Bicycle Accidents

Published on: May 6, 2015

Our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz comments on recent decision by Manhattan DA to charge a driver who killed a pedestrian with manslaughter

New York Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Rubinowitz has extensive experience representing the families of pedestrians and cyclists who have been killed or severely injured by negligent motorists in New York. Recently Ben tried a wrongful death case in The U.S. District Court for The Southern District of New York, in which the Court held the Federal Government %100 liable and awarded monetary damages estimated to be approximately $5 million for lawyer Nat Dershowitz in a successful civil case against the driver of a U.S. Postal Service Truck that struck and killed his wife(see prior blog). Ben also represents Dana Lerner, the mother of 9 year old Cooper Stock who was hit by a taxi driver as he was in the crosswalk with his father resulting in his death. In a recent article in NY Press Ben reflects on a recent decision by Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. to charge a motorist who killed a pedestrian in the Bowery with manslaughter.

Read the article here

Published on: April 29, 2015

Our Personal Injury Law Firm obtained the highest verdict for a motor vehicle accident involving a bicycle which is also one of the New York Law Journal’s Top 25 New York Verdicts of 2014

By GGCRBHS&M

Gair Gair Conason Steigman Mackauf Bloom & Rubinowitz was featured in the New York Law Journal’s Top New York Verdicts of 2014 for obtaining the highest award for a verdict in a motor vehicle accident involving a bicycle. The case was tried by our Managing Partner Ben B. Rubinowitz, along with our Partner, Peter J. Saghir. The accident involved a 36-year-old woman who was riding her bicycle south on Broadway across East 14th Street when she was struck from behind by a New York City Transit Authority bus which was traveling southbound in the same direction as the plaintiff. After she was struck by the bus she was dragged into the intersection where the right rear wheels of the bus rolled over her legs. The bus driver claimed that he was in the center or left lane at the time of the accident and that the plaintiff suddenly and unexpe NY Personal Injury Lawyers Rubinowitz and Saghir ctedly rode her bicycle across two lanes of traffic from the right lane to the left lane and struck the right side of the bus. The plaintiff contended she was in the right lane as she approached the intersection. It was undisputed that the plaintiff ended up in the left-hand lane of this three lane roadway. The plaintiff suffered a degloving injury to her right leg as well as fractures to the distal tibia and fibula of her left leg. The plaintiff’s entire claim was based on pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. No claims were made for past or future medical expenses or past or future lost earnings. After two days of deliberation, the jury found the New York City Transit Authority at fault and awarded the plaintiff $8,570,000 ($3,250,000 past pain and suffering and $5,320,000 future pain and suffering over 40.9 years).

Published on: April 17, 2015

An 88 year old cyclist suffered severe personal injury after being struck by a hit and run driver in Queens, New York

By GGCRBHS&M

An 88 year old man was severely injured in a bicycle accident yesterday afternoon in the Queens, NYC. The accident happened on 131st Street near Rockaway Blvd in South Ozone Park in the middle of the afternoon. A blue sedan hit the cyclist and sped away. The elderly man was taken to the hospital in critical conditions.

A cyclist and a pedestrian were critically injured in two separate accidents in Brooklyn, New York

By GGCRBHS&M

Two men suffered severe personal injury in two separate accidents that happened in Brooklyn, NYC, on Sunday night. One of them was a 46 year old cyclist who crashed his bike into the back of an MTA bus in Williamsburg and the other one was a pedestrian who was struck by a car three hours later in Crown Heights. Both were transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Read more in the NY Daily News

Published on: April 10, 2015

Southern District Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled Wednesday that the federal government is “100 percent liable” for a Postal Service trailer crash that killed Marilyn Dershowitz while she was riding her bicycle in New York. Our partners Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Sagir represented the Dershowitz estate

By GGCRBHS&M

Our partners, New York personal injury lawyers Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Sagir represented the family of Marilyn Dershowitz, a retired Manhattan Supreme Court special referee who died in a bicycle accident during which she was hit by a postal tractor trailer truck. Following a two-week bench trial in February U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn found the federal government 100% liable for the fatal accident in a 72 page Opinion.

The accident happened on Saturday July 2, 2011. Marylin and her husband Nathan Dershowitz of Dershowitz, Eiger & Adelson, and the brother of Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, were riding their bikes on West 29th street between Ninth and Tenth Ave in Manhattan, New York. Both were wearing a helmet. As they rode under an overpass connecting two US postal mail facilities, the road was narrowed by a protruding Postal Trailer that was perpendicularly parked at a dock. As Mrs Dershowitz was about to ride her bike in the narrower side way, just behind her another postal trailer, driven by Ian Clement, was competing with a silver minivan to get in first in the narrower roadway as due to the parallel parked trailers to the south and the protruding perpendicular Postal Trailer to the north, cars were not able to travel side-by-side. The postal trailer got in before the minivan but he didn’t see the cyclist and hit her as he was veering to the right to be able to fit into the roadway.

