Traffic Accidents and Safety

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      Trucking Company Owner Pleads Guilty in Wreck That Killed 7 Bikers

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      Dunyadar Gasanov admitted he had lied to investigators about how long he had known the driver of the truck and altered drivers’ logs to evade federal regulations.The owner of a trucking company pleaded guilty to federal charges Tuesday for making false statements after one of the company’s trucks killed seven motorcyclists on a rural road in Randolph, N.H. in 2019, federal prosecutors said.Dunyadar Gasanov, the owner of Westfield Transport in West Springfield, Mass., falsified driving logs, conspired to make false statements to federal inspectors and admitted to lying to inspectors about how long he had known the driver involved in the fatal crash, the U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts said in a statement.Mr. Gasanov, 39, who lives in West Springfield, Mass., and is known as Damien, will face up to 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine for the three charges to which he pleaded guilty when he is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 21, 2024. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to recommend “incarceration at the low end” of the sentencing guidelines, according to court documents.In a statement, Joshua S. Levy, the acting U.S. attorney, said that Mr. Gasanov had “flouted those laws that are critical to public safety.”“We will not forget the lives lost in June 2019 that relate to this conviction,” he said.The crash, on June 21, 2019, killed seven members of a motorcycle club of ex-Marines: Albert (Woody) Mazza Jr., 59; Daniel Pereira, 58; Aaron Perry, 45; Desma Oakes, 42; Michael Ferazzi, 62; and Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, who were 58.The driver of the truck that killed the bikers, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Mass., was acquitted by a jury in 2022 of all charges he faced: seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide and one count of reckless conduct.Mr. Gasanov lied to investigators about how many times he had interacted with Mr. Zhukovskyy, prosecutors said. He had claimed that he had first met the driver shortly before the crash, when, in fact, he had known him for years and was aware that Mr. Zhukovskyy, in 2013, had been charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, according to court records.Mr. Gasanov also underreported the number of hours driven by employees to evade federal regulations designed to ensure the safety of roadways, instructed at least one employee to falsify records, and lied about manipulation of driving logs, according to prosecutors.Westfield Transport ceased operation shortly after the accident, according to court records.Lawyers for Mr. Gasanov did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Dartanayan Gasanov, who, according to The Boston Globe is a brother of Dunyadar Gasanov, worked at Westfield Transport with Dunyadar, has also been accused of falsifying driving logs. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, the prosecutors’ statement said.Kirsten Noyes More

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      Scofflaws and Other Hazards on the Roads

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      More from our inbox:Neo-Nazis in Nashville and the Speech QuestionVance vs. the Rule of LawA Ban on Masks? Stella Kalinina for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Traffic Stops Fell in Pandemic, and Didn’t Return” (The Upshot, front page, Aug. 1):Thank you for highlighting the public health crisis that is the rise in traffic deaths across the United States. One point not made is the burden on our children. Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death of children, second to firearms. In my city, Philadelphia, five children, on average, are hit by a car every week.As a pediatric resident physician, I see the devastating outcomes of these statistics in the emergency room and intensive care unit. I advise children to wear a seatbelt, look both ways before crossing a road and wear a helmet when cycling. But people are getting killed even when they do everything right.Plastic bollards separating a designated bike lane don’t work when drivers are willing to barrel over them.We need an evidence-based approach to this public health crisis. Safe road design saves lives. We need to invest in Vision Zero programs to fund structural changes, including speed cameras and physical barriers between cyclists and drivers. Cities need to invest in public transit systems.Culture change takes time. Structural change in the meantime is evidence-based and will work to make all Americans, including our children, safer.Allison NeesonPhiladelphiaTo the Editor:The degree to which American drivers have been ignoring traffic laws over the past several years is mind-blowing. Speeding on highways and parkways is out of control and makes driving an exercise in avoiding catastrophe. It seems as if every other car is drag racing or trying to set a new speed record.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Are Tesla’s Future. Experts Have Doubts.

