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 Bus Accidents

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schoolbus1Reckless drivers who endanger young pedestrians by driving around NYC school buses while the stop sign is on might soon be caught on camera and ticketed.

The proposal by  Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) to equip buses with cameras  is coming days after two NYC drivers were seen driving on school sidewalks to avoid school bus traffic. Both cars were caught by surveillance cameras and the police are actively looking for the drivers. However in many other instances impatient New Yorkers are putting the life of children at risk by going around school buses and are never caught by the police. These reckless drivers should be identified and punished so others will think twice before acting recklessly by driving around school buses.  For now drivers who are passing the school buses despite the stop signal only receive a ticket if the police catch them doing it. The ticket is $250. In New York State it is estimated that 50,000 drivers ignore the rule every year.

Motor vehicle accident is the number one cause of fatalities for children therefore drivers must be cautious while driving near school buses or near bus areas

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10 motorists and 7 pedestrians died in NYC traffic accidents in October. No fatalities were recorded among cyclists and vehicle passengers. Truck accidents reached a record high while bus accidents were unusually low for October. Motorcycle accidents started to decline compared to the summer months as the temperature drops and bikers keep their motorcycle in the garage.

The total number of monthly traffic deaths continues to decline despite a rise in the total number of monthly accidents in the city. Traffic injuries continue to rise as well.

Traffic Accidents Injuries and Deaths NYC October 2018
Over the last five years while Vision Zero initiatives focused mostly on making the streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, distracted driving has led to a significant increase in accidents injuries and fatalities.

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NYC Personal Injury Lawyers Howard Hershenhorn and Diana CarnemollaCongratulations to our partners Howard Hershenhorn and Diana M. A. Carnemolla who obtained an $85 million Verdict for a man who was struck by a red double decker sightseeing tour bus owned and operated by Twin America, LLC, Gray Line Corporation, Gray Line New York Tours, Inc. Coach USA, Citysights LLC, Citysights New York LLC, and Calvin C. Wright, while crossing the street.

The plaintiff who was 54 years old was ran over by a red double decker sightseeing tour bus on July 3rd, 2015.  At the time of the accident, it was a sunny Friday afternoon. He had the walk signal in his favor when a 13 ton double decker sightseeing tour bus attempted to make a left turn from West 4th street onto 6th avenue striking him. He suffered serious injuries.  As a result of the crash  he spent 78 days in the hospital, having 9 operations. He also had two additional operations after he was discharged from the hospital.

Bus Accident NYPD Highway Patrol

$45 million for past pain and suffering and $40 million for future pain and suffering

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Citi BikeThe bus driver who fatally struck a cyclist on West 26th Street, New York, was found guilty of  violating New York City’s Right of Way Law, failure to exercise due care and traffic violation, after a trial that lasted two days.

On a Monday morning in June 2017, Dan Hanegby was pedaling to work on West 26th Street. The street has no bike lane and cyclists share the road with motor vehicles. David Lewis who was driving a Coach USA bus arrived behind the biker, clearly saw him and barreled past him in a narrow area of the street instead of slowing down and waiting for a safer opportunity to pass the bike. The bicyclist was knocked down by the bus and died.

During the trial the attorney for the bus driver tried to blame the victim and claimed that Hanegby lost control of his bike. However a surveillance video from a nearby building clearly shows that the bicyclist drove on a straight line and that because vehicles were parked on both sides of the street, it was just too narrow for the bus driver to pass the bike. The video also shows that the bus driver doesn’t slow down at any moment. Not before and not after the accident, completely failing to exercise caution.

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A MTA bus crashed into a building in Brooklyn, NYC, injuring 6 residents. The accident occurred at the intersection of St Marks and Ralph Avenue in Crown Heights. The driver of the B45 bus was driving East on St Marks Avenue and took a too wide right turn to head South on Ralph Avenue. He struck a mailbox and a dump truck before crashing into a residential building located at the intersection of the two avenues . The bus was empty at the time of the accident but the bus driver as well as 5 other residents of the building sustained minor injuries. Thankfully no one was standing at the bus stop located in front of the building and the apartment that was destroyed by the bus was empty at the time of the accident. The neighbors were at home and the bus only missed them by inches. The Department of Building issued vacate orders for the two apartments next to the crash site.

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B82 in Flatlands AveThankfully nobody was injured in a bus accident that occurred in Brooklyn, NYC,  early Sunday morning. The bus was driven by 24 year old Lenny Lachman who was drunk behind the wheel. Around 1:30 am, the nine passengers on board of the B82 bus  started to panic after Lachman drove erratically on Flatlands Ave and hit something near 46th Street. They called 911 and the police came to their rescue and stopped the bus. They arrested the driver. He was charged with reckless driving and three counts of DWI. He was arraigned Sunday night in Brooklyn criminal court and was granted supervised release by Judge Ellen Edwards. Lachman who started to work as a MTA driver in May 2017 was immediately removed from service without pay.

Read more in the New York Daily News
Picture: courtesy of Wikipedia

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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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MTA BX21 busA pickup truck crashed into a MTA bus injuring 13 bus passengers in the Bronx, NYC. The crash occurred on  Friday afternoon around 1:20 pm. 25 passengers  were on board of the Bx21 MTA bus. As it was making a stop at E. 180th St and Morris Park Ave, it got rear-ended by a pickup truck. The impact was so intense that 13 bus passengers suffered personal injury.  11 passengers were transported to the hospital to be treated. Among them, 6 were seriously injured. Two other passengers who were also injured refused medical attention. The driver suffered from lower back pain. The police are still investigating the cause of the accident. The pickup driver wasn’t arrested.

Read more in the NY Daily News

Picture: Courtesy of Wikipedia

 

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ocation of the fatal bus accidentA 7 year old boy on a scooter was fatally struck by a bus in New York City.

The accident occurred Saturday afternoon in the Bronx. 7 year old Shevon Bethea was riding his scooter when a MTA bus  driving south on Webster Ave hit him near the 184th Street intersection. Shevo who lived in Brownsville, Brooklyn, was visiting his dad in Fordham Heights, Bronx. According to his mother, Shevon was a straight A’s Student with a loving and caring personality. “He was always happy” she said.

Shevon’s brother, 10 year old DiShawn , witnessed the accident and he is completely traumatized. According to him, the bus driver ran a red light and dragged the young boy for a block.

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34 people suffered personal injury in an accidents involving two buses. The accident occurred in the center tube of the Lincoln tunnel that links New Jersey to Manhattan.  The two NJ Transit bus who were coming from Wayne and from Oradell were following each others when one of them rear ended the other one. 25 passengers were on board one of  the buses and 37 were riding in the other bus.  32 of them were injured. 8 of them suffered serious injury. Instead of ambulances, FDNY used a special bus that allowed them to transport dozens of injured passengers to the hospital at the same time.

The police are still investigating the exact cause of the accident.