White Plains Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

On October 7, 2019, we blogged about the tragic limousine accident in Schoharie County, New York where 20 people died. We discussed the safety measures that could have saved most, if not all, of the limo passengers.

On Tuesday, January 21, 2020, an article was published in The Journal News by Joseph Spector entitled “10 laws planned in wake of the limo crash”. Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders in New York State have agreed on a 10 point package of limousine safety regulations that will be adopted into law. Cuomo stated “the comprehensive reform will give authority much needed new power to get dangerous vehicles off the road, weed out bad actors and put into place common sense safety standards that will increase public safety in every corner of New York”. The Schoharie County limo crash was the result of a poorly maintained limo that suffered catastrophic brake failure. Efforts to get the limo off the road failed for months prior to the crash.

17 passengers, including four sisters, three of their husbands and friends and family were celebrating a birthday all died, as did the driver and two pedestrians at a country store where the limo crashed. “The crashes that have taken place because of unsafe limos and lax regulations are tragedies, and we have a responsibility to address that problem” said Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers.

The number of pedestrian deaths has increased more than 50% over the past decade. There were 10 pedestrian fatalities in Westchester, Rockland & Putnam Counties in 2019. Pedestrian fatalities involving motor vehicles throughout the United States steadily declined from 1979-2009 when the death toll dipped from 8,096 to 4109, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The number has since skyrocketed 53% according to the Institute, a Virginia based non-profit dedicated to traffic safety.

According to an article on the front page of The Journal News on January 14, 2020 entitled “Pedestrian deaths spur focus on safety” by Matt Spillane, several factors contribute to these accidents and experts agree the rise in SUV’s have played a significant role in fatality increases over the past decade. Pedestrian deaths involved SUV’s jumped 81%, a bigger bump than any other vehicle. Dan Gelinne, a senior research associate with the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center said “we’re seeing fewer sedans on the road and more SUV’s and larger passenger vehicles and the way in which those impact a pedestrian’s body, they make more likely that a person will be severely injured or killed in the crash”. The high front ends of SUV’s are more likely to cause injury to a pedestrian’s chest and head. More pedestrian fatalities also seem to occur on arterial roads that are typically wide with many lanes of traffic and surrounded by commercial strips and businesses. These are found in suburban areas where residential activity has grown around roads that were mainly designed for drivers not pedestrians.

The article points out that the nation’s obsession with smart phones could be adding to roadway dangers said Retting, who authorized a pedestrian traffic fatality report for the Governors Highway Safety Association in 2018. He noted the rise in pedestrian death parallels the boom in smart phone users. Other factors have been consistent contributors to pedestrian deaths. In 2017, 80% of pedestrian fatalities took place in urban areas and 75% occurred when it was dark outside. Only 18% of deaths were at intersections.

We recently wrote about school buses and seatbelts, see blog of October 2, 2019. As a result of the limousine accident in Schoharie County, New York on October 6, 2018, Federal investigators issued new safety recommendations for limousines seeking to improve dangerous seating issues. 20 people died in that limousine crash. The new safety measures focused on the lack of lap and shoulder seatbelts and modifications made to stretch limos that would reduce the chances that passengers could survive such crashes. Federal safety experts also called on New York to improve it regulations and laws controlling inspection of limos. The regulators claim that the 20 deaths were part of a complex breakdown of government oversight and accountability according to The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

According to an article in The Journal News on October 3, 2019 by David Robinson, the NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt spoke to the potential for saving lives across the Country if limo seating safety fixes are implemented.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends:

In the less dense parts of the lower Hudson Valley, school children are dependent on school buses to get to school and return home. As a result of a high profile May, 2018 crash in New Jersey that left two dead, has led to new concerns on school bus safety in New York, especially with regard to seatbelts. On May 17, 2018, a dump truck hit a New Jersey school bus trying to make a U-turn flipping it from its chassis and killing a student and a teacher.

New York is one of the few states that mandates school buses to be outfitted with lap belts but, the law leaves it to individual school districts to make seatbelt use mandatory. The National Transportation Safety Board has pushed for seatbelts on school buses. The NTSB wants 3 point seatbelts on all school buses and require students to wear the seatbelts. Those who do not want seatbelts in school buses argue that school buses are different by design including a different kind of safety restraint system that works well according to NHTSA. Some school districts enforce seatbelt use of elementary school students and have monitors on board to enforce the rule.

Opinions on the use of seatbelts are split. The NHTSA says school buses are designed to be safe without seatbelts. They argue school buses are bigger and heavier than passenger vehicles and are able to handle the impact of crashes better than passenger vehicles plus, the design of school buses use the principle of compartmentalization which protects students in strong closely spaced seats that keep student in place and absorb impacts.

The number of cyclists killed last year in 2018 went up by 10% according to estimate for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Pedestrian deaths rose 4%. The number of auto drivers and passengers killed in accidents went down for the third straight year, down 1% compared to 2017.

According to an article by Chris Woodyard in USA today on July 4, 2019 entitled “Cars gets safer, but not for people outside them”. The cyclist and pedestrian deaths percentages estimates a sharp reversal from decline the previous year, underscore a troubling trend! While cars have been getting safer for occupants, they remain potentially deadly for those outside the vehicle. It is much safer for people inside the car according to Bill Nesper, executive director for The League of American Bicyclists. Yet a steady stream of bicyclists and pedestrians are being killed.

Automakers backed by Government Safety regulators have filled cars with features such as airbags, front and side and advanced child restraints to protect passengers in crashes. However, improvements to protect walkers and bikers have moved more slowly.