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Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Auto Accidents

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collision with injuries NYCA man died in a car accident in New York City yesterday. The driver who was speeding, lost control of his vehicle and crashed into two other cars, injuring both drivers before destroying a store front. Speeding continues to be reported all over the city and despite the drastic decrease in traffic the number of speed camera tickets even increase on some days according to a recent article by Gridlock Sam.  Our hospitals are overcrowded, our emergency workers are overwhelmed and NYC drivers should slow down!

The man who died yesterday was identified as 45 year old Khairul Chowdhury. He was driving his 2008 Silver Lexus Sedan on Jamaica Avenue, Queens, yesterday morning around 5:35 am when he hit a Toyota Camry driven by a 35 year old man. The crash occurred at the intersection of  Jamaica Avenue and Van Wyck Expressway Service Road. After he hit the Toyota, the car kept going crossing into the other side of the lane of Jamaica Avenue and striking a Toyota Odyssey driven by a 55 year old woman, before crashing into a storefront. Chowdhury who lived a mile away from the car accident was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved. The two other drivers were also injured and were transported to the hospital to be treated. Read more in the NY Daily News

266 people injured in NYC car accidents last week

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Location of the Accident on Queens BlvdA pedestrian was killed by a hit and run driver in New York City yesterday morning. The 59 year old victim was crossing the notoriously dangerous Queens Boulevard at the intersection of 80th Road when she was struck by a beige Toyota Camry around 8:40 am yesterday morning. According to the NYPD, the driver stopped the car, stepped out of his vehicle and looked at the victim dying in the street before getting back in his car and speeding away.The woman was found by the EMS team in critical condition. She was rushed to the hospital but she didn’t survive her injuries (read more in the NY Daily News).

So many people died in car accidents on Queens Boulevard that Queens residents nicknamed it the Boulevard of Death

The  number of traffic fatalities on this dangerous boulevard is not as high as it used to be as many safety measures and redesigns were installed under the umbrella of the Vision Zero program launched by the de Blasio administration (see previous blog). However the plan to improve safety on Queens Boulevard was never fully completed. While the entire project was supposed to be finished in 2018, a stretch of the Boulevard between Yellowstone Boulevard and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills was never redesigned after the community board voted down a plan to add crosswalks, a protected bike lane and other safety improvements because it was taking away too many parking spots. This segment was supposed to be finally completed this summer but the actual corona crisis will most probably lead to another delay.
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accident sceneTwo people were hospitalized after being injured in a reckless car accident in New York City last Wednesday evening. The accident took place in Brooklyn around 5:30pm. A driver speeding down Ocean Parkway behind the wheel of a Honda SUV crashed into another vehicle heading East on Avenue U. The impact was so strong that after hitting the car, the Honda flipped a few times and struck two other cars.  Then, one of these cars struck another vehicle (read more in Streetblog)
The driver of the Honda, as well as the driver of the fifth vehicle were injured and had to be transported to the hospital. More than ever, nobody wants to end up in the emergency room of a hospital because of reckless driving. However because the streets are almost empty drivers tend to go faster (see previous blog)

Preventing accidents by reducing speed and giving more space to pedestrians and bicyclists

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infant car seatTo protect children from serious head, neck and spinal injuries during a car crash, the NY Child Safety Seat Law requires that parents use a rear-facing car seat for all children younger than 2 year old.
Tests have demonstrated that infants have a head that is heavy compared to the rest of their body and that if they were sitting in a forward facing seat during a collision, they would be thrown forward and as a result suffer more serious injury.

While most parents do respect the law and install car seats for their little ones, previous research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that almost 60% of child seats are not installed properly

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nyc-car-crash-tweetA few days ago a cyclist tweeted a disturbing picture of a car crash on the Williamsburg bridge.  We don’t know if anybody was hurt in the accident but it definitely looked like the driver lost control of the vehicle because he was driving too fast.
Jacob Robert is among many New Yorkers who have been complaining on social media that they witnessed cars speeding on empty roads, considering them like freeways.

Speed cameras recorded the same number of  tickets than in January despite the decline in traffic

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accident sceneTraffic fatalities in New York City were up again last year after five years of decline (see previous blog).  A recent article in the New York Times takes an in-depth look at the NYC motor vehicle accident crashes to find out if it was possible to identify specific patterns in the accidents that lead to injuries and deaths. The findings show that despite the common perception that pedestrians are not careful enough while crossing the street and that cyclists ride like dare-devils, most pedestrian and bicyclist deaths were caused by distracted driving or failure to yield. Pedestrian and cyclist errors were only cited in 5% of the fatalities.

