Fatal Pedestrian accident adds to mounting toll involving buses

Despite New York City’s spiked-up efforts to make the city’s streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, there have been three fatal accidents in one recent week alone in which a bus struck and killed a pedestrian. The third pedestrian accident involving a bus occurred on Nov. 5 at about 8:30 p.m. in Flushing. An unidentified victim was killed at the intersection of Main Street and Kissena Boulevard by a bus that did not stop.

Police have not released a statement and have reported no arrests in the incident. Presumably, they are still investigating and seeking the identity of the driver. Additionally, the authorities have not yet released the identity of the victim. This fatal bus accident was preceded a few days earlier by an incident in Brooklyn where an MTA bus driver hit and killed a man.

In that incident, the bus driver also left the scene but was apprehended and charged with leaving the scene of an accident, failing to yield the right-of-way and failing to exercise due care. Police accused the 48-year-old male driver of operating an out-of-service bus when he killed the 70-year-old female pedestrian while making a left turn. The first of the three fatalities occurred on Nov. 1 when an MTA bus struck and killed a woman in Queens.

The New York City Transportation Commissioner admitted that despite the “real progress” made to reduce traffic fatalities in the past couple of years, there was obviously “a lot more work” to do. Victims who have been seriously injured in a pedestrian accident in the city, or the families of those who died, may be entitled to a judgment for monetary damages for their injuries or for the death of a loved one. The most effective way to understand and initiate the process of making and pursuing a claim for personal injury or wrongful death damages is to seek the guidance and counsel of an attorney experienced in those matters.

Source: wnyc.org, “Third Pedestrian This Week Killed by Bus in New York City“, Nov. 6, 2015