Southern District Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled Wednesday that the federal government was 100 percent liable for the accident. Netburn said “a preponderance of the credible evidence” showed that Clement’s driving and the placement of a postal trailer protruding into the street were the “sole, proximate cause of the decedent’s injuries. Mrs. Dershowitz was not contributorily negligent.”

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Published on: March 24, 2015

The number of people who suffered personal injury or who were killed in a traffic accident in New York City is at its lowest in January compared to the same month in the 3 previous years

By GGCRBHS&M

3449 people were injured and 13 people died in traffic accidents in New York City in January 2015 compared to respectively 3899 and 21 in January 2014 , 3993 and 28 in January 2013 and 4179 and 21 in January 2012. These numbers are encouraging and may indicate that the Vision Zero Program started approximately a year ago may be effective in making New York City streets safer. Data from December 2014 and January 2015 also show, for the first time, two consecutive months during which the total monthly number of traffic fatalities was below 14. The total number of motor vehicle accidents was stable. Below are graphs depicting traffic accident rates from January, 2013 to January 2015 for various types of accidents for each month for this time period in NYC.

6 pedestrians died in traffic accidents in January 2015 compared to 12 in January 2014, 20 in January 2013 and 12 in January 2012. This is the lowest number since May 2013. This is also half the number recorded the same month a year before. In January 2015, 902 pedestrians suffered personal injury after being struck by a car compared to respectively 1075, 1107 and 1045 in 2014, 2013 and 2012. Its the first time that this number is below 1000 for the month of January.

115 people were injured and 1 person died in bicycle accidents in January. Bike accidents are usually at their lowest in New York City during the months of January and February because less people use their bikes because of the bad weather and the snow.

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Published on: March 4, 2015

Councilman Rory Lancman from Queens wants to amend the Right of Way Law

By GGCRBHS&M

Since last August in New York, the new Right of Way Law makes it a criminal misdemeanor for drivers to strike pedestrians or cyclists who have the right of way. Multiple drivers including 6 bus drivers have been charged and arrested for violating this law. Queens Coucilman Rory Lancman who was a supporter of the Right of Way Law when it came into effect is now saying that cops may have been over applying the law and is considering an amendment. Read more in StreetBlog

Published on: March 1, 2015

The number of pedestrians dying after being struck by a vehicle in New York City decreased by 23% in 2014 compared to 2013 while the number of cyclists killed in bicycle accidents increased by 73% for the same period according to recent NYPD statistics

By GGCRBHS&M

10 pedestrians died and 1220 suffered personal injury in traffic accidents last December bringing the total number of pedestrian deaths to 135 in 2014 compared to 168 in 2013 and 130 in 2014 according to car crashes data recently released by the NYPD. The total number of pedestrians injured in vehicle accidents for 2014 was 11,000 compared to 11,978 the previous year, a decline of 8%. While pedestrian deaths are back around the level of 2012, deaths as a result of a bicycle accident increased by 73% with 19 fatal bicycle accidents in 2014 compared to 11 in 2013. The number of people injured in a bicycle accident decreased by 2% with 3960 cyclists injured in 2014 compared to 4043 in 2014.

Globally New York City roads were less dangerous in 2014 than in 2013 with a total of 250 people dying in crashes in 2014 compared to 286 in 2013 – a decline of 12% – and 50,896 road users suffering personal injury in 2014 compared to 54,818 in 2013 – a decline of 7%.

Even though pedestrian deaths and injuries decreased in 2014, the number of pedestrians suffering personal injury in a vehicle accident was above 1200 in December, the highest monthly number for the last two years. Monthly pedestrian deaths never went over 15 in 2014, an improvement compared to 2013, a year during which the monthly number of deaths jumped to 25 in November and 20 in January.

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Published on: December 9, 2014

To avoid bicycle accidents in New York, Councilman Mark Treyger porposed a new law to ban cellphone use while bicycling

By GGCRBHS&M

In a city like New York where traffic is dense, using a cellphone while riding a bicycle can have catastrophic consequences. After witnessing a distracted cyclist almost causing a multi-car accident because he was texting while riding his bike, Councilman Mark Treyger did some legal research and was surprised to learn that in New York there is no law prohibiting cycling and texting or cycling and calling. Therefore he decided to introduce a new bill that would ban cellphone use while bicycling and punish first time offenders with a safety class.

The NYPD says that the law isn’t really necessary. They have already issued 423 tickets this year for distracted bicycling compared to 213 last year.Bike advocates are not in favor of the new bill either. They argue that it would take police resources away from fighting other more dangerous behavior in the streets of New York.

To prevent fatal bicycle accidents in Central Park, the City cut the speed limit to 20 mph instead of 25

By GGCRBHS&M

Central%20Park.jpg
Picture: courtesy of Wikipedia

After a pedestrian was killed by a reckless cyclist in Central Park a few months ago, the city decided to lower the speed limit to 20 mph from 25 mph in Central Park. Signs will be installed in the next few days and the new speed limit will be in effect immediately after their installation is completed.