Motorists who are in an excessive hurry in New York City sometimes end up in a lot of self-made trouble. This may include the causing of pedestrian accidents by negligent or reckless driving. That happened on Jan. 22 on a Brooklyn street at about 6 p.m. when a driver of a Porsche got frantic when he had to wait on the street for a vehicle ahead to crawl out of its parking spot, per a witness.
The impatient driver was blasting his car horn while trying to maneuver past the other car. The car that was pulling out struck the Porsche. The Porsche driver lost control of his vehicle. The car went onto the sidewalk where it hit and critically injured a 14-year-old boy who was playing a video game, the witness said. Police say that they charged the driver with reckless endangerment.
The victim was in serious condition at Bellevue Hospital but was expected to survive, police said. This is a clear-cut case of negligence by the driver, with no contributory negligence by the victim, who was minding his own business and out of any normally recognized zone of danger. The boy has a personal injury claim against the Porsche driver. This would include for medical expenses, any permanent disability, and for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life’s pleasures.
Some pedestrian accidents in New York City are not as clear as this one, usually due to the claims of contributory negligence on the part of the pedestrian. In those situations, a fact finder must attribute the percentage of fault to each party, with the result that the pedestrian can often recover damages even though being partially at fault. This case has another possible twist and that involves the driver of the car that was exiting its parking space. By hitting the Porsche, claims of comparative negligence may be asserted by the Porsche driver, which could give the victim two defendants to collect from, generally according to the percentage fault of each.
Source: nydailynews.com, “Road-rage driver hits boy, 14, on Brooklyn sidewalk“, Rikki Reyna and John Annese, Jan. 22, 2017