11/28/2012 // New York, NY, USA // New York Injury Accident Lawyer // Jonathan C. Reiter // (press release)
Long Island Crash News — Four teenagers joy riding in a vehicle driven by a 17-year-old unlicensed driver, were killed when the driver lost control of the vehicle on a part of the Southern State Parkway known as “Dead Man’s Curve”, causing the vehicle to cross over two lanes of traffic, and hitting several trees which sliced the vehicle in half. The horrific accident occurred on October 9, 2012 at 3:40 a.m. All four passengers were 18 years old. The driver of the vehicle, 17 year old, Joseph Beer, was driving with a learner’s permit, which prohibits driving between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Moreover, a person with a learner’s permit is prohibited from driving without an accompanying licensed driver, and is further prohibited from having more than one passenger who is not a family member under the age of 21 in the vehicle. The results of an accident investigation, which is required in all fatal motor vehicle accidents, are pending.
Jonathan C. Reiter, a New York car accident attorney, who has handled many motor vehicle accidents, cited several key factors in this accident as follows: “The newspapers and media have dubbed this portion of the Southern State Parkway “Dead Man’s Curve” for a very good reason, that is, there is a sharp turn and a blind spot in that area, which obliges a driver approaching that curve, in the dark, and with insufficient distance or warning to slow down, to turn suddenly to negotiate the curve. There have been many fatal accidents in this area of the roadway. These type of accidents comprise a special class of motor vehicle accidents known as ‘roadway defect’ cases. In this instance, the design of the road is inherently dangerous, since a driver who is on a highway traveling at high speeds, suddenly comes upon a sharp turn and a blind spot, which requires negotiating the turn with caution and judgment”. There were other factors that may have contributed to causing this accident that Mr. Reiter mentioned along with the roadway defect, as follows: “It appears that this accident involved 5 young teenagers, in a vehicle, at 3:40 a.m., joy riding, at speeds that were probably excessive for that particular stretch of roadway. In addition, it is possible that the young driver was distracted by the four passengers, themselves only 18 years old. That is the basis of the rule that an operator of a motor vehicle with a learner’s permit is prohibited from having more than one passenger who is a non-family member under the age of 21. Added to that was the inexperience and lack of judgment of a young, unlicensed driver who should never been on the roadway in the first place. All of these factors add up to a recipe of absolute disaster, resulting in four young men being killed, and only the driver surviving.”
Mr. Reiter explained that the accident investigation report will shed much more light on which factor or factors caused this accident. Until then, the families of four young boys are left to mourn and wonder.
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