Car accidents can happen for a variety of reasons, but one of the rarer and more intriguing reasons for a collision has to do with obscure items on a road or highway. For example, the New York Daily News reports that an SUV in West Virginia left a trail of Legos on the road when thousands of the toy bricks fell off of the roof of the car and there were multiple car accidents due to spilled items on the highway.

The Legos were sprinkled all over Interstate 79, and traffic was backed up for more than two hours as the crews cleared up the mess. Allegedly the Legos were in totes that were strapped to the roof of the car, but a strap came loose and allowed the cars to tumble all over the road. While this accident did not facilitate a collision, there are many similar situations that have.

It isn’t extremely rare for items to fall off of the roof of a car or out of the back of a pick-up truck. Sometimes, when vehicles behind swerve to miss an obscure item in the middle of the road, it can facilitate a terrible accident. In the past furniture items, large amounts of produce, and construction tools have rested in the middle of the road where they were sure to cause damage to a car. If you can identify the driver who owned the item that fell, then you may be able to seek compensation from that person.

This is especially true if the driver did not secure the items properly or was driving recklessly. If you want more information about car accidents and litigation in situations where there was an obscure item in the road, then talk to a New York personal injury attorney at Greenberg & Stein. The attorneys at this firm are dedicated to seeking justice on behalf of those injured in car accidents of all kind.

An elderly man was struck by what is suspected to be a four-door sedan on February 15, 2013. The gentleman was about to cross Rockaway Boulevard near 137^th Avenue after disembarking a local bus when he was hit. The car, witnesses report, failed to slow down before hitting the man, and one witness claims that the driver sped up after hitting the pedestrian. Fellow bus passengers tried to help the injured man, and used a local motel’s phone to call 911. The hit-and-run victim was transported to Jamaica Hospital, where he died.

A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that an estimated 1,000 people die yearly from hit-and-run accidents. This accounts for nearly 18 percent of pedestrian deaths. In 2001, 4,882 of the 42,116 people killed in motor vehicle accidents were pedestrians. Another study conducted by the NHTSA showed that between 1975 and 2001, 18 percent of drivers involved in fatal hit-and-run cases had alcohol in their systems. 1/5 of children aged 5 to 9 years old that were killed in traffic accidents were pedestrians. The gentleman who was killed in Friday’s hit-and-run accident was killed at an intersection that did not contain a traffic signal. The NHTSA claims that 44 percent of hit-and-run accidents occur on roadways that do not have crosswalks.

New York City has the highest number of pedestrian deaths annually, averaging 179 fatalities each year. With pedestrians being the second largest group of people killed in vehicle-related crashes (car drivers and other occupants being the first), motorcyclists make up nearly 7.6 percent, and bicyclists average about 2 percent. In 2010, 11,084 pedestrians were injured in car accidents, and 149 pedestrians were killed. A New York personal injury attorney may be able to help if you or a loved one has been involved in a pedestrian accident. With over 50 years of experience, the attorneys at the law offices of Greenberg and Stein may help aggressively pursue a personal injury claim for your benefit. Call today if you need an experienced New York injury lawyer on your side.

Three passengers in vehicles on a bridge suspending the Skagit River were in for a wet and chilly surprise last week when the framework of the bridge caved in while they were driving over it. According to research, a semi-truck with an oversize load moved under the bridge and struck the framework. The pressure knocked the bridge over, causing the middle to cave in and dump two vehicles into the icy water below.

One of the passengers says that she did not know how to swim, and wouldn’t have survived had it not been for her husband. Her husband suffered a dislocated shoulder and she also went to the hospital for treatment after bumping her head and her hip during the fall into the water. All three passengers in the car suffered only minor injuries. Investigators are already looking at the bridge to determine whether an engineering error caused the structure to collapse.

There are more than 67,000 bridges in the United States, and American drivers may think twice before crossing them after the incident in Washington. ABC News reports that the investigators have not come up with an official cause, but believe that the structure of the bridge may not have been sound or up to code. ABC News says that many bridges are poorly rated and considered structurally deficient. Federal data shows that every day Americans make about 200,000,000 trips over these dangerous bridges that have the potential to collapse.

One out of every nine bridges in the United States is deemed unsound, and many have corrosion in the metals that keep them up. If you have been injured in a bridge collapse, then you deserve to seek compensation from the city. All bridges should be well-maintained and carefully inspected. If they are not, then contact a New York City personal injury attorney at the firm for more information about how you can litigate against the responsible party.

According to the Associated Press, a runaway trailer facilitated a horrific car wreck on May 30^th, leaving seven dead and one severely injured. The accident happened in Cortland Country. Witnesses say that a minivan carrying two families was traveling a two-lane road in Truxton.

A big-rig truck in the opposite-traffic lane was passing by when the trailer disconnected from the cab of the car. It slammed into the van travelling the opposite direction and ripped it apart in an instant. Both the trailer and the wrecked van stopped on the shoulder of the roadway.

Two individuals in the truck were not injured, but were shaken. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the odd accident and trying to learn how the trailer disconnected from the truck. The trucking company will be held responsible if the NTSB learns that they failed to make sure that the truck was secure or did not follow proper protocol in fastening the trailer to the cab.

Of the eight passengers in the minivan, at least seven are dead. Reports say that four of the victims are children that are under the age of ten. The one surviving individual was taken to a hospital but an update on his condition is not currently available. The children in the van were from two different families. One of the families lived in Truxton. Truck accidents like this one can do extensive damage. If you have been hurt in a traffic accident then you need to seek compensation from a responsible party.

If your loved ones were killed in the accident, you can seek compensation from anyone who caused the accident. You can also seek reimbursement for any medical expenses that you had to pay in connection with injuries from the accident. Learn more by calling a New York City personal injury attorney at our firm today!