Car accident on Brooklyn-Queens Expressway injures 5

Once again, an accident in New York has been reported where one of the drivers was heading in the wrong direction on a major highway. This one occurred on the northbound side of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, not too far from Queens Boulevard. The car accident involved several cars and injured five individuals.

According to police, it is believed that a single vehicle, a Toyota Prius, was going the wrong direction in the eastbound lanes of the highway when it got involved in a head-on collision. It appears that the driver of that vehicle, while heading in a westerly direction, collided with a Mercedes and a Chrysler that were traveling eastbound, in the correct direction. The police, however, indicated that they did not witness the reckless driving of the Toyota driver and are not ticketing that individual, at least not at the present time.

It’s likely that the Toyota driver, despite not being cited, is responsible for compensating those injured in this accident. If it is established by the evidence that he was in fact driving his vehicle in the wrong direction on a highway, into oncoming traffic, that is undoubtedly negligence. The standard for finding civil liability to the injured parties is substantially less demanding than the standard required for criminal citations or arrests issued by the police.

The driver’s apparent civil liability to those injured would apply not only to the injured persons in the other vehicles, but would also extend to any passengers in his own vehicle who were injured. If a negligent driver does not have sufficient liability coverage to compensate adequately all of the injured persons in a car accident, those injured must look to their own auto policies for underinsured motorists’ protection. New York and most other states provide for uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage to step in under such circumstances. The amount of coverage is based on how much each motorist decides to purchase.

Source: CBS New York, “Police: At Least 5 Injured In Multi-Vehicle Crash On Brooklyn-Queens Expressway“, Joe Biermann, Aug. 25, 2014

Source: CBS New York, “Police: At Least 5 Injured In Multi-Vehicle Crash On Brooklyn-Queens Expressway“, Joe Biermann, Aug. 25, 2014