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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location of the fatal hit and run accidentMathew Jensen, a beloved Greenpoint teacher, was crossing McGuiness Boulevard when he was struck by a Rolls Royce whose driver took off, letting the man die in the street.

The car accident occurred 10 days ago and the police still have not made an arrest despite de Blasio saying that they would find the driver.

Yesterday a vigil and a march were organized to pay tribute to the teacher and to call for making McGuiness Boulevard safer. The mourners were mostly parents and students as well as some family members, street activists and local politicians.

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accident sceneTwo teenagers recently died in two separate DWI car crashes in Rockland County NY (see previous blog). In an effort to prevent more drunk driving accidents among students, officials organized a simulation of what a deadly DWI or DUI car crash looks like in reality.

Community emotionally hurt by two previous teen drunk driving deaths

The demonstration took place in the town of Clarkson where 16 year old Vlad Mosyuk died at the beginning of the month after getting in a car with his friend, 18 year old Alan Mendoza and another 17 year old girl. Alan was drunk behind the wheel and got involved in a three-car crash. Vlad died, the girl was seriously injured and the young drunk driver was charged with vehicular homicide, reckless driving and driving while intoxicated. The accident took place less than two weeks after another teen, Jacqueline Zangrilli died in a similar DWI accident in the nearby town of Montebello.

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accident sceneIn less than 8 hours, 2 people were injured and 2 people died in car crashes in New York City.

A pedestrian was killed and another one was seriously injured in a car accident early Monday morning

The two men in their 40ies were crossing the street mid-block near Rockaway Boulevard and Woodhaven Boulevard  in Ozone Park, Queens, around 12:30 am on Monday when they got struck by a car. They were both transported to the hospital. One of them died and the other one is clinging to life. The victim who passed away was identified as Marcelo Pelaez. The 30 year old driver of the car and his pregnant wife who was sitting in the passenger seat were not injured. They stayed at the scene of the accident. The driver was not charged. (Read more in the NY Daily News)

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The road where the deadly NY crash occurred3 High School Students were injured and one died in a car accident in Rockland County, NY. All teenagers were students from Clarkstown North High School. 18 year old Allan Mendoza was driving a Mitsubishi Lancer with 3 other students from his high school on board last Thursday night around 11:00 pm when they got involved in a 3 vehicle crashes.

The accident occurred near 256 Congers Road in New City.  Among those who suffered the most serious injuries were a 16 year old boy and a 17 year old girl. The 16 year old boy died from his injuries on Friday. He was identified as Vladzslav Hvalyk.

The 18 year old driver was drunk behind the wheel and was charged with reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second degree manslaughter aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault. He was arraigned and sent to Rockland County Jail pending a future Court date.

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unprotected bike lane on 35th StreetWhile the NYPD mentioned to media that the woman who fatally struck a delivery worker in Queens, NYC and crashed her car in the dining area of a restaurant might have suffered a medical episode, her family disagrees.

Costas Yerolemou, the ex-husband of Maro Yerolemou told Street Blog NYC that his ex-wife never had a medical episode and that her physical health was perfectly fine. However he said she was emotionally shaken by the accident and could not stop crying.

The family says another car rear-ended the Mercedes

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unprotected bike lane on 35th StreetA 37 year-old delivery man was killed and several other people were injured in a reckless car crash in Queens, NYC. The accident took place last Thursday night around 6:00 pm. A 60 year-old woman driving a 2013 Merccedez-Benz C-300 who was driving behind a slow-moving vehicle lost patience and decided to use the bike lane to pass the vehicle. She struck two parked cars and  37 year old Xing Long Lin, a delivery man on a scooter, who got trapped and dragged under the car as the driver continued to drive and crashed into the outdoor setting of Rosatoro Restaurant located at the corner of 35th Street and Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens. After the car crashed into the outdoor setting, it jumped the curb, knocked down a tree and ended in the front window of the restaurant.

Xing Long Lin died in the accident. The delivery worker  came to US from China 14 years ago and lived with his wife and his two children 5 and 9 year old  in Elmhurst. He was the sole provider for his family and was also taking car of his mother in China.

