$575,000 Red Light Collision Settlement in Queens

Queens Boulevard and 37th Street — a driver blew through a red light and struck our client's vehicle with enough force to send it into a pole. Two impacts in seconds. A broken wrist that required surgery. Injuries to her arm, back, shoulder, and neck. Six body regions damaged by one red light violation.

Red Light Collision at Queens Boulevard and 37th Street

Our client was driving through the intersection of Queens Boulevard and 37th Street in Queens when another driver ran a red light and struck her vehicle. The initial collision redirected her car into a utility pole — a second impact that compounded the forces acting on her body. Two-impact collisions are particularly dangerous because the occupant absorbs energy from both strikes in rapid succession, often producing injuries that are more severe and widespread than a single-impact crash.

Emergency medical services transported our client to Elmhurst Hospital, where initial evaluation revealed a fractured left wrist and injuries across multiple body regions. The wrist fracture was the most acute injury — requiring surgical intervention to repair the broken bones and restore structural integrity to the joint. But the wrist was only one of six injured areas. Our client also sustained a bruised right arm, lumbar spine damage, a left shoulder injury, thoracic spine trauma, and cervical spine injuries. The combination of upper extremity fractures and multi-level spinal injuries produced a recovery process that demanded coordinated care across orthopedic and spine specialists.

Proving a Red Light Violation and Six-Region Injury Pattern

Red light violations provide a strong liability foundation — running a red signal is a per se traffic violation that establishes negligence. Our attorneys obtained the police accident report documenting the red light violation, supplemented it with witness statements from the scene, and analyzed the physical evidence from both the vehicle-to-vehicle impact and the secondary pole strike. The damage patterns on our client's vehicle confirmed the two-impact sequence: the initial side impact from the red light runner followed by the frontal impact with the pole.

Documenting six injured body regions required comprehensive medical evidence linking each injury to the collision mechanism. The wrist fracture was straightforward — imaging confirmed the break and surgical records documented the repair. But the spinal injuries across three levels (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar) and the shoulder injury required detailed medical analysis connecting each area of damage to the forces generated by the two-impact collision. Our attorneys worked with our client's treating physicians to document how each body region was affected and why the combined injury pattern was consistent with a high-energy, multi-directional crash.

"She had a green light. The other driver didn't stop. The collision sent her car into a pole — two impacts in the space of seconds. A broken wrist that needed surgery, injuries to her arm, her back at three different spinal levels, and her shoulder. Six body regions, each requiring its own treatment plan. Allstate had to answer for their insured's decision to run that red light, and the evidence left no room for dispute about who caused this crash." — Corey T. Flick, Attorney

$575,000 Settlement for a Queens Red Light Collision

This $575,000 settlement covers wrist fracture surgery, right arm treatment, lumbar spine care, left shoulder rehabilitation, thoracic and cervical spine treatment, lost wages during the extended multi-region recovery, and the permanent limitations our client now manages. It holds the at-fault driver accountable for running a red light at one of Queens' busiest intersections.

If you were hit by a driver who ran a red light in Queens, our car accident attorneys have experience with intersection collision claims involving multi-region injuries and are ready to review your case.