The crash, which occurred on October 15, 2003, caused the death of 11 ferry passengers and resulted in over 170 lawsuits filed against the City of New York for their negligence in breaking their own rule requiring two pilots present in the pilot house. The sole pilot in the pilothouse passed out, causing the ferry to crash into a concrete maintenance pier. Mr. Adde claimed that he suffered a herniated disc in his back when other passengers fell on him during the accident. The City claimed that Mr. Adde wasn’t even on the ferry that day. The back injury ultimately required surgery. At Mr. Adde’s deposition, he testified that after the ferry crashed, he walked to Battery Park from the ferry’s Manhattan Terminal, although the crash happened near the Staten Island Terminal. The City also claimed that Mr. Adde’s back injury was pre-existing. After a two day bench trial, which means that the judge and not a jury decided the case, the court concluded that Mr. Adde’s testimony was “much less than credible.”

The City claimed fraud and Mr. Adde’s attorney claimed that his client is an African immigrant who speaks English as his 4th language. The City will vigorously defend lawsuits that they believe are fraudulent and refused to settle the case before trial. However, the claimant will most likely appeal the judge’s ruling in the hopes of getting a new trial, so i am sure that we have not heard the last about it.

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New York, as well as many other states, enacted a no-fault statute that took away some one’s right to start a lawsuit for injuries resulting from a car accident if they didn’t suffer a “serious injury.” A serious injury is something more than a bruise, but recent rulings have said that even herniated discs are not “serious” and you would be unable to bring a lawsuit. Despite your painful injuries, the legislature took this right away from you in exchange for providing some medical benefits to you.

The no-fault laws were enacted to stem the supposed tide of lawsuits brought on by the injured victims of car accidents. The widely accepted belief for the lawsuits was that since injured victims did not have medical insurance, they needed to started a lawsuit to help pay for their medical bills. Does the new health care bill take away the need for no-fault coverage? I believe that it does. Since everyone would be covered, there would be no need to include no-fault coverage in your insurance policy. Car insurance companies would be relieved of the burden to and auto insurance rates would drop dramatically. No longer would the car insurance companies be able to pridefully announce the bust-up of a no-fault fraud ring in New York. I am sure that they would pass that savings on to you. If you believe that, I have a nice bridge to sell you.

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In New York, the law allows police to speed, run red lights and stop signs and even drive on the opposite side of the street as long as they are responding to a call with their lights and siren’s on. If they did not have their lights and sirens on and an accident happened, they would be negligent, just like you or I would be if we ran a stopsign. But the law allows police officers to be negligent, just not reckless.

Section 1104 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law relieves the driver of a police car from the duty to obey the otherwise-applicable rules and regulations governing the movement of vehicles, but does not relieve the driver from “the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of others.” In a personal injury suit against the City of New York, you would need to prove that the police officer was reckless – meaning that the police officer would have to commit an act knowing that harm would follow and not care about the outcome. You would think that would be easy.

Unfortunately, the courts favor to the police officer. In a recent case, a police officer responding to an emergency failed to stop at a stop sign and entered an intersection with a four-lane highway. His view of the traffic was obstructed and he failed to see an oncoming vehicle, resulting in a collision. The courts said that the police officer “enjoyed a qualified privilege pursuant to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104 which permitted him to disregard the ordinary rules of prudent and responsible driving.” Even though he couldn’t see other cars, the court said that the officer’s conduct did not amount to reckless disregard for the safety of others.

On Staten Island, we see too frequently police cars going through stops signs and red lights, not because they are responding to an emergency but simply because they feel they don’t have to wait like you or I. With the courts in their favor, and no one to police them, its just another danger that Staten Island residents have to be on the lookout for.

