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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37 pedestrians and one bicyclist were among the 50 victims who died in NYC traffic accidents last fall (September, October, November).  This is 15 less accident fatalities than in the fall of 2015,  21 less than in the fall of 2014 and 34 less than in the fall of 2013. Since 2013, the number of people dying on the road has been decreasing each fall in the city.

While less people are dying in NYC car accidents, more are getting injured. After recording a decline in 2014, the number of people injured in traffic accidents during the fall months went back up slightly in 2015  and reached its highest in 2016. 15,480 people were injured in traffic accidents in New York City during the 3-month period of September, October and November  2016 compared to 13,693 during the same period of 2015, 13,350 during the same period of 2014 and 14,449 during the same period of 2013.

The total number of motor vehicle accidents in New York City is continuing to rise as well.

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Rubinowitz-Ben-B_12d7428b-27a7-4195-bebc-7788dce43088photo__2573607_christopher_donadioOur NY personal injury law firm is proud to announce that our attorneys Ben. B. Rubinowitz and Christopher J. Donadio obtained a $5 million settlement during trial involving a pedestrian injured in a van accident that occurred in Manhattan.

The case involved a New York City Department of Transportation van that struck and ran over the plaintiff on February 15, 2013 at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 31st Street in Manhattan.  The plaintiff, Hui Sang Park, was a college student on her way to class when she was hit by the van within the crosswalk. Following the collision, the driver of the van, city employee Richard Brooms, admitted to police officers at the scene that he never saw Ms. Park before he struck her and that he had no idea where she came from.

Ms. Park was taken from the scene by ambulance to New York Presbyterian Hospital. At the hospital, she was diagnosed with severe injuries including a comminuted open fracture of the tibia and fibula, a tibial plateau fracture, pelvic fractures, a sacral fracture, a right wrist fracture and a fracture to her shoulder. In addition to her fractures, while in the hospital, Ms. Park developed compartment syndrome in her lower leg, requiring an emergency fasciotomy. In addition to the fasciotomy, Ms. Park underwent multiple surgeries, which required the insertion of hardware in her leg, knee, pelvis and wrist.

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nypd-chaseAn elderly woman was injured in  a car accident in New York City on Tuesday. The accident was caused by two police officers who were chasing a robbery suspect. The police officers received a radio order to stop the pursuit but ignored it. They continued to chase the suspect on Graham Ave, a busy Williamsburg street in Brooklyn. During the pursuit, the suspect lost control of his vehicle on Myrtle Ave. He hit two police cars and jumped the curb. He struck a 71 year old woman on the sidewalk. The woman and two other police officers were injured and transported to the hospital. According to witnesses talking  to the NY Daily News, it’s a miracle that no other pedestrians were hurt.

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After a young bicyclist was struck by a car in New York City, the Court of Appeals held the city of New York liable for failing to install traffic calming measures in a street the city knew was dangerous. The Court of Appeals decision  is related to a crash between a bicyclist and a car that occurred back in 2004  on Gerritsen Avenue in Brooklyn, NYC.

On December 5 2004 around 6:30 pm, 12 year old Anthony Turturro was riding his bike on Gerritsen Avenue. At the time of the accident, Gerritsen Ave was a four lane avenue with two lanes of traffic going in each direction.  As he was attempting to cross the avenue at mid-block, the young boy was struck by a car. The driver, Louis Pascarella, was speeding. The police investigation established that when the crash occurred, the driver’s speed was 54 mph, 24 mph over the 30 mph speed limit at this location. Turturro suffered serious injury. The driver pleaded guilty  to assault in the second degree.

RECKLESS DRIVING AND SPEEDING

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Near Missed event visualized with BMI20% of  the workers who die at work are construction workers but they represent only 4% of the employed workforce in the US. Hard hats are among the workers that have the most risk of being injured or even dying on the job. Sadly, most of these accidents are preventable.

As technology develops, the construction industry has been relying more and more on Building Information Modeling (BIM) to develop its projects. BIM is used throughout the life cycle of a construction project to digitally monitor the design, the plan and the construction itself. BIM can also be used for safety management.

