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 Pedestrian Accidents

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A 77 year old pedestrian was crossing a residential street in Brooklyn when she was struck and suffered injury leading to her death by a 2014 Mercedes Benz attempting to parallel park. Marlene Baharlias, 77, was jaywalking when she stepped off an East 19th street curb mid-block between Avenue U and Avenue T in Sheepshead Bay around 2:20 p.m. yesterday and was mowed down, cops said. Read more in the Gothamist.

Erratum (3/20): according to an in depth article from Streetblog that came a day after the accident was announced in the local media, Marlene Baharlias was killed Tuesday in Sheepshead Bay by a driver who witnesses say backed onto a sidewalk – contrary to anonymous NYPD sources who told the Post the victim was jaywalking. We apologize to our readers.

A similar accident happened two days ago, also in Brooklyn, when a young child was attempting to cross the street with his mother and a car backed into them killing the 5 year old boy (see previous blog).

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A pedestrian struck by a car is twice as likely to survive if the car speed is 20 mph instead of 30 mph. To increase traffic safety and combat speeding in residential areas, the DOT started in 2011 a Community based Neighborhood Slow Zone Program which includes a reduction of the speed from 30 mph to 20 mph with signage, gateway and speed bumps (see previous blog). The program was an immediate success and the DOT received so many applications that not all of them could be immediately accepted. Also some of those that were accepted were vetoed by community boards.

Last week-end with the help of the Right of Way advocates, residents of 10 NYC communities who believed their applications have been unfairly rejected by the DOT or who have been waiting for more than 2 years for the city to implement the Slow Zone Program installed “20 is plenty” speed limit signs in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Greenpoint, Astoria, Jackson Heights, Jamaica, the Upper West Side, the Lower East Side, Tribeca and the West Village.

As part of Vision Zero, Mayor de Blasio has called for a rapid expansion of the Neighborhood Slow Zone. The communities are calling on the mayor to stick to his promise.

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A frontal collision between two cars injured the two car drivers and one pedestrian in Great Kills, Staten Island, NYC. The accident happened on Amboy Road near Sherwood Place. One of the cars apparently swerved on to the wrong side of the road and collided with the other car that was traveling in the opposite direction. The two drivers suffered serious personal injury and a pedestrian who was struck and pinned under one of the cars was in critical condition . Read More in the Staten Island Advance

Amboy Road is a dangerous road on Staten Island. Below is a heat map that shows that every month on average there are more than 10 vehicle accidents on this road. There are also 5 dangerous spots where one auto accident or more happens every month at that specific spot.

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A pedestrian was killed and another one suffered severe personal injury in two separate car accidents.
64 year old Kumar Ragunath was crossing Northern Blvd at 40th Road on Saturday night when he was struck by a SUV driver as he was crossing out of the crosswalk. The driver didn’t stop and the pedestrian died at the hospital shortly after the accident. The police are looking for a dark colored Chevy Blazer. Read more in DNA Info New York.

In an another accident a pedestrian who was crossing Rockaway Parkway was struck by a SUV driver who was trying to pass a vehicle making a left turn. Read more in the New York Daily News

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Sean Farrell was drunk when he struck two pedestrians in a crosswalk with his car yesterday night in the Bronx, NY. The police determined that Farrell, a city firefighter was drunk as he refused to take a breathalyzer test. Farell was charged with an elevated DWI charge because it is the second time in less than 10 years that he has been caught while driving while intoxicated.

Read more in the New York Daily News.

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I didn’t tolerate pedestrian and bicycle accident fatalities when I was a mayor in Charlotte and I will not tolerate them either as US Secretary of Transportation said Anthony Foxx in a speech yesterday at the National Bike Summit.

Foxx supports safe roads for all users and emphasises that more and more Americans are using their bikes not only for recreation but also as an economical source of transportation.

Foxx also asks for support of President Obama’s $302 billion proposal for American Transportation that includes increased resources for bicycle and pedestrian programs.

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In NYC, auto accidents involving pedestrians or bicyclists have a higher risk of occurring when cars or other vehicles are double parked or parked on a bike lane. As part of the Vision Zero traffic initiative mandated by the New York mayor, precincts in the city are launching ticket blitzes against drivers who are double parking or parking on bike lane lanes. One started today in Washington Heights and targeted drivers parking illegally on West 181st Street. Also Today In Park Slope, Brooklyn, the 78th precinct cops who were recently targeting drivers failing to yield turned their attention to drivers illegally parked on the bike lanes. We also previously reported similar activity on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Columbus Ave.

 

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Marisol Martinez was fatally struck by a MTA bus making a left turn. Martinez and two of her friends were in the middle of the crosswalk when they saw the bus. The two friends were a little ahead of Martinez and ran to avoid the bus. According to them the bus didn’t yield or stop hitting and killing their friend.

Martinez is the third person to die after being hit by a MTA bus this year. In the last 12 months at least 10 people died after being struck by a MTA bus according to Streetblog.

Northern Brooklyn had one of the highest numbers of traffic deaths in 2013 and elected officials and advocates are calling for Mayor de Blasio to focus street safety resources in this area

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To discuss the implementation of Vision Zero to reduce pedestrian injuries and deaths related to traffic accidents, New York State Senator Brad Holyman held a “Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Town Hall” at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice tonight. See below for more info.
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A deadly truck accident happened yesterday in New York. A 25 year old rabbinical student was hit by a garbage truck as he was in the crosswalk on Kingstone Ave at Caroll St. in Crown Hights, Brooklyn. The pedestrian had the “walk signal” when he stepped in the crosswalk. According to witnesses, when the pedestrian realized that the truck driver didn’t see him, he tried to walk back but he was struck by the side of the truck and ran over. He died at the scene.

Read more in the Daily News