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 Bicycle Accidents

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fatal bike accident cpw 2A 23 year old Australian tourist was killed in a bicycle accident in New York on Friday afternoon. Madison Jane Lyden  and another tourist were riding their bicycles North on Central Park West. As they passed by the bus stop between 66th and 67th Street, the young woman was forced into traffic to avoid an Uber car pulling into the bike lane. According to witnesses she “bounced off” the garbage truck before landing under its wheels. She was rushed to the hospital where she died shortly later. Madison Jane Lyden was from Victoria Australia. She worked at a recreational center as a swim instructor, life guard and receptionist. She was visiting New York with friends.

One of  our employees happened to be visiting someone in the building located right across the street from the accident scene and took a picture from above that clearly shows the livery car pulling into the bike lane, on the left are the belongings of the victim on the ground. It also shows the Garbage Truck stopped at a significant distance from where it contacted the bicyclist. Skid marks , which would indicate the truck braked prior to contact are are not visible south of or next to the Uber in the photo.

DRUNK TRUCK DRIVER

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5,569 people suffered personal injury in 20,551 traffic accidents in New York City last May. Among them were 2,534 motorists, 1,755 passengers, 430 cyclists and 850 pedestrians.

While looking at past statistics,  we notice a seasonal factor that causes the number of crash injuries to always increase during the month of May compared to the previous months of  February, March and April. Last May the auto accident injuries in New York City increased to a record number.

In May 2013, before Vision Zero, 4,988 people suffered injuries in NYC crashes.  Then the Vision Zero program started and the number of crash injuries declined to 4,621 in May 2014. It increased again slightly to 4,788 in May 2015 but stayed below the Pre-Vision Zero number of injuries recorded in May 2013. In May 2016, it peaked above 5000 and never went back below that level for the last 3 years. 5,415 crash injuries were recorded in May 2016 and 5,314 in May 2017.

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12 people died and 4,578 were injured in traffic accidents in New York City in April. Among the fatalities were 7 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and 2 motor vehicle passengers. The number of fatalities recorded last April is the lowest number of traffic fatalities ever recorded in April since Vision Zero started. Last year during the same month 20 people died in NYC motor vehicle accidents. In 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, there were respectively 14, 19, 21 and 15 fatalities.

Traffic fatalities NYC April 2018
Sadly, the number of people injured in accidents in the city was higher in April 2018 than it was in April 2017. It wasn’t as high as in 2016 but it was higher than in 2014 and 2015 and also back at the level where it was before Vision Zero was implemented.  While pedestrians and cyclists account for most deaths, motorists and passengers sustain most of the injuries.Motor vehcile accident injuries New York City April 2018

Motorists injuries continue to be on an ascending trend with a record number of 2,117 motorists injured last April compared to respectively, 1,922, 2,061, 1,363, 1,305 and 1,599 in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Distracted driving might be one of the reasons why this number continues to increase.

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A cyclist died after he was doored by a car in Queens, NYC, and ended up under the wheels of a truck. The accident occurred yesterday afternoon in Long Island City. The 45 year old man was riding his bike North on 21st Street near 46th Avenue when the passenger of a car parked in the street suddenly opened his door and hit him. The impact sent the cyclist flying  in the middle of the street in front of a box truck. The  truck driver didn’t have the time to stop and ran over him. The man was transported to the hospital in serious condition. He later died from his injuries The car driver and the truck driver stayed at the scene of the accident. The truck driver was taken into custody after the police found that he didn’t have a valid license.

Read more on the CBS New York website

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7th-waverly-perryThe installation of protected bike lanes all over New York City not only protect bicyclists from dangerous accidents but also drivers and pedestrians alike. According to DOT statistics, streets with bike lanes have 40 percent fewer crashes ending in death or serious injury. A study realized after the Ninth Avenue protected bike lane was installed showed that all injuries related to traffic accidents decreased by 50%. Pedestrian injuries decreased by 29% and cyclist injuries by 57%.

Better protection for cyclists and pedestrians

Last week the DOT announced that the many cyclists using Seventh Ave to ride South in Manhattan will now be able to use a protected bike lane from 30th Street to Clarkson Street. Half of the protected bike lane, from 30th Street to 14th Street was installed at the end of last year. The DOT finished installing the other part from 14th Street to Clarkson Street last week. The DOT still needs to paint the lane in green. The DOT is also planning to install five concrete pedestrian islands along the way as well as additional safety improvements for pedestrians.