A recent short study published by the Center For Construction Research and Training shows how “near miss accidents” can be visualized in Building Information Modeling.  The authors of the study are Dr Eric Marks and Xu Chen from the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alabama.  Dr Eric Marks recently hosted a free 30 min CPWR Webinar on this subject. The webinar can be seen here.

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accident scene3 men were struck by a minivan as they were changing a flat tire on a highway. One of them died and the two others suffered serious injury. They were expected to survive. The car accident occurred around 2:00 am this morning on a segment of the New England Thruway in the Bronx, NYC.  After one of their tires broke, 3 men in a car pulled over on a narrow shoulder of the highway. As they were changing the tire, a 52 year old man driving a minivan struck all 3 men. The driver remained at the scene of the accident. He wasn’t charged. Read more in AMNY

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84th street and York IntersectionTwo pedestrians were injured in car accidents at two dangerous intersections of the Upper East Side of Manhattan this week-end. Both accidents occurred after sunset. The first one took place at the intersection of 84th Street and York (see Google Map picture on the left) Saturday at 5:45 pm. A 76 year old lady who crossed the street against the light was struck by a car. She suffered broken bones in her face, leg and pelvis.  She was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. Since 2009, 7 pedestrians were injured in car accidents at this intersection.

The second accident took place at an even more dangerous intersection. 28 pedestrians were injured since 2009 at the intersection of East 86th Street and Third Ave. Another victim was hit by a car at this location on Sunday at 8:30 pm.

To prevent such accidents the city launched the Dusk and Darkness campaign to tell pedestrians and drivers about the higher risk of pedestrian accidents during the winter darkness. As part of this campaign The NYPD also increases enforcement against drivers speeding, failing to yield or being distracted while driving between 4:00 pm and 9:00 am.

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A one year old boy died and six people were injured including two severely in a NYC fire accident yesterday morning morning. The fire started in a three bedroom apartment located on the 13th floor of a building located on Mother Gaston Blvd in Brooklyn NYC. Seven people were living in the apartment. Firemen rescued the bay boy but he died an hour later at the hospital. two other people are still fighting for their life and 4 others were injured but expected to survive. They were all transported to a nearby hospital. Read more in Brownsville Patch

Another fire broke at a new wing of the NYU Langone Hospital in Midtown Manhattan. Nobody was injured as the building was still under construction. Black smoke and massive flames caused by tar burning erupted from the rooftop. The smoke invaded the entire Kips Bay neighborhood. Read more in the NY Daily News

Yesterday 8 people including two firefighters were injured in a fire that erupted in a Bronx two-story houses (see NY Daily News). As the weather is getting colder in the City the number of residential fires has been increasing these last days.

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161 Avenue in Howard Beach Queens, NYC is a quite residential street
3 people were injured in a car accident in New York City on Friday. A 47 year old woman who tried to avoid a collision with another car crashed her SUV into the wall of a Howard Beach House in Queens. A little girl was in the car with her. Both suffered minor personal injury and were treated at the scene of the accident.

A man living in the house was seriously injured by the impact and the debris and was transported to the hospital. He suffered head and shoulder injuries.  The SUV crashed into the wall of the house and went inside it. A big portion of the garage and basement of the house were completely destroyed during the accident.

Read more and see video on ABC News 

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location of the accident 6th Ave and 47th StreetA woman riding her bike was hit by a van in Midtown Manhattan. The 56 year old woman was riding a Citi Bike near the intersection of W. 47th street and 6th Ave around 9:30 am yesterday morning. The van driver hit her and continued his way dragging the mangled bike under his vehicle. Two counter-terrorist cops saw it and immediately ran to the rescue.  While one of the cops was chasing down the van, the other one took care of the victim.  The woman suffered a very bad injury to her legs. According to witnesses, bones were visible in the knee area. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. It is not clear why he didn’t stop immediately after hitting the woman. So far he hasn’t been charged.

Read more in the NY Daily News 

Picture: the busy location of the accident, courtesy of Google Maps