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All accidents involving serious injury and death are tragic, but the accident becomes even more complicated when it is a hit-and-run accident. Such was the case in North Amityville, the night of April 3.
Newsday reported the death of a Copiague man, Pierre Prophete, who was hospitalized at the Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip.
Suffolk County police are still looking for the man who fled the scene, the driver of a 2007 Infiniti.
Around 8:00 p.m., a 2008 BMW and the Infiniti sideswiped each other while traveling at high speeds on New Highway. The BMW went off the road and collided into a fence. The Infiniti crashed into the rear end of a 2004 Chevrolet Blazer, which caused the Blazer to overturn. Then, the Infiniti hit two parked vehicles and the driver ran away.
Prophete was a passenger in the backseat of the Blazer. The driver and its three passengers were all seriously injured and taken to hospitals for treatment. Prophete died the next day.
Police are still investigating to determine exactly what occurred.
New York law requires drivers involved in car accidents to stop at the scene of the accident. They must exchange driver’s licenses and insurance information, provide address and contact information, and report the accident to the police. Violating the law can result in criminal charges ranging from a misdemeanor to felony, depending on the seriousness of the accident. Serious personal injury leads to a class E felony charge, and authorities charge drivers with a class D felony when death occurs.
When a loved one suffers a serious injury or dies in a car accident, it is vital to contact an accident lawyer as soon as possible. Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP has successfully handled accident cases for more than 65 years.
During a freak accident on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, Munther Abu-Hamea, who drives for Uber and a Brooklyn limo company, had the shock of his life. A pole came crashing through the windshield of his limo and hit his shoulder.
The New York Post reported that between 70 to 100 poles fell off a truck that was traveling in the opposite direction on the upper level of the expressway. Some of the poles landed on the lower freeway and struck cars. Abu-Hamea said it was like an explosion when the pole hurled through his window.
Limo driver, Abu-Hamea, age 45, said he felt like he was in a movie when the pole shot through the window, hit his shoulder and lodged between him and his passenger-side door. Several other poles hit and damaged the limo’s roof and shattered the dashboard.
The accident left him in a state of fear about driving. He thought he was going to die and never see his children again. However, emergency response personnel treated him at the scene, and he safely returned home to his three sons and three daughters. Even so, this type of trauma can have lingering effects, which makes it particularly difficult for someone who drives for a living.
He wasn’t the only driver affected. Poles hit another driver’s car as well. Medical Assistant, Emil Dura, 57, drove directly behind Abu-Hamea but suffered no injury.
In this accident, the truck driver and his trucking company would be liable for damages if damages met the legal standards of serious injury.
Under the New York serious injury threshold as covered by Article 51 of the Insurance Law, to recover compensation you must prove that you incurred a basic economic loss exceeding $50,000 or that you suffered serious injury. Serious injury is a personal injury, which results in one of the following:
Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment.
A personal injury lawyer can protect your rights if you suffer serious injury due to a car accident. Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP has successfully handled countless personal injury cases on behalf of our clients.