Articles Posted in Car Accidents in New York

|

Picture this: you’re driving in New York or in Westchester County, doing your best to operate your vehicle responsibly. In between intersections, a pedestrian steps into the road, not even glancing around, their eyes firmly on their phone.

It happens more than you think, so if you haven’t encountered this yet, you likely will at some point.

People call them “smartphone zombies” (and some more creative names that I can’t print here), but what they really are are distracted pedestrians. These distracted pedestrians are becoming as common (and as dangerous) as distracted drivers. Across New York and the country, walking while texting, scrolling, or streaming has become a leading cause of preventable accidents. And while mobile devices are the most common culprits, pedestrians can also be distracted by listening to music, talking to others, or just about anything else that keeps their focus away from the traffic.

Continue reading ›

|

Driving comes with serious risks, especially for younger, less experienced drivers. While teens may look forward to the freedom, they may underestimate the potential dangers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle accidents remain among the leading causes of death for U.S. teenagers.

At The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel, we’ve represented countless families whose lives were changed when their teens were in a traffic collision. With almost 40 years of experience handling motor vehicle accident and personal injury cases across New York, attorney Mark A. Siesel understands how to help when your family member has been injured. If your teen has been injured, reach out to our law firm for a free consultation.

Why Teen Drivers Are at Higher Risk

Continue reading ›

|

After a car accident, it can be tempting to skip a trip to the doctor if you don’t feel immediate pain. After all, you may feel fine and may be more worried about damage to your car or the insurance process. Spending hours in a waiting room to see a doctor can seem like more than you can handle. However, seeking prompt medical attention after a crash is one of the most important steps you can take. It protects your health and can save your life. It also protects your potential personal injury claim.

At The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel, we’ve represented car accident victims throughout Westchester and surrounding counties. We’ve seen how early medical evaluation can make a critical difference in both physical recovery and the outcome of an injury case. If you have been injured by someone’s negligence, contact us for a free consultation. You can even call us from the waiting room or from your hospital room and we will answer within 24 business hours—and often much sooner. If you are worried about your medical costs, we can explore ways we can seek compensation to cover those, and other expenses related to your car accident.

Why Immediate Medical Care Matters After a Crash

Continue reading ›

|

Tesla is under renewed federal scrutiny following reports that some vehicles equipped with its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system may run red lights, veer into oncoming lanes, or even stall on railroad tracks. While this probe is unfolding, it raises urgent questions for drivers, potential victims, and anyone who may be harmed by such system failures.

At The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel, we follow developments like these closely because they can affect real people’s lives. With almost 40 years’ experience handling serious personal injury, motor vehicle, and wrongful‐death claims, we help people understand the legal options when technology fails. If you have been injured in a Tesla collision or any car crash, you can always schedule a free consultation with our team to review what your options might be.

What’s Behind the Federal Investigation?

Continue reading ›

|

For the first nine months of 2025, New York City reported one of its safest years on record for roadway fatalities. According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), traffic deaths dropped nearly 18% compared to the same period in 2024. Officials credit Vision Zero initiatives, street redesigns, and targeted enforcement for the improvements.

While this trend is encouraging, it does not change the reality for families across Westchester, the Bronx, and counties that include Kings, Orange, Rockland, New York, Queens, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster, and Sullivan counties, who continue to face life-altering injuries and losses due to negligent driving. At The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel, we recognize the progress New York has made in traffic safety, but we also continue to be there for those who are injured in our communities.

The State of Traffic Safety in 2025

Continue reading ›

|

Recently, a prosecutor revealed that a loophole in New York law made it challenging to charge a driver who was under the influence of fentanyl and cocaine when he killed four members of a family, a father—a U.S. Marine veteran—and his three children, ages 10, 13, and 6, last year.

The family had gone out for ice cream and were stopped at a red light when driver Michael DeAngelo, who was high, plowed into it. Two older children were killed on impact, as was the 60-year-old father. The youngest child was critically injured and passed away in the hospital days later.

Under the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law 1192(4), it is a crime to operate a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs. However, New York law provides that prosecutors can only charge a driver who has been impaired by drugs if the drug is specified on the list of drugs enumerated by lawmakers. Judges require that the drug must be named prior to arrest. This loophole doesn’t exist in 46 other states; critics of the New York law believe it allows dangerous drivers to stay on the road and continue to put others at risk.

