One Of New York’s Most Respected Personal Injury Firms

Tragic accident causes wrongful death after joyful wedding

On Behalf of | Sep 6, 2016 | Wrongful Death

Weddings often bring families together like no other celebration. A festive ceremony and reception can create memories that will be reminisced about and shared for years afterward. However, for one New York family, the events following a recent wedding will undoubtedly cloud any joy they experienced. Instead, they may be recalling the tragic accident that led to the wrongful death of a beloved family member.

After a joyful wedding celebration, a family was returning home along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway around 3 a.m. A 49-year-old woman with two of her children caravanned with a car carrying the woman’s nephew and others when the nephew’s car got a flat tire. The woman pulled her car in front of her nephew’s car, told her 10-year-old son she loved him and got out with those who were standing by the disabled vehicle.

Moments later, another car collided with the nephew’s vehicle, slamming it into the woman with such force that she was thrown off the bridge onto the concrete below. The car then struck the woman’s vehicle with her two children inside before finally coming to rest. The woman’s nephew and others, who held the driver at the scene, reported a strong smell of alcohol on the man.

The woman was taken to the hospital but did not survive her injuries. Eight other family members and the apparently intoxicated driver were treated at a New York hospital. The 43-year-old driver is being charged with manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide, as well as DWI and reckless driving.

Two children watched their mother die right before their eyes that night. In addition to their own injuries, they are certainly dealing with the pain of that loss. With four children to raise on his own, their father has every rights to contact an attorney for help in pursuing a wrongful death claim against the allegedly intoxicated driver accused of causing this accident. While money will not replace this beloved woman, it may help her husband care for their children in a manner that would honor her.

Source: abc7ny.com, “Woman standing outside car fatally struck by another car on BQE in Greenpoint”, Aug. 29, 2016

Archives