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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3 year old Mariam Dansoko was killed in a car accident in New York at the beginning of the week. Mariam was crossing the street with her mom who was pushing her brother in a stroller. All 3 pedestrians were in the crosswalk when a car made a left turn and fatally hit the little girl who was right behind her mom. According to Streetblog, despite evidence that the driver didn’t yield the right of way, he hasn’t been charged yet. The accident occurred in the Bronx. The car was travelling on Gerard Avenue and made a left turn onto E. 164th Street when it struck the toddler. According to witnesses the driver of the car was going too fast.

Read more in Streetblog

Picture, courtesy of Goggle Map, shows where the car was turning from and the location of the accident

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Last year in New York 14 bicyclists were killed and 4,400 were injured in bicycle accidents. The accidents are often caused by other vehicle drivers who are making the road unsafe for bikers. Cars or other vehicles parked in the bike lane or double parked put bicyclists at a higher risk of accidents.

As part of the Vision Zero Program, the NYPD  chose this week, which is also bike to work week  to launch the“Bicycle Safe Passage” initiative.

During the whole week NYPD officers of all precincts of the 5 boroughs of New York City are cracking down on motorists who are endangering bicyclists. Cars parked in designated bike lanes and forcing bike riders to ride in traffic to get around the parked cars as well as drivers crossing bike lanes illegally or driving on the bike lanes are the main target of NYPD officers.

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car accident ManhattanSeveral pedestrians were injured in a car accident in New York yesterday.  The  chain reaction crash took place on Broadway between 61st street  and 62nd Street yesterday afternoon. The driver of a black Honda Sedan intentionally hit a yellow cab twice from behind. The yellow cab careened onto the sidewalk, hitting a halal food cart which fell into a Con Edison truck that was parked next to it. A female pedestrian was trapped under the food cart and was severely injured. According to the NY Daily News she almost lost an arm and is now in critical condition. 3 other pedestrians were sent by ambulance to the hospital. The vendor who was inside the food truck was also injured. The cab driver suffered minor injuries and the two passengers were fine. The police are still looking for the driver of the black Sedan which may have been a stolen car.

Picture: courtesy of Alex Silverman on Twitter

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NYC fatal bicycle accidentA bicyclist was struck and killed by a reckless driver in New York City yesterday night. The 26 year old driver of a Honda Sedan was caught on a surveillance camera recklessly speeding on Brooklyn streets moments before the accident. Witnesses told CBS news that they saw the car speeding on Avenue P and blowing two red lights. At the second light the reckless driver collided with a car that was crossing the intersection with the green light. The impact was so strong that the two cars careened away into a nearby bicyclist who got pinned under one of them. Witnesses ran to the scene of the accident and lifted the car to liberate the bicyclist but he couldn’t be saved and died from his injuries. Firefighters had to cut one of the cars in half to free the driver. Both car drivers only suffered minor injuries. The reckless driver is now in police custody and he is facing criminal charges.

Picture source: courtesy of New York Rescue Response Team on Twitter

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A pedestrian died in NYC after being struck by a car that drove over him and didn’t stop. Sunday morning around 2:30 am, 43 year old Doodnach Lalcahn started to cross the intersection of 115th Ave and 131st Street in Ozone Park Queens, NYC, when he fell on the ground. A video surveillance shows a car driving over him, slowing down and then continuing on its way. Other vehicles drove by without stopping . Finally a good Samaritan parked his car in front of the victim to prevent other cars from hitting him. Unfortunately it was too late. The man who suffered severe head trauma died at the scene of the accident.

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DOT vehicleAmong its many responsibilities The NYC Department of Transportation is in charge of implementing Vision Zero a campaign to reduce fatal traffic accidents in New York City. Therefore it would be expected that DOT employees driving around the city lead by example and drive carefully but some of them seem to believe the rules don’t apply to them.

A PIX11 investigation documented by shocking video shows that some DOT employees are complete reckless drivers. One of them was caught using a laptop while driving, another one was caught running a red light and a DOT car was repeatedly seen driving at high speed in a school zone.

PIX11 also found that since the Zero Vision Initiative started in 2014, DOT employees received more than 500 summonses for  driving recklessly. Further since the start of Vision Zero in 2014, city vehicles have received 11,367 summonses.

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A motorist was severely injured by a bicyclist who hit him in the head with his bike lock in a road rage incident in Brooklyn NYC.  Around 7:30 pm on Monday night, a 59 year old man had just left a Greenpoint gas station and was driving his car on McGuinness Boulevard between Meeker Avenue and Bayard Street when he got into a conflict with a bike rider. The bicyclist accused him of almost hitting him. He then took his bike lock and started to smash it on the car, He then opened the car’s door, pulled out the driver and repeatedly hit the man on the head.  Then he fled. The police are still looking for him. The driver was transported to the hospital and treated for head injuries and cuts to his hands. Incidents of road rage are reaching epidemic proportions. It is a sign of increasing stress especially in N.Y.C. The perpetrators should be subject to Felony charges and sentenced to jail time.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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A pedestrian died and two other people were injured in a car accident in NYC on Sunday. The accident occurred at the intersection of E. 94th Street and Avenue K in Canarsie, Brooklyn. The driver of a SUV struck another car, lost control of the vehicle that slammed into two pedestrians waiting to cross the road. The pedestrians were a couple living nearby. The wife, 51 year old, Chooi Tan  suffered severe injury. The couple as well as the driver of the car hit by the SUV were all transported to the hospital. Chooi Tan died at the hospital while her husband and the driver were in stable condition.

The driver of the SUV and a passenger fled the scene of the accident by foot. The police are still looking for them. The SUV was reported stolen last Friday.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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grade crossingA Metro North train crashed into a car in Bedford Hills NY last Wednesday.  The driver of the car was crossing the Green Lane railroad crossing when the car stalled. As the crossing gate started to go down she immediately realized what would happen next. She and her passenger quickly escaped from the car before it got hit by the train.  Thankfully nobody was injured in the crash. The service on the line was disrupted for thousands of passengers. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo who has been campaigning for the Federal Government and the MTA to improve grade crossings reiterate its call for better safety measures. Read more in the Lohud

Picture: an example of grade crossing courtesy of Wikipedia

 

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In New York City there are around 3,500 motor vehicle accidents related to distracted driving every month. It is the main cause of accidents in the city. Many New York drivers consider their cars like a second office and handle all kinds of businesses that require using their phone while they are behind the wheel. Despite multiple campaigns to try to convince drivers not to text and drive, a recent At&T survey indicates that Americans continue to illegally use their mobile phone while they are driving. They are not only texting but they are also engaging  in social media, surfing the web and even having video chats.

The increase in car accidents related to texting and driving can be somewhat compared to the drinking and driving crisis in the 80ies. Several road safety advocates who have previously been involved in campaigns to reduce the number of accidents related to drunk driving are now working on campaigns to reduce distracted driving.  These advocates believe that distracted driving so far hasn’t been treated as seriously as drunk driving and that more needs to be done including at the legislative level.

In New York, lawmakers are considering introducing a textalyser.  Just like the breathalyzer is able to check alcohol blood level, the textalyser is be able to check if the driver was texting behind the wheel. According to lawmakers the textalyzer does not access private data but only checks if the driver was using the phone to text, email or do anything else illegal under New York’s hands free driving laws.