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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A 19 year old driver whose driving license was suspended crashed his car into an elevated subway pillar on Rockaway Freeway killing the 15 year old passenger and severely injuring the other teen passenger. The driver who sustained only minor injuries was driving over the speed limit according to the police. Read More in the Daily News.

Speeding is a factor in a third of fatal crashes involving teen drivers in the United States.

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A taxi jumped a curb yesterday in New York City at Rockefeller Center stricking a British tourist and severing her left leg and severely injuring the other. Her foot was recovered at the scene and doctors at Bellevue Hospital tried in vain to reattach it. The 24-year-old cab driver, Faysal Kabir Mohammad Himon of Queens lost the control of his car during a road-rage duel with a bike messenger. Himon who has a hack license but wasn’t authorized to drive the cab had a history of negligent driving. He was previously involved in a car accident injuring one person in 2010 and had many traffic violation on his record.

For more see Daily News

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If a car, a motorcycle or a small truck is defective, the manufacturer has to initiate a recall campaign to correct the defect by repairing or replacing the vehicle or by offering a refund to the consumer. Despite the manufacturer’s efforts, recall campaigns are not always successful especially when the cars, motorcycles and trucks being recalled are older and are likely to have been resold at least once. Too many vehicles owners are not aware of recalls and continue to drive unrepaired cars, trucks or motorcycles unknowingly exposing themselves, their passengers and other road users to potential accidents, damages or injuries.

Starting next year every owner or potential buyer of a car, a motorcycle or a small truck will be able to check if all recalls related to their vehicle were addressed. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) just announced its plans to require automakers and motorcycle manufacturers to provide consumers with a free online tool that will enable them to search recall information by Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Consumers will be able to instantly check if their vehicle is safe and address any defect related issue if necessary.

This new measure is a step ahead to protect consumers from the harm and property damage that can be caused by a vehicle with a serious safety defect.

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car_seat_safety.jpgLATCH stands for “Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children”. They became mandatory in vehicles in 2002 to help parents better secure the baby seat in the car and eliminate seat belt incompatibility. Pursuant to the actual law the lower anchors are designed to support a maximum weight of 65 lbs. Most parents are not aware that this weight includes the child and the child seat. When the total weight exceeds 65 lbs the child seat must be secured with the car seatbelt.

In order to make this information clear to parents the new LATCH law effective in February 2014, will require child seat manufacturers to modify their label to make sure parents understand that their child weight determines how long they can use the lower anchors.

This legislation was heavily pushed by automakers in order to protect themselves from product liability lawsuits as baby seats these days are heavier than those manufactured in 2002 and are putting increased strain on the lower anchors.

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If you are considering buying a new car that is safe for you and your family, you should definitely look at some of the new American automakers models. According to Consumer Reports, the revamped 2014 Chevrolet Impala takes on the world. Other “Made in USA” models that have been receiving excellent ranking are the Chrysler 300, Ford Escape and Fusion as well as the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The Chevy Sedan improvement is a real surprise. Its ranking went from 64 to 93 to become the ConsumerReports’ highest scoring sedan, a ranking never achieved in the last 20 years by an American sedan.

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85% of car accidents worldwide happen in developing countries and 25,000 of the deaths involve tourists. The Center for Disease Control is asking Americans who are vacationing abroad to exercise extra precautions if they decide to drive a car during their stay. Very often roads in low incomes countries are poorly maintained and traffic laws are not sufficiently enforced. In case of an accident, emergency services may not be as fast as in developed countries, increasing the risk of a fatality. Adding to that the level of care may not be up to the level of US standards.

Making sure you know the local traffic rules or avoiding driving at night are among a CDC list of measures that may help minimize your risk of being injured in a car crash while you are on vacation.

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A 61 year old man was crossing the road when a NYPD van hit him. The accident took place on Broadway at Hooper St. under the elevated J line in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. The poor man was declared dead when he arrived to the hospital.
Read the story in the Daily News

 

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Car accidents related to tire aging kill 90 people and injure 3200 every year. 9% of all car crashes are due to tire related issues according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

As summer season is starting, the NHTSA is urging motorists to check their tires as hot weather and under-inflated or worn down tires are a dangerous mix on the road.

In a previous survey about Tire-Related Factors in the Pre-Crash Phase, NTHSA highlighted the following findings:

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In order to prevent teen car crashes and personal injury, an innovative online program focuses on improving frontal lobe execution functions such as self-regulation or impulse control so that young drivers can achieve insight about driving risks and improve their driving skills.

The frontal lobe of the brain is not fully developed until the age of 25 and young drivers need specific help. With this concept in mind, Dr Robert Isler, PhD, an associate professor of Psychology at The University of Waikato in New Zealand, created eDrive, an online interactive driver training program that takes drivers on a trip through New Zealand while teaching them specific driving skills.

Read more about it in this interesting blog from Flaura Koplin Winston, MD, PhD from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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A boozed up 20 year old driver was going 120 mph when he lost control of his car and slammed into the guardrail on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York early Saturday. Two of the passengers died and two others suffered injury and were taken to the hospital. The driver suffered minor injuries and was booked for several charges including manslaughter, assault and criminally negligent homicide according to the New York Daily News