Frequently, vehicles making deliveries, such as oil, UPS, FedEx trucks, moving vans, repair vehicles, etc., are illegally double-parked. This obstructs a driver’s view of pedestrians crossing in front of the double-parked vehicle and the pedestrian’s view of any vehicles coming from behind the double-parked vehicle.
If the vehicle that strikes a pedestrian, particularly a child, has a limited insurance policy such as $25,000 or inthe case of a livery or yellow taxicab $100,000, the injured person may have an additional source of recovery from the double-parked vehicle, if it can be found to have been a contributing cause to the injury.
The courts in New York have held that a bus that was illegally parked in a “no parking” area, whichprevented a pedestrian from seeing oncoming vehicles and blocked a driver’s view of the pedestrian attempting to crossthe road, could be held liable if it was found to be a contributing cause of the accident.
The same reasoning was applied to a double-parked ice cream truck where children were running in front of the truck. In one case involving a New York Telephone vehicle that was double parked, and then a driver with only a learner’s permit left the road, mounted the sidewalk, and injured several people. New York’s highest court found it was a jury question whether the telephone company’s double-parked utility vehicle in the road was a contributing cause. Somersall v. N.Y. Tel., 52 N.Y.2d 157, 436 N.Y.S.2d 858 (1981). If a vehicle is double-parked, it is foreseeable that the views of pedestrians and drivers might be blocked and that this could contribute to an accident.
The double-parked vehicle need not be the only cause of the accident, nor need the precise manner of the accident be anticipated.
The moral of the story is do not double-park and do not park where it is illegal because if someone is injured and the double-parked vehicle contributed to the accident, the owner and driver of the double-parked vehicle may be held responsible.
If you are involved in an accident, whether as a pedestrian or driving a vehicle, always tell your lawyer if there was a car or truck that was double-parked that contributed in any way to the accident.
If you have any questions, please contact Abraham Jaros on
his cell 917 842 9544 or
email at ajaros@lawjaros.com
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