Case Histories

STATE TO PAY $8.5 MILLION IN CRASH KILLING FOUR

The State has been ordered to pay $8.5 million to the three surviving children of an Amherst couple killed with their two children in a crash on the Thruway in Lancaster. A New York State Supreme Court Judge found the New York State Thruway's failure to inspect and maintain a portion of the toll road near Lancaster to be 100% responsible. The judge ruled that officials knew about and failed to repair the roadway. The accident claimed the mother, father and two of the four children traveling in the car.

FAMILIES OF VICTIMS IN CHASE GET $5.1 MILLION

Jurors awarded $5.1 million to the survivors of two people killed in an accident in Portville following a high-speed chase by police.

The state Supreme Court jury deliberated for three hours before returning a wrongful death award of $4.7 million for the family of the driver of the car, a mother of three, killed in the accident, and $390,000 to the family of her male passenger.

The female victim was driving west on Route 417 when a pickup truck crashed head-on into her auto. The pickup truck, at the time of collision, was being pursued by the state police at a high rate of speed from Weston Mills until shortly before the crash. The driver and passenger of the auto were pronounced dead on arrival at Olean General Hospital.

CRASH INJURIES LEAD TO $3.3 MILLION JURY AWARD

A Portville teen has been awarded $3.3 million for severe head injuries she suffered in a back road car crash.

The crash occurred on Cherry Hollow Road, jointly owned by the towns of Genesee and Portville. Francis M. Letro, the teen's attorney, noted that the two towns had resurfaced the road three days before the crash and that signs were improperly posted warning of the oil and gravel-filled roadway. The driver lost control of the car on a curve and the car rolled, its roof slamming into a telephone pole after ejecting the teen, who landed 10 feet away. She was in a coma for four weeks in Erie County Medical Center.

$2.5 MILLION FOR FAMILY OF HAMBURG WOMAN KILLED IN HIGHWAY ACCIDENT

MOTORCYCLE/POLICE VEHICLE COLLISION – BUFFALO POLICE DEPARTMENT FOUND 100% NEGLIGENT = AWAITING TRIAL IN WRONGFUL DEATH DAMAGES FOR SURVIVING FAMILY COLLEGE/2 OTHERS FOUND LIABLE IN FATAL ACCIDENT $500,000 PAID TO HUSBAND AND CHILREN

Houghton College, one of its administrators and a former Village of Fillmore woman were found financially liable for a fatal accident that occurred during a college student trash pickup project along Route 19.

The verdict followed a two-week trial.

The victim was walking to a grocery store on the east side of Route 19. The fatality occurred when a car tried to pass a truck which was supervising the trash pickup owned by Houghton College on the right side. The driver struck the back of the truck, then hit the guardrail, straightened out and went 30 feet, striking and killing the victim.