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Articles Posted in Drunk Driving Accidents

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Daniel-Pollack-1In many States if you want to become a foster parent, you can not have a DUI or a DWI  conviction during the 5 years before you apply. Is this enough to protect foster children? In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City suggests the mandatory installation of an ignition interlock, which measures the blood alcohol content in a person’s system, for any foster parent who has a history of being convicted for drunk driving. These interlocks temporarily lock the cars ignition if the blood alcohol content exceeds a prescribed limit. Ignition interlocks can reduce DUI recidivism by 67%. Additionally if an ignition interlock was mandatory for all DUI offenders, it is estimated that DUI deaths would decrease by 15%.

The complete article can be read here 

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accident sceneTwo people died and several others were injured in a NYC car accident caused by a drunk driver who was speeding. 34-year-old Andrew Shakespeare was driving back from a wedding on Sunday morning. He had 4 other passengers in his car. He was allegedly drunk and was speeding on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, NYC. As he approached the 188th street exit, Shakespeare changed lanes and side-wiped a Nissan Sentra driven by a 59-year-old woman. He then lost control of his BMW X5 SUV and careened into a Nissan Rogue driven by a 52-year-old man. Both cars crashed into the center guard rail. A 38-year-old woman driving a Mercedes was then struck by the BMW despite trying to swerve to avoid hitting the two cars. The impact sent her car into trees on the side of the road and back rolling over on the road.

The BMW front passenger, 34-year-old Layon Campbell was transported to the hospital with critical head and body injury. He was pronounced dead upon his arrival. 16-year-old Akeam Grant who was sitting on the rear right seat of the BMW died at the scene of the accident. The two other passengers, a 21-year-old and a 16-year-old survived. One of them fractured his pelvis and his right arm. The other lacerated his right arm. They were both transported to a hospital to be treated.

Among the people in the 3 other cars involved in the crash, both drivers of the Nissans were taken to the hospital for neck and back injuries but were listed in stable condition. The two passengers of the Nissan Rogue were also rushed to the hospital. The front passenger, a 50-year-old man injured his right leg. The rear passenger, a 63-year-old man fractured his rib and his neck. He also suffered from neck and back pain. Both passengers are in stable condition. The Mercedes-Benz driver was also transported to the hospital to be treated for pain in her right shoulder.

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accident sceneA 46 old pedestrian died in NYC after a drugged driver struck him as he was crossing the street. 67 year old Jihne Niu was crossing the street at the intersection of 46th Ave and 149th Street in Flushing, Queens when the accident occurred. The driver, a 46 year old man who was drugged behind the wheel hit him with his car. He stayed at the scene of the accident and was arrested shortly after the police found out he was under the influence of drugs. Jihne Niu was rushed to the emergency room but couldn’t be saved. Read more in the NY Daily News.

Unfortunately, more people than usual were driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the celebration of Memorial Day. On Friday, Governor Cuomo announced that the New York State Police would be cracking down on this type of dangerous driving behaviour over the long week-end. Patrols were added all over the State of New York and sobriety check points were use to identify and arrest people driving under the influence. Unfortunately they couldn’t prevent all accidents. Last year during a similar operation over the Memorial Day Weekend York State Police arrested 225 drunk drivers and issued 12,000 tickets for various other violations  during the Hoilday. New York City also targeted drunk drivers. (read more here). In New York City, the NYPD, the DOT, the TLC and mayor de Blasio announced on Friday that the NYPD would also be cracking down on drunk drivers. Additionally the City of New York was offering  $10 off the ride of anyone taking a taxi on Friday night or Saturday night. Entitled “Know your limit” the campaign was encouraging New York City drivers to ride home in a taxi rather than drive back home under the influence. It seems strange though that the rebate was dd  not apply on Sunday night, one of the most busy nights of the long week-end (read more here).

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accident scene34 year old Jonatan Segura was drunk and speeding the night he killed one pedestrian and injured another in a car accident in New York last January. Segura plead guilty to manslaughter, two counts of assault, homicide, leaving the scene, and drunk driving as well as misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident. He is facing 4 to 12 years in prison.

On January 30th around 4:00 am, Segura was driving on 181st Street near Amsterdam Avenue when he lost control of his BMW sedan. He was drunk and he was speeding. He hit a pick-up truck and two pedestrians. One of them, Encarnation died form his injury at the hospital, the other one, a 46 year old woman was seriously injured.

Segura fled the scene of the accident on foot leaving behind him two seriously injured people and his car completely destroyed by the high speed impact.

