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 Personal Injury

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Gary%20Messina.jpgA skydiving student died and his instructor suffered critical personal injury in a skydiving accident in Calverton, Long Island, NY, yesterday. According to officials, the student, Garry Messina, a NYC correction officer who was celebrating his 25 year old birthday, died on impact after a parachute failure during a tandem jump.

In a statement, Rich Winstock, the director of the United States Parachute Association (USPA), said that the accident was under investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration and that wind may have been a factor.

According to statistics from the USPA, in 2013, there were 24 skydiving fatalities out of 3.2 million jumps, that’s a 0.0075 fatalities per 1000 jumps. For tandem skydiving the fatality rate is 0.003 student fatalities per 1000 tandem jumps. The rate of personal injury is approximately 3 per 10,000 skydives.

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An 87 year old woman who was trying to cross the street was hit by a car near Willets Point Blvd and 163rd St in Flushing, Queens, New York, yesterday night. She suffered severe head injuries and later died in the hospital.

In New York City, senior pedestrians have a higher risk to die in a car accident than adult pedestrians. Recent statistics from the DOT show that seniors represent 12% of the NYC population but account for 36% of NYC pedestrian traffic fatalities.
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Source: DOT Safe Street for Seniors New York City

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3 children who were trapped in an apartment fire in Brooklyn were rescued by courageous New York firefighters. The firefighters who arrived at the scene 2 minutes after a call was made first spotted two young boys at the window of the apartment, They were trapped and crying. The firefighters used a bucket ladder to rescue the 5 and 8 year old brothers. The children told the firefighters that their 4 year old brother was still inside the apartment. Justin Tallett a 27 year old rookie firefighter and a former army medic who was in Afghanistan in 2012 was able to get in the apartment. He fought the smoke and the flames and was able to rescue the third brother. The boy who was seriously injured was resuscitated on his way to the hospital and is expected to survive. The grandfather who was supposed to supervise the children bolted out of the department leaving the children behind.

Read more in the New York Daily News

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A cyclist was seriously inured after he collided with a NY Waterway Bus that was crossing the Hudson River Greenway to go to the 39th Street ferry terminal this morning. The Hudson River Greenway is an 11 mile bike and pedestrian path along the Hudson River that stretches from Battery Park at the South of Manhattan to the Georges Washington Bridge at the North. Many New Yorkers use it to commute to work every day. Several busy driveways leading to various piers, parking and commercial operations cross the Greenway around 40th street making this area one of the most dangerous on the Greenway.

A few years ago, our firm represented the widow of a doctor who died two streets below Today’s accident after being struck by a NYPD tow truck driver who failed to yield.

Another cyclist died after being struck by a drunk driver who drove onto the Greenway from a Chelsea Piers parking lot.

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A 13 year old cyclist was seriously injured yesterday after being hit by a taxi on 108th street near Manhattan Ave on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in NYC. The driver stayed at the scene and wasn’t charged. The teenager was brought to the hospital where he is now in critical but stable condition. He suffers severe head trauma as well as lacerations to his legs and arms. Read more in the NY Daily News.
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Between 300 and 500 people suffer bicycle accident injury every month during the summer in New York City.

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Liliana Coello a phony doctor from Queens, NYC, pleaded guilty of unlawfully practicing medicine and seriously injuring a patient. She was sentenced to two years in jail. Coello gave a botched butt lift to a patient and injected her buttocks with Krazy Glue in a follow up visit. The patient suffered a very bad infection and had to be hospitalized 3 times.

This is not the first time Coello is being sent to jail for a botched butt lift. In 2012 the phony doctor got paid $3200 for surgery on the derriere of a Brooklyn night club worker during which she injected the woman with clear gel.

Read more in the NY Daily News

 

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Around 4000 people die and more than 100,000 people are injured every year in truck accidents.

Fatigue is one of the most common reasons why truck accidents happen.

Before crashing into Tracy Morgan’s van, the Wal-Mart truck driver didn’t sleep for 24 hours. The National Transportation Safety Board said that the driver was 13 hours into his shift at the time of the accident and the limit is 14 hours. However prior to the start of his shift, the truck driver commuted from his home in Georgia to the Wal-Mart facility in Delaware.

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A young boy was seriously injured after he was hit by a minivan Saturday in the Bronx, NYC. According to the New York Daily News, the boy was playing with friends when he ran out into the street. He was struck by a minivan driven by a lady who witnesses said was seen texting behind the wheel prior to the accident. The lady also had her children in her car. She remained at the scene and so far no charges have been filed. The boy who suffered serious but non life threatening injuries was rushed to the hospital.

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With an average of 27 deaths or severe injuries related to traffic accidents per mile, White Plains Road in the Bronx is one of the most dangerous roads in New York City. 8 people died in crashes between 2007 and 2014 and it was identified by the Vision Zero Program as a High Crash Corridor. The intersection at White Plains Road and Morris Park Ave figures in the top 20 High Pedestrian Crash Locations in NYC.

Last week the Community Board 9 voted unanimously in favor of a proposal of the New York City Department of Transportation to revamp the road to make it safer. The changes include modified parking lanes and the addition of a left turn bay to reduce speeding and better organize traffic.

Read more and see video on the Bronx News 12 website

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See our prior blog, “CONGRESS OVERRULES AHLBORN, ATTEMPTS TO GIVE MEDICAID A LIEN ON FULL AMOUNT OF RECOVERY IN PERSONAL INJURY ACTIONS REGARDLESS OF THE AMOUNT PROPERLY ALLOCABLE TO MEDICAID’S EXPENSES”

These amendments were to go into effect October 1, 2014. The effective date is now October 1, 2016 which means plaintiffs will continue to be able to rely on Ahlborn until at least than. Click here for more information. See in particular “SEC. 211. DELAY OF EFFECTIVE DATE FOR MEDICAID AMENDMENTS RELATING TO BENEFICIARY LIABILITY SETTLEMENTS.

Effective as if included in the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget