau and Suffolk said that, since Dr. Goldstein does not state that the photographs accurately represent that which they purport to depict, they are inadmissible as evidence. In any event, photographs taken three years after the accident, when they are the only photographs submitted, would provide a potentially unbalanced representation of the plaintiff’s injury on the question of significant disfigurement, particularly since even temporary disfigurement may qualify as a serious injury. Indeed, Dr. Goldstein states that he reviewed copies of 3 black and white photographs from St. Vincent’s Hospital, but the contemporaneous photographs are not provided to the Court for consideration on this motion.

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Kevin Mitchell, a New York Resident rented a 2000 Dodge Durango from Budget-Rent-A-Car in Hartford, Connecticut on May 26, 2000. Budget-Rent-A-Car is a Delaware company where the main offices are in Illinois. The vehicle is registered in Connecticut under Team Fleet Financing Corporation, which is also a Delaware company with the main offices in Illinois. The following day Mr. Mitchell was driving the car on Route I-81 in Ryan Township, Pennsylvania with Tahani Roper, Tracy Brown and Thais Mitchell as passengers. A witness said in an attempt to over-take another vehicle, the car swerved of the road, hit a guardrail and went down an embankment. The vehicle flipped multiple times, which caused some of the passengers to be thrown out of the vehicle. Tahani Roper, an infant died instantly. Tracy Brown, the baby’s mother, and Thais Mitchell claim to have been seriously injured.

After the accident, Tracy Brown and Thais Mitchell filed a case in the New York Supreme Court against Kevin Mitchell, Budget-Rent-A-Car and Team Fleet Financing Corporation. Thais Mitchell appeared for himself and Tahani Roper, the baby who died. As for the defendants, their allegation was that Budget-Rent-A-Car and Team Fleet Financing Corporation were also liable for the careless driving of Mr. Mitchell.

Under the New York law, there is an explicit liability that is given to the vehicle owners for the negligence of driver’s who are using the vehicle with the owner’s permission. It does not matter if the accident occurs outside New York according to a Lawyer. With this in mind, you would think that Budget-Rent-A-Car and Team Fleet Financing Corporation are accountable for the accident.

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Nora White filed a case against Carlos A. Diaz with Agramonte and Manuel A. Nunez with Atlantic Paratransit. This is in connection to the injuries that she alleges, she suffered in the collision of the vehicles driven by Mr. Diaz and Mr. Nunez. A reporter found out that Ms. White was a passenger in Mr. Nunez’s vehicle as a driver for Access-a-Ride. She just got in the vehicle and was trying to put on her seatbeltthat was stuck when Mr. Diaz’s van hit the Access-a-Ride’s vehicle’s rear. Mr. Diaz admitted that he had fallen asleep behind the wheel.

On the side of Mr. Nunez, he said that he was double parked when the van rear ended his vehicle. This was in front of Ms. White’s building as he was waiting for her. He said there were no spots at the curb, and he was not able to find the entrance to the building’s parking lot. In his testimony at the deposition, a witness said, he was allegedly only there for about five minutes with the hazard lights on before Ms. White arrived. This was different from the testimony of Ms. White, that she was standing at the building’s entrance waiting when the van arrived, and that she immediately got in.

A source explained why the defendants consist not only of the driver’s but the companies that owned the vehicles. In New York, a person or a company that has given authority to another for the use if their vehicle is liable for any negligence of the driver while driving their vehicle. This does not apply in all States, but it is the one that is applied in New York.

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Kathleen Stolarz and her husband were involved in a two-car auto accidentcaused by a bus on Route 6 in Woodbury, New York. This happened on February 18, 1989. A source found out that the vehicle that they were using was a company car rented by her employer Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. Blue Cross/ Blue Shield is a New Jersey company, and the car is registered in New Jersey. The car was insured by New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company. The policy given to Blue Cross/ Blue Shield was set to be consistent with the New Jersey law. Mr. and Mrs. Stolarz often garaged the vehicle at their home in Monroe, New York, which is just a few miles from the New Jersey border.

The insurance company of the other vehicle paid Mrs. Stolarz $20,000, which is the liability limit of the insured’s policy. This was disputed by Allstate Insurance Company, from whom the Stolarz’s got their personal car’s insurance from. They based their dispute from the underinsurance coverage of that policy. Mr. and Mrs. Stolarz demanded for arbitration. A source said, Allstate Insurance Company answered by filing for a special proceeding with the Supreme Court. New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company also disputed the amount that is payable and joined the proceeding to get a decision as to the obligations of the parties. Allstate Insurance Company settled with Mr. and Mrs. Stolarz and was not part of the appeal anymore.

New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company argued that in the insurance policy’s terms and the New Jersey law, they were entitled to offset the $20,000 which was given by the other driver to Mr. and Mrs. Stolarz from the $35,000 limit that was in the policy. Mr. and Mrs. Stolarz, said by a rep, countered this with the New York law offset clauses are void, and they should get the full amount. The court determined that with the conflict between the New Jersey law and New York law in this case, New York law should be the one to be followed with these injuries.

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Ruth Pineda, who might be better known as Ruthless was involved in a serious car accident last week. The star of LA Ink required emergency medical attention at a hospital after the serious accident.

The doctor explains that it is thought the 26 year old TV star was traveling to an appointment. She was driving her Mercedes E300 when a very big bus hit the side of the vehicle.

Emergency services were very quick to attend the scene and discovered that she was in a serious condition. The victim was taken to a local Orange County Hospital by hospital. She required medical treatment for more than twelve hours as her injuries were so serious.

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Mere minutes after unloading its last passengers, a school bus was struck by a sedan hard enough that the bus toppled onto its side, claims a witness. The last passengers of the bus, who were neighborhood children, had exited the vehicle within five minutes of the incident.

Police suspect that the driver of the sedan that hit the bus had driven through a stop sign right before colliding with the school bus. The bus, as it toppled over, fell onto a biker that was riding along the sidewalk parallel to the bus. The bicyclist was trapped as the bus smashed her leg and pinned her to the ground. As soon as help arrived and they were able to move the bus off of her leg, the girl was taken by ambulance to the nearest medical center.

The bus driver was forced to exit the school bus by climbing out the driver’s side window. The driver only sustained minor injuries during the car accident.

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