When a vehicle leaves the roadway and strikes a pedestrian, cyclist, building occupant, or anyone outside the normal path of traffic, the injuries are often catastrophic. Out-of-control vehicle accident claims in New York begin with a question absent in standard collision cases: why did the vehicle lose control? The answer determines who bears legal responsibility and is rarely simple.
Subin Law represents people seriously injured in out-of-control vehicle accident claims in New York. These cases require an investigation that begins not at the moment of impact but at the decisions, failures, and conditions that caused the vehicle to deviate from its intended path.
How These Incidents Occur
Out-of-control vehicle incidents arise from a range of causes, each pointing to a different responsible party.
Driver negligence, including impairment, distraction, excessive speed, and failure to maintain control, gives rise to a straightforward negligence claim against the driver and, where applicable, their employer. Mechanical failure involving defective brakes, steering systems, accelerators, or tires shifts liability to the vehicle manufacturer under products liability law or to a maintenance provider whose negligent service contributed to the failure. A medical emergency behind the wheel raises questions about whether the driver knew of a condition that made driving unsafe and whether a physician who cleared them bears independent liability. Road conditions such as defective pavement, missing guardrails, and inadequate signage can create municipal liability when a government entity fails to maintain safe roads.
In some cases, another driver’s conduct forced an evasive maneuver that led to loss of control. Consequently, the driver who created the emergency is liable for the consequences even if they were not the vehicle that caused the impact.
Legal Responsibility
Out-of-control vehicle cases in New York involve distinct legal theories depending on the cause of the loss of control.
Where driver negligence caused the incident, the driver bears direct negligence liability under New York common law. The employer also bears vicarious liability when the driver acted within the scope of employment. A manufacturing defect in the vehicle’s braking, steering, or acceleration system creates strict liability for the manufacturer under New York products liability law regardless of negligence. Similarly, a maintenance provider whose negligent service contributed to a mechanical failure bears liability under common law negligence principles.
Where a government entity’s failure to maintain safe road conditions contributed to the loss of control, municipal liability applies. As a result, a Notice of Claim must be filed within 90 days of the incident under General Municipal Law § 50-e. Missing this deadline can bar the claim entirely.
Building the Case
Out-of-control vehicle cases require a careful investigation into the cause of the loss of control before physical evidence disappears. Vehicle inspection, preservation of mechanical components, and electronic data from the vehicle’s systems are critical. Documenting road conditions, witness accounts, and surveillance footage is equally essential to establishing what happened and why.
The cause of the loss of control determines the defendants, legal theories, and evidence required. Identifying the cause early is the most consequential step in the case. Every case at Subin Law is built for trial from the start.
What These Cases Involve
Out-of-control vehicle accidents cause traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, fractures, crush injuries, and fatalities. Pedestrians, cyclists, and building occupants struck by vehicles that have left the roadway have no opportunity to avoid the impact. Consequently, their injuries typically reflect the full force of the collision.
The range of potentially responsible parties in these cases is broader than in standard vehicle collisions. Moreover, identifying every party whose negligence contributed to the loss of control requires a technical investigation that goes well beyond the crash scene itself.
Subin Law takes a limited number of serious cases so each receives focused attention and a strategy built around its specific facts. Consultations are free and confidential. No attorney fees are charged unless compensation is recovered.
Contact Subin Law to discuss your case.
