Car accident on I-190 involves 50 vehicles, causes 7 injuries

New York drivers are typically experienced with snow and icy conditions. Probably the most important factor for driving in bad weather is to drive very defensively. One should reduce speed immediately when slippery conditions appear. To avoid a car accident, it is wise to drive as though each car on the road is a potential danger, and to be ready to maneuver one’s vehicle away from perceived trouble spots.

This includes staying as far behind the cars in front as one can manage. One should always drive in such a manner as to be able to slow down in order to avoid hitting a car ahead on the highway. Drivers should always engage lights when weather intrudes on normal daylight conditions.

When coming to an intersection, one should not expect that the car approaching from a different direction will stop in slippery conditions. It is best to go slow enough to be able to defend against whatever mishap may befall other drivers. Some of the foregoing rules, which embody common sense, are also incorporated in one form or another within the highway and traffic regulations in New York.

Those principles set the backdrop for a report from the New York State Police that there was a 50-vehicle crash on I-190 at Long Road, exit 20, on Grand Island on Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day. There were at least seven injuries requiring hospital care. There had been a light snow and slippery conditions at the time. Some drivers have complained that authorities made the pileup worse by not closing down the toll road to prevent aggravating the pileup.

New York authorities insist that drivers were told of the car accident ahead. In any event, whether injured operators can obtain monetary compensation depends on whether they drove negligently. That can only be determined after a detailed understanding and reconstruction of the facts. However, injured passengers can collect more easily because they can claim against their own driver and against other vehicles, leaving those parties to fight out their respective percentages of fault. Finally, there could be a potential claim against highway authorities for not taking appropriate action to protect all operators using the toll highway.

Source: wivb.com, “50 car accident causes 7 injuries“, Nov. 27, 2014