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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Pit_Bull_Red_Nose-Tyson5 people were injured in two separate pit bull attacks in New York City during the week-end. In the first incident a nine year old daughter and her mom where attacked in a housing development in Harlem. The pit bull broke free from his owner. He seriously bit both the mother and the daughter as well as a policeman and a NYCHA worker who came to the rescue. The dog was killed by the police. The mother and the daughter were transported to the hospital to be treated.

In the  second incident, a pit bull belonging to a panhandler bit a three year old girl in the face in front of a commercial center in Elmhurst, Queens. The young girl needed 17 stitches.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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central parkA teenager was seriously injured after he walked on a “homemade” bomb in  Central Park, New York City. 18 year old Connor Golden from Virginia was visiting New York with two friends. They were walking in Central Park when Connor stepped on the device. His leg was so badly injured that doctors had to amputate it just below the knee. His family is devastated. The college student had come to the city for the 4th of July festivities.

The police said that the explosives was left in a plastic bag in the park and seemed to have been fabricated at home by an amateur. Forensic tests are now being done to determine what type of explosives were used. The results should be known tomorrow.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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brOn Wednesday our Partner, Ben Rubinowitz, lectured to more than 60 Assistant District Attorneys from the Nassau County District Attorneys office. Ben was asked to teach Cross Examination skills to the ADA’s based on his experience and success in the Courtroom. “I felt honored to be asked to teach cross examination skills to the ADA’s. I started out as a prosecutor and know first hand the challenges that these ADA’s face each day. I have used those same skills that I learned as an Assistant DA to prosecute those who cause injury or death to our clients.” In his lecture, Ben stressed the importance of focusing on every aspect of trial with an eye toward strengthening the argument for summation. He stressed the importance of presenting a fair and honest case, methods of dealing with non-responsive witnesses and how to dissect a witness who tells less than the truth. Following Ben’s presentation the Director of Training commented that the Assistants enjoyed the presentation so much that they immediately requested an additional presentation by Ben.

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A defectively designed gear-shifting control in some previously recalled 2014 and 2015 Fiat Chrysler Jeep Cherokee models caused 266 crashes and 68 injuries according to a report that was recently published by the National Highway  Traffic Safety Administration.  The report doesn’t mention any deaths despite the fact that Star Treck actor Anton Yelchin was killed on June 19 after his 2015  Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backward and  fatally pinned him against a wall. According to the report, rollaway crashes are prone to happen with these types of gear-shifting controls because they are confusing for the driver. Most reported cases involved drivers who believed they were in the Park  position and exited the car. Read more in the Claims Journal

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fdny14 people suffered personal injury after a fire truck struck a MTA bus in NYC.  The accident occurred Sunday in Astoria, Queens, NYC at the corner of Ditmars Blvd and 21st Street. A little bit after noon the fire truck  was heading down Ditmars Boulevard to respond to a blaze nearby. Sirens and emergency lights were on.  According to the NY Daily News, the truck passed a red light and  collided with the bus that had the green light and was crossing on 21st St.  Witnesses  said the crash sounded like a bomb.  The impact was so strong that the bus careened into two other parked cars and jumped the curb  before finally stopping two steps away from people sitting at an outdoor cafe. 12 bus passengers were injured and transported to the hospital.  Two firefighters were injured as well and also transported to the hospital.

Later on during the day  another fire truck collided with a car two blocks away.  One person suffered minor injury. The fire truck  also had emergency lights on when the accident happened.

Last year there were 382 fire truck accidents in NYC.

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An elderly woman that caused a 10-car crash in New York City last Sunday died from her injuries on Tuesday. 78 year old Barbara Capone was driving her car on Travis Ave in Staten Island when she hit a car. She didn’t stop. Instead she sped up and crashed into several other vehicles waiting at a red light at the intersection of Travis Ave and Victory Blvd.  The impact was so strong that her car went airborne and landed on other vehicles waiting at the intersection. A 75 year old man was pinned inside his car and died at the scene of the accident. 10 other people were injured in the car crash including Barbara Capone and were transported to the hospital. Capone suffered severe head trauma and passed away two days later.

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Underride truck accidentUnderride truck accidents are among the most horrific traffic accidents.  They usually involved a car sliding under a truck, most often a tractor trailer truck.  These accidents are often deadly and gruesome. In many cases, pieces of metal from the truck intrude into the vehicle causing passengers severe  head trauma or decapitation.

Regulations requiring rear impact guards on most large trucks exist but they are 20 years old and in need of a serious upgrade.  Therefore a few months ago the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  (NHTSA) proposed a new rule to update the Federal motor vehicle safety standards that address rear underride protection in crashes into trailers and semitrailers.

The NTHSA proposal requires that the impact guard be strengthened so that it doesn’t deform if a car crashes into it at a speed of 35 mph. This is basically the equivalent of the actual Canadian standards which are themselves 10 years old. 90%  of American trucks already conform to these standards. Many of them even have protective equipment that is superior to the Canadian standards. Therefore the NHTSA proposal seems obsolete before even being launched and it will not do much to reduce the actual number of deaths and injuries related to underride truck accidents.

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Three men where injured in a car accident in New York early Thursday morning around 2:00 am. The 3 men where riding in a white BMW on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx.  As they were approaching W. 230th St. the car struck a divider. The impact was so strong that the car flipped over. The 3 men were seriously injured during the accident. One of them was in critical condition. They were all transported to the hospital.

Read more in the NY Daily News

 

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Car accidents are a common cause of Tibial Plateau Fractures. It is estimated that approximately 25% of such fractures are caused by pedestrians being struck by cars or other motor vehicles, hence they have been referred to as bumper fractures. In New York City many pedestrians struck by vehicles suffer injury to the Tibial Plateau. The Tibia or shinbone as it is commonly referred to is one of the bones of the lower leg the other being the fibula. It joins and articulates with the lower end of the Femur. The Tibial Plateau is located at the upper end of the Tibia and is part of the knee-joint. It is one of the most important load bearing parts of the body, thus fractures of it often affect knee alignment and stability.

In this video, Dr Nabil Ebraheim, Professor and Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at The University of Toledo, explains what a Tibial Plateau Fracture is and how it affects the knee and leg.

If you are interested in seeing more high quality medical videos from Professor Ebraheim, you can visit his youtube channel or follow him on Google +

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Giovanni Nin, 26, was struck by an SUV as he rode his bike around 12:40 a.m. Saturday. The accident occurred at the intersection of East Tremont Avenue and Mayflower Avenue in The Bronx, NYC. The SUV, a BMW X 5 fled the scene according to a witness. The police are still looking for the driver. This was a deadly weekend for pedestrians and cyclists. According to The New York Daily News, on Saturday afternoon a 52 year old woman was hit by a car and killed late Saturday afternoon. A woman riding her bike suffered fatal injuries when she was struck by a pick-up truck in Tribeca in Manhattan on Saturday night. Further, on Friday night Saber Mohamed a passenger in a Toyota Sienna, was killed when a Ford Explorer sped past several stop signs on Georgia Avenue in Brooklyn striking the Toyota. Christopher Cates, the driver of the Explorer attempted to flee but was caught by the police. Cates was charged with  manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, speeding and driving while impaired by drugs