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location of the bicycle accident Bay RidgeA NYC cyclist who was struck by a SUV is likely to die according to a recent article in Street Blog.  The man who’s name wasn’t released is a 29 year old black male. He was riding his bike northbound on Ridge Boulevard when he was hit by a SUV driving westbound on 73rd Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. According to the police the driver of the SUV, a 63 year old woman, had the green light when she hit the cyclist. She wasn’t charged and the police said “No criminality was suspected”.

It is not the first time that a collision occured at this intersection. According to the Vision Zero Map One person was injured in an accident at the same intersection in 2011, another one in 2012, two in 2013, one in 2014 and one in 2016 previous to this accident.

A Bay Ridge resident told StreetBlog that the intersection was dangerous. “I’ve had a few close calls crossing here, too,” he said. “There’s a lot of racing to beat the light and a lot of failure to yield to people in the crosswalk.”

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ocation of the cab bicycle accident in New YorkA cyclist who was hit by a cab in New York nine days ago has died from his injuries. On April 16th, 42-year-old Amaury Pena was riding his bike on East 39th Street by the exit of the Midtown tunnel. He was hit by a taxi heading North on Tunnel Exit. According to the NY Daily News the bicyclist was riding against the light when he was struck by the taxi driver around 8:20 am. The man was transported to the hospital with severe injuries. He suffered for 9 days before succumbing to his injuries on Wednesday. The taxi driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged.

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location of truck and bicycle accident on Webster AveA cyclist died after he was hit by a truck that never stopped. The accident occurred at the intersection of Webster Ave and the ramp of the Cross Bronx Expressway in the Tremont section of the Bronx.  The bicyclist was riding to the right side of  a white box truck when the truck made a right turn to get on the expressway ramp.  The truck hit the cyclist but never stopped. He just continued on his way onto the ramp and headed south toward I-95 New Jersey.  According to witnesses the cyclist who was in his twenties was knocked off his bicycle. He was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved. He died there from his injuries.

Sparse and dangerous unprotected bike lanes offer little protection to Bronx Bicyclists

Too little is being done in the Bronx  to prevent bicycle accidents. Webster Avenue was redesigned in 2012 to implement “Select Bus Service” but  bike lanesSouth Bike Lane Gand Concourse implementation were not part of this re-design.

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Vision Zero Initiatives have helped decrease traffic accident deaths in New York City especially for pedestrians and bicyclists  but the number of people injured in auto accidents during the first three months of the year has been on a rising trend. Distracted driving is the number one cause of accidents in the city and might be a factor leading to this high number of car accident injuries.

The number of motor vehicle accidents in New York City during the first semester stayed over 50,000 for the last 3 years. During the first trimester of 2018, 52,317 accidents were reported to the NYPD. Since 2013 the number of accidents in the City has been on a steady rising trend. From 46,438 during the first trimester of 2013, they reached a peak at 53,050 in the first trimester of 2016, slightly decreasing in the first trimester of 2017 and going slightly back up this year.

Motor vehcile accidents NYC first trimester 2018
12,920 people were injured in these 52,317 accidents. This is the highest number of personal injuries related to traffic accidents in New York City during the first trimester of any year  since Vision Zero started in 2013. 11,676 were injured in accidents during the first trimester of 2013. This number went down to 10,805 during the first trimester of 2014 and continued to decline to 10,069 for the same period of 2015. After that injuries went back up to respectively 11,939 and 12,608 for the first 3 months  of 2016 and 2017.

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Bike lanes in InwoodIn Upper Manhattan bicyclists are now protected from dangerous accidents by a new bike lane on Dyckman Street. The bike lane was installed last December. It connects the Hudson River and East River Greenways (see map).  It took nine years for the Inwood residents to get the NYC Department of Transportation to install a parking-protected bike lane where the traffic is heavy, as painted bike lanes where the traffic is lighter and sidewalk extensions to reduce crossing distance for pedestrians and slow down traffic. However, few months after its installation, the bike lane is now threatened by local politicians. Adriano Espaillat and Gale Brewer  don’t seem to care about bicycle accident prevention. They are asking the DOT to remove the bike lane and to install it two blocks North on 204th Street.

Dyckman Street is a very lively commercial street and the bike lane is not only protecting the delivery staff working at the many restaurants located on the street but also cyclists who are touring Manhattan and may want to make a pit stop between the two Greenways. Forcing bicyclists to go a few blocks away may result in confusion and additional bike accidents. 

In a recent meeting, small business owners also complained to City Council member Ydanis Rodríguez about the bike lane. They said the bike lane prevented clients from parking in front of their businesses and made it difficult for suppliers to deliver merchandise. They also said the bike lane was creating traffic congestion.