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      Tesla says self-driving taxis will power its growth, but the company hasn’t said when such a service would be ready or how much it would increase profits.As sales of its electric cars have fallen, Tesla and its chief executive, Elon Musk, have sought to convince Wall Street that the company’s future lies not in the grinding business of making and selling cars but in the far more exciting world of artificial intelligence.In Mr. Musk’s telling, one of Tesla’s main A.I.-based businesses will be driverless taxis, or robotaxis, that can operate pretty much anywhere and in any condition. Tesla is very close to perfecting such vehicles and will easily secure regulatory approval to put them on roads, Mr. Musk said last week on a conference call to discuss the company’s second quarter results.Mr. Musk’s vision of autonomous vehicles, or A.V.s, is not limited to cars that drive themselves. He has also claimed that individuals who buy Teslas would be able to make money when they are asleep or at work by letting the company use their cars as robotaxis.The robotaxi service will, Mr. Musk has said, catapult Tesla’s stock market valuation, around $700 billion now, into the trillions of dollars.But first, a lot will have to go right.His idea would require major advances in technology and fundamental changes in the way people view cars. The experience of driverless taxi services like Waymo and Cruise in Phoenix, San Francisco and other cities raises questions about when such offerings will become profitable and how much money they will make.Tesla’s technology will face stiff competition from Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google; ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft; and Amazon’s self-driving business Zoox. Carmakers including General Motors, which owns Cruise, are also pursuing autonomous driving, along with Chinese tech and auto companies like Baidu and BYD.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lithium Battery Fire Traps Drivers in Sweltering Heat on California Highway

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      Traffic was at a standstill for hours on a portion of I-15 near Baker, Calif., after a truck carrying lithium batteries overturned and caught fire.Drivers were stuck in traffic in 109-degree heat on a California highway on Saturday for hours as the authorities struggled to extinguish a fire involving a truck carrying lithium ion batteries that had overturned on Friday.Emergency services received calls around 6:30 a.m. local time about a truck that had crashed near Baker, Calif., in the northbound lanes of I-15, a major highway that leads travelers to Las Vegas.The northbound lanes were closed beginning at 8:30 a.m., and the southbound lanes at 9 a.m. The southbound lanes reopened shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Friday, according to the California Highway Patrol.The northbound lanes remained closed as of 5 p.m. on Saturday, according to the California Department of Transportation.The California Highway Patrol said it had cleared the backlog of stuck vehicles on the closed highway by rerouting them to I-40. But that, in turn, had caused “extremely heavy” traffic on that highway, which the agency described as “the only alternative” because of the location of the closure on I-15.“Multiple attempts were made to move the container from the freeway shoulder to open land using heavy equipment,” the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District said on social media on Saturday. “However, the container’s weight, exceeding 75,000 pounds, has made these efforts unsuccessful so far.”The fire district said it was monitoring the air quality “due to the hazardous materials and chemicals involved.”Emergency responders were checking for hydrogen cyanide, chlorine and sulfur dioxide, the district said, adding, “These chemicals pose significant health risks at elevated levels, with hydrogen cyanide and chlorine being particularly dangerous even at low concentrations.”Lithium ion batteries, which are used in many electronic devices, including e-bikes and electric cars, contain highly flammable materials. If ignited, the batteries burn hot and are very difficult to put out.The fire district noted on social media that lithium ion battery fires “can escalate to thermal runaway, needing massive amounts of water to extinguish.”Videos posted on social media from drivers on the highway traveling in the opposite direction showed long lines of vehicles at a complete stop.The California Highway Patrol did not provide an estimate of how long drivers had been stuck on I-15, noting that travel patterns vary, nor was it clear how many drivers had been stranded.But some on social media said they had been stopped in traffic for six hours and expressed concern about running out of gas or electric cars running out of charge.“The closure of the northbound side was moved further south,” the California Highway Patrol said in an email, adding that this move “allowed motorists to utilize alternate routes.”Saturday was an exceptionally hot day in Baker, with temperatures reaching the triple digits.The fire district, which could not be immediately reached for comment, advised people to travel with plenty of water and to “ensure you have enough supplies, fuel and charge in your vehicle.” More

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      How to Rein In Rising Auto Insurance Rates

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      Taking a safe driver course can save you 10 percent on the premium, one expert said. Improving your credit score can also help as can getting married.Even as inflation has eased, car insurance rates are rising by double digits. But drivers have some options for reining in premiums.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, auto insurance costs were 19.5 percent higher in June than a year earlier. Insurers blame the higher cost of automobiles, parts and repairs, as well as more accidents because of lingering bad driving habits that spread during the depths of the pandemic. They have also cited increased losses from severe weather, including hail storms.Most drivers already know about discounts available for “bundling” auto and homeowner insurance policies with the same carrier or for insuring multiple cars. But other tactics can help as well.Becoming a better driver may help. Just one accident can mean you’re paying an average of 43 percent more than drivers with clean safety records, according to the financial website Bankrate, which analyzed insurance data from Quadrant Information Services. The average annual premium for a driver with full-insurance coverage and a pristine driving history is just over $2,300, the analysis found, while the average for a driver with one at-fault accident is about $3,300.Cultivating safe habits behind the wheel — like setting your phone to “do not disturb” to avoid distraction, and keeping a safe distance from the car in front of you — can help avoid accidents, said Ryan Pietzsch, a driver safety expert with the National Safety Council, a nonprofit focused on reducing preventable injuries and death. He suggested following the “three second” rule: Note the car ahead of you as it passes a fixed object, like a sign along the road. Then, start counting slowly from one to three (say, “one, one thousand; two, one thousand; three, one thousand”). If your car passes the sign before you reach three, you’re too close.Taking a safe driver course may save you 10 percent on your auto premium, said Benjamin Preston, an auto writer at Consumer Reports. Check with your agent to see if it’s an option in your state. Some courses charge a fee.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Two Dead After Being Struck By Pickup Truck in Downtown Manhattan