Among those injured was a 32 year-old woman who was sitting in the restaurant and who sustained injuries to her leg after glass and debris went flying into the dining areas. She was transported to the hospital to be treated.

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fatal dwi car accident location in Queens NYCA police officer who was directing traffic away from a car accident was killed by a driver who was drunk, high on marijuana and who was driving with a suspended license.

The accident took place around 2:00 am on Tuesday morning on the Long Island Expressway  near Francis Lewis Boulevard in Fresh Meadow. 32 year old Jessica Beauvais had just left a studio where she had been recording a podcast and during which she was drinking and vaping.  She was speeding and did not slow down as she passed the traffic cones and flashing lights that the highway police had previously installed to signal the previous accident scene. She crashed into NYPD Officer Anastasios Tsakos and send him flying 100 feet. The impact was so strong that her windshield was smashed and the front of her car destroyed. She did not even stop. She continued to drive dragging an orange cone from the scene under her car. She was arrested by police a few exits later and asked the police: what did I do? She later apologized.

Beauvais who has a teenage son and is his sole provider is facing up to 15 years in prison. She is facing 13 counts including  vehicular manslaughter, DWI, reckless driving, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, driving with a suspended license.  Several other NYPD officers at the scene just had the time to run away from her destructive path but Tsakos died.

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1,393 pedestrians, 695 bicyclists, 2,564 passengers and 4,332 motorists were injured in car accidents in NYC during the first 3 months of the year compared to respectively 2,206, 715, 3,306 and 5,032 during the same period a year earlier. After a peak in the first quarter of 2019 the number of  injuries sustained in crashes in the city declined in 2020 and reached a record low in 2021.

car accident injuries NYC Q1 2021
New York car accident fatalities followed the same trend. 22 pedestrians, 1 cyclist, 5 passengers and 10 motorists lost their life in traffic accidents in New York during the first quarter of 2021 compared to respectively 26, 1, 4 and 10 during the first 3 months of 2020.

New York car accident fatalities Q1 2021
In a city that has not yet returned to its usual level of activity, it make sense that less people would be injured or killed in crashes.

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child in carCar accidents are one of the leading causes of  injuries and deaths for children. In the US, 636 children under 12 year old died and 97,000 were injured in car crashes in 2018.

From researching child restraint performance to analyzing teenager behavior behind the wheel and testing safety of future autonomous vehicles, the Center for Child Injury Prevention Study  has been constantly researching and advocating for better ways to protect children on the road.

Among their most recent studies,  researchers at CChIPS  have been looking at the validity of  recommendations for rear-facing Child Restraint System (CRS) using newly available real car accident injury data.

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tweet about pedestrian crushed by car in NYCOne day after a pedestrian died after being hit by a car on a Manhattan sidewalk and 5 other people were injured after a car jumped the curb in Brooklyn (see previous blog), another NYC pedestrian died  after being struck by a car jumping the curb in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, NYC.

Volf Ferdman, a 97 year-old decorated World War II veteran and beloved grand father was killed by a 79 year-old driver last Wednesday afternoon while on his way to the bank.  The accident occurred right in front of the Apple Bank located on Brighton Beach Ave near 4th Street around 3:45 pm. Ferdman was sitting on his walker in front of the bank when the driver of a large SUV, a 2008 Cadillac Escalade who was parked in front of  him started to maneuver to get out of the parking space. As he was doing so, the 79 year old motorist lost control of the massive SUV, jumped the curb and pinned Ferdman between the front of his car and the bank’s glass window. Ferdman was still alive when emergency responders arrived but the injuries he sustained were so bad that he later passed away at the hospital. He lived just a few blocks away from the bank. An Apple Bank employee told the News that the SUV had a handicapped sticker in the windshield.

Ferdman was a beloved grandfather and great-grand father and his 46 year old granddaughter Svetlana Statsyuk told the News that her grand father was looking forward to celebrating “Victory Day” on May 9th, a former Soviet Union holiday celebrating the 1945 surrender of Nazi Germany. Ferdman was originally from Ukraine and fought  for Russia during World War II. He later immigrated to the US and choose Brighton Beach in Brooklyn as his new home. His family was his biggest joy and they loved him dearly.