$575,000 Recovery After Teen Was Struck in Construction-Blocked Crosswalk
A 17-year-old high school student was struck by a car as she stepped into a Brooklyn crosswalk that had been blocked by a construction-zone truck obstructing her view of traffic, the traffic light, and the pedestrian signal. The Orlow Firm pursued the driver, the developer, the general contractor, the site safety contractor, and the rental company whose truck was in the crosswalk. The driver's insurance carrier tendered the full $100,000 policy limit before mediation as the only offer on the table, treating the case as a single-defendant problem. The Orlow Firm pursued the four other defendants whose conduct had obstructed the crosswalk and recovered $575,000, nearly six times the driver's tender.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What Happened
On the morning of May 5, 2021, our client, a 17-year-old high school student, was walking to school. She approached a busy Brooklyn intersection that had been turned into an active construction site. Scaffolding stretched over the sidewalk. Orange construction barriers ran along the curb. A large white trailer sat on the side street to her left. And a commercial truck belonging to a third-party rental company was parked diagonally in the crosswalk in front of her, blocking her view of the intersection, the traffic light, and the pedestrian signal on the far side. She walked around the truck, stepped into the crosswalk, and the moment her left foot cleared the construction barrier she was struck by a car.
How We Won
The driver's insurer treated the case as a single-defendant problem. They tendered their entire $100,000 policy limit and stepped back. The other parties (the developer, the general contractor, the site safety contractor, and the rental company whose truck was in the crosswalk) were each prepared to argue that their conduct was not what caused the crash, and that a driver who failed to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk was the only proximate cause.
Adam Moses Orlow, our Senior Trial Partner, refused to let the case stop with the driver. The construction zone had eliminated every warning a pedestrian relies on (the traffic light, the pedestrian signal, the line of sight to oncoming cars), and four separate parties had played a role in obstructing the crosswalk. We documented the construction-zone violations with photographs from the scene, including images showing the truck still in the crosswalk after the collision and construction barriers in the line of sight, plus police reports and witness testimony. Beyond general negligence, the defendants violated multiple New York statutes governing traffic-control devices, stopping in crosswalks, pedestrian protection near construction sites, and New York City Department of Transportation rules for construction zones on public streets. By pursuing every party whose conduct contributed to the crash, the firm reached four separate insurance policies rather than accepting the driver's tendered limit as the end of the case.
The Injuries
The collision caused two fractures in our client's left ankle. Swelling was severe enough that surgeons could not operate immediately and first performed a closed reduction. On May 13, 2021, she underwent open reduction and internal fixation with syndesmosis fixation at Kings County Medical Center. Years later, she still experiences ongoing swelling, range-of-motion loss, and screws protruding from the ankle that cause pain on contact.
The Result
The Orlow Firm recovered $575,000, nearly six times the driver's tendered policy limit, by reaching four other defendants who had each played a role in obstructing the crosswalk.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If you or a loved one has been struck by a vehicle or injured near an active construction site, contact The Orlow Firm at (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation.
