New York Car Accidents Claim Two Young Lives
A pair of unrelated automobile accidents in New York State claimed the lives of a seven-month-old infant and a four-year-old child.
The baby girl was killed November 27 when an alleged drunk driver crossed the center line in Irving, NY, and struck the car being driven by her mother.
Two weeks earlier in the Town of Windsor, a four-year-old girl died when her babysitter accidentally ran over her while backing out of a driveway.
More than 1,000 people die each year in automobile accidents in New York.
Under New York law, when a person or company acts negligently and causes the death of another, survivors may have the right to file a wrongful death claim on behalf of the deceased.
Following is a television news report on the infant’s death:
A Western New York family is mourning the loss of an infant this holiday season after an accused drunk driver struck the vehicle she was riding in.
7-month-old Baylee M. Dion was in her car seat in the back of a 1997 Pontiac Grand Am being driven by her mother Tuesday morning when an SUV crossed the center line along Southwestern Boulevard in Irving, cutting the victim’s vehicle in half.
The infant was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Baylee’s mother, 31-year-old Denise Hine was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC with serious injuries. She is expected to be okay.
Hine had just dropped her 4-year-old daughter at school moments before the crash.
The driver of the SUV … has been charged with DWI and Vehicular Manslaughter in the second degree.
The crash remains under investigation.
News outlets reported that the SUV driver was previously charged with DWI in November of 2009 in Chautauqua County.
In the second incident, the accident occurred at the Windsor home of a 37-year-old woman who was babysitting a four-year-old.
Here is a news account of that tragedy:
37 year old Brenda Hadlick of 488 Mountain Road was babysitting 4 year old Kenzee Wheeler when she accidentally struck the girl as she was backing her vehicle into the driveway.
The accident happened in the driveway of Hadlick’s home in Windsor.
The child was air lifted to Wilson Memorial Hospital in Johnson City, where she succumbed to her injuries. The investigation is continuing.
In a wrongful death lawsuit, relatives of the deceased can seek financial compensation, including money for hospital and medical bills, funeral expenses and loss of companionship – and in some cases punitive damages.
Strict time deadlines apply to New York wrongful death claims.
Sources:
- WKBW-TV News 7
http://www.wkbw.com/home/Family-Identified-Infant-Killed-in-Crash-181084851.html - CNY Central
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?list=~%5Cnews%5Clists%5Crecent&id=826134
