Car accident kills 3 in New York

Three people are dead after a vehicle believed to have been stolen crashed into a pond in Nassau County. New York police were on the scene of the car accident that claimed the lives of all three occupants of the vehicle. The accident remains under investigation, as it is possible road conditions played a role in the crash. 

Police reports indicate the vehicle was sighted by a state trooper while headed eastbound on Northern State Parkway. The officer said the license plate was tagged as belonging to a vehicle that had been stolen several days prior, so the officer followed the vehicle without activating lights or siren. He radioed for backup from nearby police stations, but it appears the occupants of the stolen vehicle may have noticed his presence. 

The vehicle left the Parkway and accelerated to high speed. It crashed through a fence on Searingtown Road before overturning into a pond. Local fire and police responded to the crash site, but one of the three occupants of the vehicle was already dead. The other two were pronounced dead some time later at a local hospital. 

It may seem unusual for the families of the passengers in this allegedly stolen vehicle to wish to pursue legal action against the driver, but it is perfectly reasonable to assume the passengers were unaware of the vehicle’s stolen status upon entering. In this case, the material responsibility for the car accident falls to the driver. New York law does allow the families of the deceased passengers to file wrongful death suits against his estate, though in this case the rightful owners of the vehicle would not be legally responsible for the car or the fate of its passengers. 

Source: CBS New York, “Three Dead After Reportedly Stolen Car Crashes Into Nassau County Pond“, Jan. 8, 2017