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      At least nine people were struck by the truck on the Lower East Side, the authorities said.Two people were killed and seven others were injured on Thursday night after being struck by a pickup truck near Water Street and Jackson Street in the Lower East Side, the authorities said.One person was taken into custody, and several of the injured were transported to hospitals, four of them in critical condition, the police said at a news conference on Thursday night. This is a developing story. More

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      Long Island Man Charged in Crash That Killed Four People at Nail Salon

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      The police say the man was driving while intoxicated and ran his S.U.V. into the salon, killing four people and injuring 10. His own injuries were not life-threatening.A Long Island man was charged with driving while intoxicated after driving an S.U.V. through a nail salon on Friday afternoon, leaving four people dead and 10 injured, according to the Suffolk County police.The driver, Steven Schwally, 64, crashed through the front window of Hawaii Nail and Spa in Deer Park, a hamlet in the town of Babylon, N.Y., around 4:30 p.m. Friday, the police said. The police identified the people who were killed as Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens; Meizi Zhang, 51, also of Flushing; and Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park. They were pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical workers.Ms. Rennhack was an off-duty Queens police officer. She had been a member of the police force for more than five years and served in the 102nd Precinct in Central Queens. Her husband is a detective in the same precinct.Mr. Schwally, who lived in Dix Hills, N.Y., suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken to a hospital in West Islip, N.Y. He remained hospitalized Saturday evening. The nine other people injured included a 12-year-old girl, seven women and one man, according to police.One of the people who was injured was taken by helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital to be treated at its trauma center, according to Mark Stone, a spokesman for the Deer Park Fire Department. Others with injuries were taken to South Shore University Hospital and Good Samaritan University Hospital by ambulance. On Saturday, the police said that four people in addition to Mr. Schwally were still hospitalized with injuries that were serious but not life-threatening, and the rest had been discharged.The salon was open at the time of the crash, and Mr. Stone said it appeared that most of those hurt were inside the salon at the time. According to a police statement released Saturday morning, Mr. Schwally was driving a 2020 Chevy Traverse. He drove through the parking lot of a strip mall before crossing Grand Boulevard and smashing through the front of the salon.Nine agencies responded to the crash, including fire departments from surrounding towns, and there were 150 firefighters and emergency medical responders on the scene, Mr. Stone said. Authorities closed Grand Boulevard to traffic for hours after the crash.The police said Saturday that the investigation into the crash was continuing.Hurubie Meko More

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      Kia Recalls Telluride SUV Over Fire Risk; Urging Owners to Park Outside

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      About 460,000 vehicles could be affected by the recall, which stems from a problem with the vehicle’s front power seat motor.The automotive company Kia issued a recall on Friday of certain Telluride SUVs from the years 2020 through 2024 and urged the owners of the vehicles to park outside and away from structures because of a fire risk, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.The issue stems from the front power seat motor, which can overheat “because of a stuck power seat slide knob, potentially resulting in a fire and increasing the risk of injury,” the NHTSA said in a statement.“To fix the issue, dealers will install a bracket for the power seat switch back covers and replace the seat slide knobs, free of charge,” the statement said.Kia recommended that drivers park outside until repairs were completed.About 460,000 vehicles could be affected by the recall, according to the NHTSA, and notices informing owners of affected Tellurides are expected to be mailed beginning July 30.Kia will also reimburse owners for repair expenses already incurred, according to a Safety Recall Report that the agency posted online.A chronology of the issues with the Telluride Front Power Seats shared by the NHTSA shows that the Kia North America Safety Office saw complaints of smoke and a report of a “driver seat caught on fire while driving.” No injuries were reported from that fire, according to the document, nor have there been any injuries, crashes or fatalities stemming from the problem.James Bell, a spokesman for Kia, called the issue “very rare.”In September 2023, Hyundai and Kia recalled nearly 3.4 million vehicles in the United States because of a fire risk in the engine compartment caused by brake fluid leaks. At the time, the automakers also advised car owners to park their vehicles outside.Hyundai is the parent company of Kia Motors, but the manufacturers operate independently. More