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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accident scene3 people died and 2 suffered personal injury in a car accident in Upstate New York last Saturday around 4:20 am. All the victims were in their 20ies. Nelson Osegueda, Ray Rivera, and Waner Nunez were riding in a car with two other young women on Route 6 in Southeast, NY, toward Danbury.  A deputy sheriff allegedly saw the car swerving over the center line and suspected the driver was intoxicated. He tried to pull the car over. As the driver didn’t comply, the deputy sheriff started to chase the car. The average speed of the chase was around 65 mph and twice went up to 80 mph. As the deputy sheriff arrived near the border of his jurisdiction, he alerted the Danbury police and slowed down. According to the deputy sheriff, the chased car then sped up. 15 seconds later the driver hit a utility pole.

The car was completely mangled. the 3 young men mentioned above died and the two young women were injured. One of them suffered serious leg fractures. They were transported to the hospital to be treated.

Read more in Newstimes

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Hard HatTwo hard hats were severely injured in a construction accident in New York. The accident occurred this morning on a construction site located at 21 West 86th Street near Columbus Avenue on the Upper West Side. The two men were working on a door frame when it fell. The two workers lost their balance and fell 10 feet below into the basement below. After that an I-Beam fell on them. One of the men suffered a bad leg injury and the other one was also badly hurt. They were both transported to the hospital. A stop work order was issued at the site by the NYC Department of Buildings. From looking at photographs of the scene it is clear the there was no planking covering the hazardous opening as is required by The New York State Industrial Code to protect workers performing work in the area of the opening to prevent these types of accidents.

Read more in the NY Daily News

Picture: courtesy of Wikipedia

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Two pedestrians were critically injured in a strange car accident in New York City two days ago. A driverless van suddenly started to roll backward hitting a 80 year old woman and a 71 year old food vendor.  The driver of the van had exited his vehicle after he thought he left the van in “Park”.  Instead he left it in “Reverse”. The van rolled back in the middle of the Broadway and 32nd Street intersection in Astoria.

People started to panic and jumped out of the way. The 80 year old woman couldn’t move fast enough and was hit by the vehicle. The van then crashed into a food stand. The impact of the crash moved the foot stand 25 feet away. The owner was clipped in the back of his head. He then fell and the stand rolled onto him. Both victims were transported to the hospital. The woman was listed in critical condition while the man was in stable condition.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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An estimated 438 people will die and 50,300 will be seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident this Labor Day Holiday. These estimates were released recently by the National Safety Council and cover the period beginning Today at 6:00 pm and ending Monday at 11:59 pm. The estimated number of traffic fatalities is 18% higher than the average number of fatalities for the last six previous Labor Day Periods.  It would also be the highest total number of fatalities for the holiday period since 2008 when the National Safety Council started keeping these statistics.

The National Safety Council also estimated that 170 of these 438 estimated traffic fatalities could be avoided if the front seat passenger wears a seat belt. Another estimated 104 deaths could be prevented if all wear seat belts.

Traffic Fatality Labor Day

Data Source: National Safety Council

 

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surf rescuersWhat are the risks of injury while surfing? As the swell of tropical storms Gaston and Hermine are hitting the East Coast, New York surfers are getting amped-up by possible big waves coming for this Labor Day week-end.  But is it dangerous?

A recent study published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine says no. The study entitled “Surfing USA: an epidemiological study of surfing injuries presenting to US EDs 2002 to 2013” was conducted by Cole Klick, MD, Courtney M.C. Jones, PHD, MPH and David Hadler, MD, MPH from the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester – Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, NY, USA.  They analysed 12 years of data related to surf accidents and injury in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. They came to the conclusion that surfers do get hurt very often but the injuries are rarely serious.

Among the 2,072 cases analyzed, 41% of the injuries were lacerations, 14% were sprains and strains, 13% were contusions and 12% were fractures. Hospital admission rates were extremely low with 96% of the injured surfers visiting the ER being released after treatment. While the median age of injured surfers showing up at the ER was 27 years old, the study shows that older surfers above 60 were the ones at risk of being admitted for trunk injuries or internal organ injuries. Body parts most often injured were lower extremities, face, head and neck.

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injured worker in construction accidentInjury data collection is getting modernized at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). A new rule was recently released in regard to workplace injury tracking. Effective January 1st 2017, the new rule requires some employers including those in high risk industries such as the construction industry to submit electronic records of injuries and illnesses.

For decades OSHA has been recording data related to injury and illness on the job.  Employers are required to record onsite injury and illnesses in specific forms often called the “OSHA Log”. The recording of injury and illness is an invaluable tool in detecting serious hazards on the work place and finding solutions to prevent them.

The new rule requiring electronic filing allow for a faster and more transparent reporting of injuries. Data will be released in standard open format. OSHA strongly believes that public disclosure will help “nudge” employers to focus on safety.  Additionally researchers will be able to use this data to find new ways to improve workplace safety.

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kayak7 people suffered personal injury in New York after a NY Waterway ferry backed up into their kayaking group. The kayakers were part of a routine guided tour of 10 kayaks organized by the Manhattan Kayak Co. The collision occurred on the Hudson River as the ferry was pulling out of Pier 79. He was maneuvering to turn South to head to Wall Street. Police said the sun glare may have prevented the captain from seeing the group of kayakers. The captain passed a breathalyzer test. He was 100% sober.

The most injured of the kayakers was the guide, a veteran with the kayaking company. He his arm was lacerated to the bone. He lost a lot of blood and lost consciousness. This morning 6 of the 7 kayakers injured were still in the hospital. The investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Read more here

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3 people died and 11 people were injured in  a NYC crash. This morning around 4:20 am several cars and a truck collided on the Long Island Expressway near Maurice Ave in Maspeth, Queens. 3 people died in the collision. 4 injured people were transported to the hospital including two in critical condition. 7 others were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the accident. According to CBS, a first car hit the guardrail and split in two. A second car behind it tried to avoid it and crashed as well. A dump truck then crashed into several cars in front of him. This is the second accident this month in which multiple people were killed in an accident on The L.I.E. In the prior accident 6 people died when a car crossed the center median hitting two cars.

 

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A pedestrian suffered critical injury after being hit by a car in New York City. The 67 year old man was crossing 43rd Street near Fort Hamilton Parkway in Borough Park, Brooklyn, when a driver suddenly backed into him.  It is unclear why the 44 year old driver started to drive in reverse. The police told the NY Daily News he didn’t have a license. The police was also tested him to determine if he was intoxicated at the time of the accident. The pedestrian was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

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timber formwork The traditional way of building slab form work entails many risks of accidents and injuries to construction workers. The formwork is built on site, usually out of timber and plywood and concrete is poured into it. Several risks of accidents and injuries are associated with this operation such as:

  1. Serious injury or even death caused by a fall off the unprotected sides of the work zone’s leading edge.
  2. Serious injury caused by falling objects such as tools or material to workers  active below the area of the traditional formwork construction