Drunk Driver Hits Police Car
This weekend, an intoxicated driver struck a stopped police car in Long Island, which resulted in not only the drunk driver being injured, but the police officers were injured as well. Accidents from drivers who are driving while intoxicated are unfortunately not new in New York. Our New York City drunk driving accident lawyers have handled many cases for victims of personal injury which were caused by drunk drivers.
The law concerning who can be sued and the liability is not always complex. In this case, the General Municipal Law 205 gives police officers the right to sue anyone who violated a law which resulted in an officers injury. The operator who consumed alcohol is obviously at fault and violated two separate laws, the first is New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law, which makes it a crime to operate a vehicle while in an intoxicated condtion. The driver also violated New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law 1129, which requires drivers to maintain a safe distance between their cars and cars in front of them. The New York Courts have recognized that a collission with a stopped vehicle establishes a violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law 1129.
Also New York recognizes a cause of action called the Dram Shop law, which allows a lawsuit against any licensed premises who illegally sold alcohol to any intoxicated persons, which resulted in the accident. Under New York's Alcohol Benerage Control law it is illegal to serve alcohol to someone who is already intoxicated and where a bar or liquor store sells alcohol to someone who is already intoxicated, they can also be sued for any accident where the intoxication was a cause.
In New York, police officers can sue the parties responsible, as well as recieve their full salary while they are out of work on a line of duty injury. Our New York City personal injury lawyers, have handled numerous line of duty cases for police officers injured while working and have brought dram shop acts, against bars and clubs in New York, where they served alcohol to intoxicated persons. This can be for driving while intoxicated accidents, or even when officers have to respond to and restrain disordely people or premises, due to intoxication and become injured.