When a driver fatally hits a pedestrian or a cyclist in New York, there is a good chance that he or she will not face serious consequences as long as the driver is not drunk and stays at the scene of the accident. Last year 28 cyclists died after being struck by vehicles but only 4 drivers were arrested . 8 others received a summons. The police often blame the victim.  Last year, Susan Moses, a 63 year old woman was killed by a Lyft driver on a busy street with no bike lane. In their report, the police blame Ms Moses for moving across the road to turn left and not wearing a helmet. They did not charge the driver despite camera footage showing the Lyft driver recklessly crossing the double line in the middle of Kings Highway to try to pass the cyclist as she was trying to turn.  Later on in a very rare move, a judge from the Department of Motor Vehicle reviewed the footage and revoked the driver’s license. The judge said that she didn’t agree with the police statement and that the driver was responsible for the accident. Previous to working for Lyft, The driver who killed Ms Mos used to work for Uber but he accumulated so many complaints from passengers that Uber removed him from the App in 2018.

Some locations such as Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Third Avenue and Southern Brooklyn are among the most dangerous areas for cyclists to ride. Brooklyn has the most cyclist deaths among all New York City boroughs. Other locations such as 125th Street and Chelsea in Manhattan as well as the South area of Prospect Park have a high rate of pedestrian accidents.   A significant part of the accidents are caused by trucks and large vehicles such as SUVs.

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accident sceneA pedestrian was killed  by a car and a cyclist was seriously injured after being struck by a van in New York City last week. Both accidents were caused by reckless drivers.

A man walking his dog in Bay Ridge died after he was struck by a speeding 19 year old driver. 66 year old Frank Decolvenaere was crossing in the crosswalk at the intersection of Fourth Ave and 101 Street around 7:00 pm on Thursday when he was struck by a speeding Mercedez Benz 350. Since 2019, the car had 4 school speeding violations, 4 parking tickets and an expired inspection sticker. Frank was found lying in the crosswalk covered in blood. His dog ran 10 blocks home to alert his wife.  (Read more in Street Blog)

Earlier during the week, on Tuesday, a 25 year old driver backing her car out of a driveway hit a 57 year old pedestrian. The accident occurred at a private driveway locate at 30-23 69th Street in Elmhurst, Queens. The man was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The woman stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged (Read more in QNS)

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24 cyclists, 116 pedestrians, 17 motor vehicle passengers and 57 drivers were killed in 209,291 auto accidents in New York City in 2019. The total number of accidents recorded last year was significantly lower than the 3 previous years during which it was above 227,000 however traffic fatalities were higher last year than the two previous years.


auto accidents NYC 2019
After reaching a record low at 199 in 2018, crash fatalities in New York increased to 214 last year. Since 2013 traffic fatalities gradually went down every year. This is the first year since Vision Zero was implemented in 2014 that fatalities went back up from one year to the other. While fatalities are globally on a declining trend despite the recent increase last year, the number of people injured in car accidents in New York is on a rising trend. NYC Auto accident injuries  reached a record high last year and were above 6,000 for the first time. They slightly decreased in 2019 but kept around the 6,000 level. The increase in injuries sustained in car crashes is mostly due to a rising number of drivers being injured. One reason might be that because the speed limit was lower in the city, less people are dying in car accidents but more are injured. Distracted driving might be another reason why more drivers are getting injured in auto accidents in New York.

Traffic fatalities and injuries in New York City in 2019
Bicyclists are the only category of  New York road users who continue to experience a rising trend of accidents, injuries and deaths. After cyclists fatalities reached a record low at 9 in 2018, they reached a record high at 24 in 2019.  Last year as bicycle fatalities were surging quickly, Mayor de Blasio announced a new bike safety plan entitled the Green Wave. The plan is:

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location of the child pedestrian accidentA 7 year old male pedestrian was fatally struck by a car in New York City on Thursday.

Payson Lott was walking to school with his mom. They were in the crosswalk with the light in their favor at the intersection of Blake Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue when a Jeep recklessly struck them. Payson died in the accident. Her mother Shadeen Lott suffered personal injury.

RECKLESS DRIVER

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On Monday we wrote about the death of 3 pedestrians over the weekend and now we learned that two additional female pedestrians died after being struck by cars in New York City on Sunday and Monday. Since last Thursday, NYC recorded one pedestrian death everyday and two on Sunday. This is intolerable.

No charge in the Bronx fatality

On Monday night a 59 year old female pedestrian was struck by a car while she was crossing at the intersection of Sampson Ave and Tremont Ave in the Bronx, around 7 pm. The woman whose identity has not been released so far, was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. The police are still investigating the cause of the accident. Read more in PIX11

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