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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To prevent car accidents in school areas in New York City, the Department of Transportation completed the installation of 140 speed cameras at the beginning of this month, just on time for the beginning of the school year. The installation of the speed cameras which is part of the Vision Zero initiative to reduce personal injury and death related to traffic accidents in New York City, started 20 months ago. Since then, 945,000 speed camera violations have already been issued. At the beginning of the implementation of the project, there was an average of 192 violations issued per camera per day. Last August this number was down to 69 which demonstrates the efficacy of the cameras in deterring speeding.

100 cameras have been installed at a fixed location and 40 of them are mobile.  Cameras were installed at schools that had a history of  pedestrians, bicyclists and motorist crashes during school hours. School areas located near spots with speeding issues or close to dangerous intersections or corridors could also qualify to be equipped with speed cameras.

In addition to the cameras, the DOT installed 4,000 speed limit signs including “Photo Enforced” language.

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A young man was seriously injured after being struck by a car in New York City a little bit before 10:00 pm yesterday night. The pedestrian was crossing Union Turnpike near Woodhaven Blvd, in Forest Hills, Queens, when he was hit by the negligent driver. According to a witness, the car didn’t break and struck the pedestrian at full speed. The impact was so hard that the pedestrian went flying against a metallic dumpster at the corner of the street. The  didn’t stop and fled the scene. The pedestrian was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Read more in the NY Daily News

A year ago, a participant at a Vision Zero Queens South workshop pinpointed the dangerous intersection of Union Turnpike and Woodhaven Blvd (see picture below). Forrest Hill residents consider Union Turnpike very unsafe for both pedestrians and bicyclists. Last year the speed limit was lowered to 25 mph and this summer the police cracked down on speeding drivers to try to prevent accidents such as the one that happened yesterday night.

Vision Zero Union Turnpike and Woodhaven Blvd

 

 

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Rubinowitz Carnemolla SaghirWe are proud to announce that a bicycle accident verdict and an auto accident settlement obtained by our New York personal injury attorneys have been listed in the 2015 New York Law Journal’s New York’s Verdict & Settlement Hall of Fame. Induction into the New York’s Verdicts and Settlements Hall of Fame is based on five years of verdicts and settlements submitted to the Verdict Search database. Those cases that could not be submitted due to confidentiality restraints were not considered. The practice area focus for this year’s Hall of Fame honors is Motor Vehicle.

The two cases handled by our firm that made it to the Hall of Fame are “Ortiz v. New York Transit Authority” and “Estate of Farinacci v. Powell”. In the first case, our personal injury attorneys Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Saghir obtained a $8.57 million verdict for a bicyclist who suffered degloving injuries to her leg after being struck by a MTA bus in Manhattan. In the second case, attorneys Ben Rubinowitz and Diana Carnemolla obtained a $8 million settlement for the husband and the 4 year old child of a 22 year old mother who was killed by a drunk driver. This settlement was the largest award in the State of New York for the wrongful death of a mother leaving one child surviving her.

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4,737 people were injured and 21 died in 18,862 traffic accidents in New York City in August according to recent statistics released by the NYPD. The number of motor vehicle accidents has been increasing steadily over the last three years however the number of deaths and injuries are both on a declining trend in the city (click on graphs for a larger view) which indicates that New York City streets are getting a little safer.

Motor Vehicle Accidents Injuries Deaths New York City August 2015
Pedestrians are the most at risk of dying in a traffic accident in New York City. They represent more than half of the traffic fatalities. Last month 11 of them died after being struck by a vehicle compared to 6 during the previous month and 10 in August 2014.

While pedestrian fatalities are on a downtrend, bicycle accident fatalities have been increasing since the beginning of 2013. Last August 3 cyclists died in accidents. 3 cyclists also died in July bringing to 11 the total number of people who died in a bicycle accident this year. During the same period of 2013 and 2014  there were respectively 7 and 15 bicycle accident fatalities.

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78 year old Lynn Reynolds  was making a left turn when she fatally struck a 14 year old pedestrian last year in Brooklyn, NYC.  She got out of her car, looked around and then got back into her car and drove home 4 blocks away. She was arraigned yesterday  for leaving the scene of a fatal accident but she claimed that she didn’t see the victim and thought  a ball struck the car. Reynolds, who was released on a $25,000 bail, will face anywhere from probation to seven years in prison if convicted. Read more in the NY Daily News 

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A man suffered serious personal  injury after he was intentionally run over by a driver with whom he had an argument minutes before the hit and run on 155th street and Union Street in the Bronx, NYC. The man was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The police were looking for a black Ford Taurus with Pennsylvania plates seen driving away from the scene.

Less than two hours later a driver apparently distracted by the TV trucks at the scene of the previous accident struck a pregnant woman. The woman suffered leg injuries and was transported to the hospital. Her husband who with her when the accident happened had to be handcuffed by the police after he assaulted the driver.

Read more in the NYDaily News 

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A woman in her 50s was seriously injured after being struck by a van this morning.  The accident happened at the intersection of 21st St. and fifth Avenue in Manhattan.  The pedestrian was crossing the street when she was hit by a white van making a left turn. The driver of the van was in shock and stayed at the scene of the accident while the victim was transported to the hospital  in critical condition. Read more in the New York Daily News.

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A female pedestrian was left injured on the road by a negligent driver who backed into her and took off.  The accident was caught on camera. The video shows that after the driver struck the victim, he stopped and got out of his car. However moments later he got back into his car and took off.  The accident happened on August 19th in front of Jackson Ave in Mott Haven. The police are looking for the hit and run driver.

 

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8 year old Jadan William died last week after being struck by a car in Brooklyn, NYC. The young girl was playing with her friends on E. 22nd Street, a dead end street near Ditmas Ave in Ditmas Park when she was struck by a SUV heading south in the cul-de-sac. A neighbor and two nurses from a nearby nursing home performed CPR on the young girl while waiting for the ambulance. The girl who suffered severe head trauma was transported to the hospital in  critical condition but couldn’t be saved. The driver, 35 year old Reginald August, lived on the block and and was a “known speeder” according to residents. After the crash the driver was punched in the face by Tony Romans who knew the girl and witnessed the crash. He was also transported to the hospital and wasn’t immediately charged. The man who punched him was arrested and charged with assault.

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Tow teenagers from Manhattan were injured, one critically in a car accident on Saturday around 8 pm.  The  non identified 17 year old driver and his 18 year old passenger identified as Steven Fermin had stolen the car from the Six Flags Great Adventure theme park in New Jersey. They were pursued by the police on the New Jersey Turnpike near Ridgefield Prk when the accident happened. During the crash the driver was thrown from the car. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Read more in the NY Daily News