Lancaster Man Sentenced after Causing Fatal Bicycle Accident

Sept. 14, 2012

A 24-year-old New York man who caused a fatal accident while under the influence of alcohol was sentenced earlier this week for his crimes. According to an article published by The Buffalo News, the man will spend up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a single count of vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.

Surveillance video from a Lancaster, New York, bar shows the man responsible for the crash drinking heavily enough to lose his balance and fall down before he got behind the wheel of his car and struck the teen cyclist on May 3. The intoxicated driver then sped away from the scene of the Buffalo bicycle accident, leaving the young teen to die.

A witness followed the drunk driver and brought him back to the scene of the accident, where authorities determined the man had a blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit in New York.

While sentencing the man this past Thursday in State Supreme Court, Justice John L. Michalski stated he also placed partial blame for the accident on the bar and its staff for over-serving the man on the night of the crash.

The Buffalo Car Accident Lawyers with William Mattar Law Offices encourage anyone who believes someone else has had too much to drink to not let them get behind the wheel of a car.