Short summary: A teenager driving on a learner's permit with his father beside him confused the pedals, jumped the curb, and struck four women standing on a sidewalk. Police filed no charges. In New York, the owner of the vehicle is generally responsible for injuries caused by a permitted driver, whether or not anyone is charged.
Sidewalk crashes are the clearest liability picture there is, and they still get treated as bad luck.
What happened
Just after 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 6, a 17-year-old holding a learner's permit drove up onto the sidewalk in front of 251 Mamaroneck Avenue in the Village of Mamaroneck and struck four women. His father was in the vehicle supervising, as the permit requires.
Two women, ages 20 and 26, were taken by ambulance to Westchester Medical Center. Two more, ages 24 and 26, declined treatment at the scene. Police described all the injuries as minor. The teenager told investigators he confused the brake and the accelerator. No charges were filed, and police classified the crash as an accident, as reported by Hoodline.
Why a permit does not limit liability
People assume that a learner's permit somehow reduces exposure, or that a supervising parent absorbs it. Generally the opposite is true.
New York holds the owner of a vehicle responsible for injuries caused by anyone driving it with permission. A parent who hands over the keys to a permitted driver has given permission in the most explicit way possible. The family policy is generally the policy that responds.
Pedal confusion is not a defense
Confusing the pedals is an honest explanation and a common one. It is not a legal excuse. Negligence asks whether a driver behaved with reasonable care, and losing control of a car badly enough to end up on a sidewalk generally answers that question on its own.
The absence of charges does not change it either. A prosecutor deciding not to file is making a judgment about criminal law. An injury claim asks a different question with a lower burden of proof, which is the point we made about the Major Deegan crash where nobody was charged.
What the two women who declined treatment should know
Refusing an ambulance at the scene is normal and it is not fatal to a claim. What causes problems is a long gap before any medical visit, because insurers read that gap as evidence that nothing much happened. Soft tissue injuries from being struck on a sidewalk frequently show up a day or two later.
Get seen, keep the record, and understand the 30-day no-fault application deadline, which we cover in our no-fault guide. Our pedestrian rights guide applies well beyond Manhattan.
Questions New Yorkers ask us
Is the supervising adult responsible when a permit driver crashes?
Generally, the claim runs first against the vehicle owner's policy, and the supervising adult is often that owner. Whether the supervisor carries separate responsibility depends on the facts of how the driving was supervised.
Does declining an ambulance hurt your claim?
Generally not by itself. What matters more is whether you got examined soon afterward and whether the records connect the injury to the crash. Same-day or next-day care is the safest course.
Not sure where you stand after a crash? Get your free case review or call (888) 208-0529. A real person answers, 24/7.
Reporting: Hoodline.
