Personal Injury

Published on: December 26, 2013

New York Car Accident: pedestrian suffers serious personal injury after being struck by a drunk driver

A 26 year old man suffered serious personal injury after he was hit by a drunk driver Monday night in the Bronx, New York. The car accident happened when the man was crossing the intersection of Grand Concourse and E. 198th Street around midnight. In New York in 2012 there were 1,250 car accidents caused by drunk driving. These accidents resulted in 21 deaths and 941 personal injuries. Check out Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to see how you can help.

New York City Summit on Pedestrian Injury: Number of injuries in 2012 at a all time high and 2013 trend showing no sign of stopping

By GGCRBHS&M

pedestrian%20crossing%20sign.jpg The third New York City Summit on Pedestrian Injury was hosted Thursday by the Elmhurst Hospital Center’s Trauma and Neurosurgery Departments. Doctors, hospital administrators, transportation and traffic safety experts as well as community activists gathered together to examine pedestrian injuries and their impact on public health.

The chairs of the summit were Dr. Jamie Ullman, director of neurosurgery at Elmhurst and Anju Galer, a trauma coordinator for the nursing and the surgery departments in the same hospital. Both of them are working on a 3 years study on pedestrian injury in New York. Ullman said 2012 marked an all-time high in the number of injuries within the hospital catchment area, and in 2013, she said, it’s a trend that shows “no signs of stopping.”

In a car accident, older drivers are more likely to die or to suffer personal injury than younger drivers

By GGCRBHS&M

In a car crash, the probability of sustaining serious personal injury or to die is much higher for drivers and car occupants if they are older adults. The number of drivers above 65 years old increased by 20% in 10 years. During that same time, the proportion of older drivers involved in deadly car accidents increased by 15%. To curb this alarming situation the NHTSA announced a new 5-Year Traffic Safety Plan and Guidelines for Older Drivers and Passengers

A previous NHTSA analysis of the personal injuries sustained by 18,000 occupants involved in a car accident shows that drivers over 75 have a higher risk of suffering personal injury than younger drivers especially when it comes to head, chest and legs and foot injuries. Statistics also show a much higher number of head and chest injuries for older car occupants involved in a side impact accident.

Intersection accidents are the most common car accidents older drivers make. In the most common cases they don’t notice potential conflicts or traffic signs and signals.

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Published on: December 6, 2013

New York Traffic Accident: Bill Bratton, the new NYPD Commissioner promises to decrease traffic fatalities and fight subway crime

By GGCRBHS&M

Wrongful deaths and serious personal injuries related to traffic accidents are epidemic in New York. The newly appointed NYPD commissioner, Bill Bratton, promised that this situation would change.

In a speech Thursday Bratton said “It is ironic that even as the death totals have declined dramatically with violent crime in this city, this year the number of people killed on our streets – pedestrian and traffic — will almost equal the homicide total”.

Bratton said his priorities are to make the streets and the subways safer.

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Published on: December 5, 2013

15,000 people suffered personal injury related to holiday decorating in November and December last year

By GGCRBHS&M

Personal injuries related to decorating such as falling from a ladder, lacerations and back strains are the most common decorating injuries reported by emergency departments during the months of November and December.

There are about 250 injuries a day during the holiday season according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Additionally, Christmas trees are responsible for an average 200 fires every year with additional deaths, injuries and property loss.

If you don’t want to be part of the statistics and spend the holidays with your family instead of the hospital, the Consumer Product Safety Commission just published a list of safety tips on Ladders, Trees and Decorations, Candles, Lights and Fireplaces that is worth the reading.

Published on: December 4, 2013

Anti-seizure drug Onfi (clobazam) can cause rare skin reaction than can lead to serious personal injury or death

By GGCRBHS&M

Serious skin reactions medically known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), can occur at any time during Onfi treatment warns the Food and Drug Administration. According to the FDA, 6 cases have been identified in the US and 14 out of the US. Out of the 6 cases identified in the US 5 were children. All the cases resulted in hospitalization with one case of blindness and two deaths.

Read the FDA Safety Alert

Published on: December 4, 2013

New York Metro North train was speeding at 82 MPH instead of 30 MPH seconds before the accident

By GGCRBHS&M

Our partner, New York Personal Injury Attorney Chris Sallay, was on ABC news yesterday to comment on the deadly train accident that happened Sunday morning in New York. According to the most recent information the train was traveling at 82 miles per hour as it approached a sharp curb where the speed limit was 30 miles per hour. The National Transportation Safety Board said the train’s sudden power shift came “very late in the game”. The train engineer, William Rockefeller is at the center of the investigation. Rockefeller was a veteran of the line and knew the road well. The investigation will determine if the speed was the result of a human error or faulty equipment.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims of this horrible tragedy.

Published on: December 1, 2013

4 people died and 63 suffered personal injury in a train accident that happened this morning in New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A New York Metro-North train derailed this morning. 4 people died in the accident and 63 suffered personal injury including 11 critical injuries and 6 serious injuries.

The derailment happened in the Bronx where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet. It is a dangerous area as the rails make a sharp curve. A previous accident happened at this location when last July 10 cars of a CSX freight train carrying trash derailed.

“That is a dangerous area on the track just by design,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN after touring the site. “The trains are going about 70 miles per hour coming down the straight part of the track. They slow to about 30 miles per hour to make that sharp curve … where the Hudson River meets the Harlem River and that is a difficult area of the track.”

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Published on: November 29, 2013

Two people suffered severe personal injury after the explosion of an air compressor caused a building to collapse in the Bronx New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A father and his son were seriously injured after an auto body shop completely collapsed in the Bronx.The explosion of an air compressor inside the body shop was mentioned by the FDNY as the probable cause of the collapse.

Thanksgiving Propane Fire Turkey Fryers are dangerous cooking appliances that can lead to serious burns and other personal injury as well as destruction of proprety

By GGCRBHS&M

Deep%20Fryer%20Fire%20and%20injuries.jpg

Severe burns and other personal injuries as well as destruction of property may result from improper use of gas-fueled turkey fryers that cook the bird in hot oil. These cooking appliances are very popular for Thanksgiving but they are not safe! The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) discourages their use. The risk of oil spilling is significant and the resulting injuries can be severe.

If you still decide to use a Turkey Fryer you should be aware of some of the dangers you are facing:

During the cooking hot oil can splash on your hands or face resulting in burn injuries
The deep fryer stand can tip or collapse when the turkey is put in or taken out resulting in a major hot oil spill
The temperature of the cooking oil is so high that even its vapors can ignite creating an additional risk of fire
Deep fryers can not be used inside. Many fires have ignited when fryers were moved indoors or into a garage to keep the appliance out of the rain
Bad weather such as snow and rain is an additional danger to deep frying. If the rain or the snow hits the oil it may splatter or turn to steam and result in burns. The same can happen if the turkey is put in the oil when not fully thawed
Deep fryers use around five gallons of oil and if the turkey is dropped too quickly in it, the oil will splash and burn people close to the appliance.

The NFPA continues to believe that turkey fryers that use oil, as currently designed, are not suitable for acceptably safe use by even a well-informed and careful consumer.