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Although the driver was unlicensed, the car he was driving may still be “insured.” The insurance company for that car may try and disclaim coverage – that means that they will say they are not responsible to pay because the terms of the policy were violated – and the car will be “uninsured.” In order for the insurance company to try to disclaim coverage, they may claim that the car was taken without permission by the unlicensed driver. Under the terms of most insurance policies, the lack of  ”permissive use” may allow the insurance company to decline any financial responsibility. As the car’s owner, although you have paid your insurance premiums, your insurance company will not stand by you, despite what the TV commercials may say, and you will be left to defend any claims made against you on your own.  At your expense.

If you are a pedestrian, and don’t own a  car, you may apply for medical benefits and compensation for your pain and suffering through the New York State Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation, or MVAIC. MVAIC protects New York State residents from accidents involving ”hit and run” or uninsured drivers. The MVAIC benefits are the minimum financial benefits mandated by New York State law, which in some circumstances, may be insufficient to compensate you for your injuries.

If you own a car, you may be able to proceed under the “uninsured motorist” coverage of your own car insurance policy. If you have done your homework and read my book, A Lawyer’s Guide to Car Insurance, you will have already purchased sufficient insurance to protect you in an accident. If you have only the New York State minimum required insurance, you may not be able to recover enough money to cover your losses.

If the driver was unlicensed but still had the owner’s permission to use the car, that car’s insurance will cover you against the physical and financial losses that you may sustain, provided you reach the “No-Fault Threshold.” Regardless of the extent of your injuries, you will be eligible for no-fault benefits, which provides medical coverage and lost earnings due to the accident. However, unless you sustain a  “serious injury” in the accident, you may not be able to sue for your injuries.

It is important that if you own a car, you purchase sufficient insurance to protect you in a car accident. Unfortunately, most people discover too late that their policy doesn’t provide them with enough coverage in the scenarios discussed above. Take the time to read through the declaration page of your insurance policy and speak with your broker to make sure you are covered.

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My firm had the privilege of representing a passenger injured in the 2003 crash of the Barberi and much knowledge and insight was learned into the workings of the Staten Island Ferry operations. Before the crash, most deckhands would leave the decks and wait out the ride inside the crew-only spaces. When the ferry slowed down to dock, the deckhands would re-emerge onto the deck and prepare for docking. During the Barberi crash, the ferry never slowed down and the deckhands didn’t know that they were so close to the slip. If the deckhands were on the deck that day, they would have seen that the ferry was fast approaching the dock and could warn passengers to move away from the front of the ferry, where the impact occurred.

Yesterday, those lessons learned were put into action. Deckhands were present on deck at all times and warned the passengers of the impending crash, moving them away from the front of the ferryboat. New loudspeaker systems installed after the Barberi crash warned passengers to “hang on” and enabled many people to brace for the impact. If the new practices were not enacted, I could only imagine how many passengers would have seriously been injured just as I could only imagine how many less people would have been killed or injured if theses common-sense safety rules were followed in the Barberi crash. I am thankful that when faced with hundreds of claims, the City of New York realized that in the interest of safety, changes were needed. Those changes most certainly saved many more passengers from injury yesterday.

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The City and the DOT have painted new, high-visibility crosswalks, installed fencing to keep pedestrians safely out of traffic, and painted “stop bars” at the start of the intersection to signal to drivers where they should stop for yellow and red lights at a safe distance from the crosswalk. They have also installed heavy metal “bells” in the median, presumably to protect pedestrians who didn’t have enough time to finish crossing the street from the cars streaking along Hylan Boulevard. Unfortunately, the “bells”, which are approximately 2 1/2 feet high and painted black, are most likely isnbatleld below the site line of most cars and so near the road that they are a danger to cars, especially for turning cars. The shape of the “bells” and their location appear to enable cars to ride up and over them, with potentially devastating effects. It is believed that at least one accident was already caused by these “bells” and it is readily apparent from the scuff marks on the bells that numerous cars have hit them already, just a few weeks after they were installed. In order to protect the pedestrians, should driver’s safety be put at risk? The bells need to be removed or redesigned immediately to prevent any further injury or accidents. Although the safety of pedestrians is paramount, driver’s should not be subject to severe injuries in exchange for their safety.

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