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Around 4:15 a.m. on Saturday October 21, a three-car crash took place on the westbound Cross Bronx between Third Avenue and the Bronx River Parkway when a teen driver lost control of his vehicle.
Various news outlets reported about the accident, including ABC 7 , which described the teen driver speeding and weaving through traffic until he reached a halt in traffic and was unable to stop. Teen driver, Carlos Pereyra Batista struck the rear end of a tractor-trailer and then Batista’s 2002 Honda Accord smashed into a guardrail, bounced off it and collided into a Toyota RAV4 before rolling to a stop in the westbound lane. Eighteen-year-old Batista died at the scene of the crash. His 17-year-old male passenger was in critical condition and emergency personnel transported him to St. Barnabas Hospital. He was upgraded to stable condition and expected to survive.
The tractor-trailer driver, a 66 year-old-man was not injured and neither was the 29-year-old man driving the Toyota. They remained at the accident scene until police arrived.
It is a tremendous tragedy when a teenager dies in a car crash. You think the young person has his whole life ahead of him and then within moments he is gone. Such tragedies are felt deeply and especially by the families. The NY Daily News reported that Batista’s family ran a Dominican food stand in Mott Haven and he was often there helping them. The family was devastated when they arrived at the accident scene.
As of October 19, traffic accidents have claimed the lives of 23 drivers in 2017, which is a 12 percent decrease from 2016, when 26 drivers died in car crashes.
Teenagers are more at risk for dying in car accidents than from any other cause of death. The 16-19 year old age group is about three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than drivers who are 20 years and older.
When someone else is a fault in a serious injury or fatal accident, you have the legal right to pursue compensation for damages. Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP offers a free consultation to discuss your accident and determine whether you have grounds for pursuing compensation.
Even though the United States is a wealthy nation and world leader, our country has more car accident fatalities than other high-income nations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report less than a year ago based on a study that compared car crash deaths for the U.S. with other high-income countries. It used comparisons between the years 2013 and 2000. Other units of comparison were: per 100,000 population, per 10,000 registered vehicles, and per 100 million miles traveled.
Countries compared in the study were the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, New Zealand and Canada, to name a few.
Here is what the study found:
Our nation also ranked number 18 out of 20 for front seat belt use and ranked 13 out of 18 for rear seatbelt use. The U.S. was the third lowest for seatbelt use.
Only Canada scored worse than the United States for alcohol impaired driving. Crash deaths involving alcohol-impaired driving in Canada were 33.6 percent, and in the U.S. they were 31 percent. Israel was the lowest at 3.2 percent and the mean was 19.1 percent.
Speeding is another major cause of car crash deaths. Speeding was a factor in 29 percent of U.S. vehicle crash deaths. The lowest percentages were for the United Kingdom and Ireland at 15 percent, and Finland had the highest percentage at 42 percent. The U.S. ranked eighth in deaths that involved speeding.
Get Legal Help for Serious Car Accident Injuries
Injuries and car crash deaths are significant concerns, and often another party is at fault. If you or a loved one were involved in a serious car accident, get a legal opinion as soon as possible. Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP has more than 60 years of personal injury experience, and we can protect your rights.