In the last ten days, nine New Yorkers were killed by traffic violence. In each case where the driver responsible was sober and stayed at the scene, NYPD has announced, often within hours, that there was “no criminality suspected.” How can the deaths of so many fall completely outside the scope of the criminal laws?  The […]

The U.S. auto industry presents a striking paradox. On the one hand, manufacturers design and engineer for passenger safety, incorporating features such as airbags designed to protect passengers even in the face of serious human error.  On the other, manufacturers almost entirely disregard the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists who foreseeably will be struck […]

It is little wonder why the rules of the road for cyclists are so poorly understood. They are hopelessly complex. The first layer of complexity (typical of many areas of law in the U.S.) has three parts: the interplay between state and municipal law governing the same subject matter; the interplay between legislation and administrative […]

Warning: this post starts with a lesson in legalese. A “tort” is a wrongful act, whether intentional, reckless, or negligent, that is remediable through a civil lawsuit (apart from whether the act constitutes a crime or regulatory violation). “Mass tort” litigation results when a product harms many people, creating a public health crisis, triggering a […]

Editor’s note: Today Streetsblog NYC is pleased to launch “Street Justice,” a new column that examines how the law, the courts, and the police affect street safety in New York. Street Justice is written by Steve Vaccaro and Adam White, two attorneys who’ve been valuable sources for Streetsblog over the years, adding an expert legal […]