Continue reading ›

|

Recently, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law important road safety rules that extend red light camera programs across the state. Sometimes the pictures that are taken by these cameras provide crucial evidence after an accident. However, there are also steps you should take, even if you’re stunned by the accident, to protect your rights and make it more feasible for our car accident attorneys in White Plains to obtain compensation on your behalf in a lawsuit.

One of the important things you and any other involved drivers can do is to keep cars or other vehicles in the position they were in after a crash. This helps the police investigate the accident and can have bearing on the opinions of a car accident reconstruction expert about who was at fault. However, when a collision happens on the highway or other location where vehicles are traveling at high speeds, it’s vital to move the vehicle to a shoulder or other safe off-road location than to preserve the scene perfectly.

Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 600(1) and your car insurance policy, there are four pieces of information you will need to exchange with other drivers in the accident when you know or should know there was property damage, as a result of the collision. These are: your name, address, proof of insurance, and your license plate number. In such cases, you should also report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Continue reading ›

|

Yonkers and its police department have been sued for a car crash that resulted in the deaths of four teenagers in 2020. The teens were 18-years-old and had graduated from high school the prior spring. The families of the teenagers blame the police for the crash, arguing that they mishandled the pursuit of a man who attempted to evade them on Riverdale Avenue when they tried to pull him over for erratic driving. The man also died in the crash.

The police department’s public information officer said that the officers chose to disengage and didn’t pursue precise to avoid a crash; they did not view the pursuit as a high speed chase. The police followed around 15 seconds behind the fleeing driver’s sedan; the police car was not in emergency mode.

The mother of one of the teens who died argued that the police should have used warning equipment like sirens, horns and lights and should have given proper instruction to its officers to properly follow the vehicle. One of the lawsuits that has been filed alleges that the police department owed a duty to direct officers and personnel in appropriate precautions for chasing, following, or apprehending a vehicle. Another lawsuit alleges that the actions of the police department in this situation increased risks to the public.

Continue reading ›

|

Although the number of traffic deaths had been falling since the late 1960s, a change attributed to lower speed limits, vehicle improvements, and drunk driving declines, the New York Times recently reported that these deaths have been on the rise across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts were surprised; they had anticipated a decline due to largely empty roads. However, the pandemic increased frustration and anger, which in turn triggered aggressive driving, and this aggression continued later in the pandemic when more people began driving again.

According to analysis of federal data, per capita vehicle deaths rose 17.5% between the summer of 2019 to the summer of 2020, the largest two year increase since immediately following World War II. In one instance, a man was killed by a driver who had run a red light while he was crossing the street with his family after attending a holiday lights display.

A cognitive scientist commented to the Times that the aggressive behavior could be attributed to dissipation of angry energy by pressing harder on the accelerator. The Department of Transportation also reported that the proportion of drivers who tested positive for opioids doubled after mid-March in 2020 when mitigation of the pandemic started, and positive tests for marijuana increased by around 50%.

Continue reading ›

|

Distracted driving is a significant cause of crashes, including fatal accidents, across the country. This type of driving occurs whenever a driver is paying attention to something other than the road, such as when a driver is talking on the cell phone, texting, eating, applying makeup, grooming themselves, drinking a beverage, adjusting the radio or GPS, or driving while fatigued or sleep deprived. If you were injured and suspect that the other driver was doing any of the foregoing before colliding with your car, you should call the experienced White Plains distracted driving attorney Mark A. Siesel. Additionally, you should be aware that the New York Times recently reported a new distracted driving hazard generated by Tesla.

Over the summer, Tesla added a software update and sent it to most of its cars in the summer of 2021. The update allows games to be played on a large touch screen in front of the dashboard, even while a car is in motion. The Governors Highway Safety Association has stated it is a concern if the game plays in front of the driver. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that 2016, there have been 12 traffic deaths as the result of Tesla’s hands-free driving and drivers looking away from the road.

If you were injured because of a distracted driver, you may be able to recover damages. When we sue on your behalf, we typically need to establish the distracted driver’s negligence. We’ll need to prove it’s more likely than not: (1) the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care, (2) breach of the duty to use reasonable care, (3) causation, and (4) actual damages. All drivers owe others with whom they share the road a duty to use reasonable care when a car is in motion.

Continue reading ›