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Amanda Miner killed in a NYC drunk driving accidentA 26 year old NYPD traffic agent was charged with drunk driving, vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide this morning when he appeared at his arraignment. Stefan Hoyt was drunk when he crashed his car into a divider of the Williamsburg bridge on March 16th around 3:15 am.   21 year old Amanda Miner who was sitting in the back seat (see previous blog ) was killed in the accident. While the speed limit is 35 mph, Hoyt was driving at a speed of 111 mph when he lost control of his vehicle. Videos from that night show Hoyt drinking at least 10 drinks including 8 shots of vodka. Hoyt’s bail was originally set at $100,000 but the judge reset it at $250,000.

Read more in the NY Daily News  

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Every year in the US approximately 10,000 people die in car accidents caused by drunk drivers.  In an effort to prevent these types of accidents, states have been introducing Ignition Interlock Laws.  The ignition interlock is a device that is connected to the ignition of a car. When a driver wants to start a car with this type of device he has to breath in the ignition interlock. If alcohol is detected and is above the legal BAC limit for the state, the car doesn’t start. All states now have ignition interlock laws but some are more permissive than others. Globally there are 3 types of laws. “Permissive” laws are at the discretion of the judge or other sentencing authority. “Partial Laws” apply only to a certain type of offenders for example only repeat DUI offenders. Mandatory Laws apply to all drivers convicted of DUI. At the beginning of last year, 26 states had mandatory laws, 22 had partial laws and 2 had permissive laws.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that states with mandatory ignition interlock laws had a 7% decline in fatal crashes related to DUI.  The study was conducted by Emma E. McGinty, PhD, MS; Gregory Tung, PhD, MPH,; Juliana Shulman-Laniel, MPH; Rose Hardy, MPH; Lainie Rutkow, JD, PhD, MPH; Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, MPH; and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH all from  Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Colorado School of Public Health.

The researches analyzed crash data  from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) over a 32 year period. They compared the number of alcohol related fatal crashes before and after the ignition interlock laws were adopted by the various states. The study demonstrates that mandatory ignition laws are much more effective than the permissive or partial laws at preventing drunk driving fatal accidents.

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Vanessa Raghubar died in a drunk driving accident in NYCA 22 year old woman died from her injury  after a drunk driver crashed into her car in NYC. The drunk driver, 32 year old Neville Smith is a NYPD detective. He was off duty when he crashed into Vanessa Raghubar’s car.  The accident occurred around 4:00 am Sunday morning on the Van Wick Expressway.  Vanessa  was returning from her sister’s birthday party when the drunk detective crashed his Mercedes into her Honda. The impact was so strong that Vanessa’s car was propelled against a light pole and a tree. She and her two passengers, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend suffered critical injuries. All 3 were transported to the hospital where Vanessa died the following day.

Smith was charged with vehicular assault, assault, driving while intoxicated and refusal to take a Breathalyzer test. More charges are expected.

Vanessa who studied psychology was supposed to graduate in June. Her family wants justice.

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A NYC drunk driver killed his passenger after he crashed into a divider. The fatal car accident took place on the Williamsburg bridge Thursday around 3:30 am. That night, Amanda Miner was celebrating her 21st  birthday. She was driving back home with her two friends, both NYPD traffic enforcement agents. Stefan Hoyte was driving the car and his friend was in the front seat. Amanda was seating in the back. Hoyte was in the middle of the bridge when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the divider. The impact was so strong that the car split in two and Amanda was thrown from the vehicle. She died at the scene of the accident. The two men suffered minor injuries. The driver was taken into custody. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

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drunk drivingA young drunk driver was caught driving the wrong way on the Long Island Expressway in Queens, NYC, early yesterday morning. 23 year old Ivan Ceron was charged with drunk driving, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving below the minimum posted speed.  Several people called 911 to alert the police. Thankfully no one was hurt unlike previous incidents of reckless driving that recently occurred on the LIE. On August 31st , 3 people died and 11 were injured in a traffic accident on the Long Island Expressway near Maurice Ave in Queens. Results of preliminary investigation show that speed caused the accident. 10 days earlier 5 people died and six suffered injury in another crash related to speed on the LIE. Among those who died was an ex-Cuomo aid.

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drunk driving A woman died in a car accident in New York Yesterday. The accident was caused by a drunk driver. 49 year old Aissatou Diallo was travelling with her 16 year old son on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on their way to a wedding. A relative who was traveling in front of them had a flat tire. They stopped to help him. As Aissatou was waiting next to her car, a drunk driver rear ended her car. The car careened into the mother and sent her flying off the elevated highway. After the accident, the drunk driver tried to flee the scene of the accident on foot. He was chased  by Diallo’s son who caught him and held him until the arrival of the police. Diallo’s son told the police that the driver, 43 year old Vladimir Menin, was so drunk that he couldn’t speak coherently.  Aissatou Diallo was transported to the hospital in critical condition. She later died from her injuries.

Read more in the NY Daily News

Image: courtesy of pixabay

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