Wrongful Death

Published on: April 17, 2014

Young female pedestrian dies after being struck by two yellow cabs in Uptown Manhattan

Another pedestrian fatality happened last weekend in New York. A 22 year old woman who was crossing York Ave on the Upper East Side of New York was struck by cab that threw her in the opposite traffic lane where a second cab struck her. She was rushed to the hospital where she died. Read more in the New York Daily News

According to NYC Crash mapper over the last 31 months there were 21 collisions at the location of the accident (EAST 84 STREET and YORK AVENUE). As a results of these collisions 3 pedestrians, 1 bicyclist and 1 motorist suffered personal injury. According to locals, the visibility is limited for pedestrians and drivers as York Ave crests at 84th street and declines to 85th street.

Published on: April 9, 2014

Simple measures that could significantly reduce personal injury and wrongful death related to tractor-trailer truck accidents

By GGCRBHS&M

To reduce personal injury and deaths related to tractor-trailer truck accidents the National Transportation Safety Board sent a letter last week to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urging the agency to take the following actions:

Address Blind Spots

Blind spots are a major cause of accidents between large trucks and other motor vehicles as well as more vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. The rate of fatal accidents is particularly high among vulnerable road users. Research from the NTSB show that 16% of pedestrians and bicyclists involved in a truck accident will die. This ratio is of 12% for motorcyclists, 1% for passenger vehicle occupants and 0,2% for the tractor-trailer occupants.
Blind spots for large trucks are much bigger than blind spots for regular cars and exist in the front, in the back and on both sides of the truck. According to the study “Prioritizing Improvements to Truck Driver Vision” by Matthew P. Reed, Daniel Blower and Michael J. Flannagan from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute , the blind spot on the right of the cab of the truck is the most dangerous. During a lane change, most collisions with another motor vehicle happen in this spot. It is also the spot where most pedestrians and bicyclists are struck during start-up and right turn crashes.
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Countermeasures to mitigate blind spots include enhanced mirror systems as well as more advanced technologies such as sensors to detect vehicles and vulnerable road users in blind spots.
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Published on: April 3, 2014

To reduce the number of drug overdose deaths, the FDA approved Today a new hand-held auto-injector to reverse opioid overdose

By GGCRBHS&M

Poisoning, driven largely by prescription drug overdose deaths, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury related deaths in the United States – surpassing motor vehicle accidents.

In order to fight this tourbling trend, The FDA just approved a hand held auto injector device to deliver a single dose of Naloxone, a drug that can rapidly reverse the effect of opioids in case of overdose. Evzio (naloxone hydrochloride injection) can be injected into the muscle or under the skin. It is designed to be used by family members and caregivers.

Only 90 days in jail for a hit and run driver who was drunk and had smoked marijuana when he struck a 23 year old pedestrian causing his death in the Bronx, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

Seth Johnson was drunk and high on marijuana when he struck and killed 23 year old Thomas Riley, a pedestrian who was hailing a cab on the side of Fordham Road in the Bronx, NYC in 2011. He was initially charged with drunk driving, leaving the scene of an accident and criminally negligent homicide but a jury acquitted him of all charges except drunk driving for which he will receive 90 days in jail with 3 years probation.

According to the 2014 annual National Safety Coumcil “Injury Facts” report, Today as many people die from prescription drug overdoses as from motor vehicle accidents. Among motor vehicle accidents deaths, 1 out of 4 is related to cell phone use

By GGCRBHS&M

The “Injury Facts” report is an annual review of the latest injury and fatality statistics and trends. It has been published for 90 years by the National Safety Council. Most recent data include 2010, 2011 am 2012 data depending on subjects.

There were 180,811 injury related deaths in the US in 2010 and most of them (120,859) were accidental. Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for people 1 to 42 years old and the fifth cause of death for all ages behind heart disease, cancer, chronic low respiratory disease and stroke.

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The 2010 data are the latest official data but according to projections from the National Safety Council , the number of unintentional injury related deaths in 2012 was 127,200 with 36,300 of them related to motor vehicle accidents. 63,000 of them happened at home, 26,000 in public places and 3,695 at work. The National Safety Council data shows an increase of deaths due to motor vehicle crashes, poisoning, falls, drowning and choking.

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the leading causes of injury related deaths, but recent trends show a significant increase in falls related to the aging population and a dramatic increase in poisoning related to unintentional prescription drug overdoses especially opioid prescription overdoses.

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Published on: March 19, 2014

Two days after a similar accident killed a 5 year old pedestrian, a driver attempting to parallel park killed an elderly woman who was crossing the street in Brooklyn

By GGCRBHS&M

A 77 year old pedestrian was crossing a residential street in Brooklyn when she was struck and suffered injury leading to her death by a 2014 Mercedes Benz attempting to parallel park. Marlene Baharlias, 77, was jaywalking when she stepped off an East 19th street curb mid-block between Avenue U and Avenue T in Sheepshead Bay around 2:20 p.m. yesterday and was mowed down, cops said. Read more in the Gothamist.

Erratum (3/20): according to an in depth article from Streetblog that came a day after the accident was announced in the local media, Marlene Baharlias was killed Tuesday in Sheepshead Bay by a driver who witnesses say backed onto a sidewalk – contrary to anonymous NYPD sources who told the Post the victim was jaywalking. We apologize to our readers.

A similar accident happened two days ago, also in Brooklyn, when a young child was attempting to cross the street with his mother and a car backed into them killing the 5 year old boy (see previous blog).

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Published on: March 10, 2014

After Ariel Russo, a 4 year old girl, was struck causing her death by a reckless SUV driver, a New York Street is renamed after her.

By GGCRBHS&M

Ariel Russo was killed in a car accident last June as she was walking to school with her grandmother. The two pedestrians were on Amsterdam Ave at 97th street when a 17 year old driver with a learners permit jumped the curb and hit the young girl causing her death. The young man was charged with manslaughter. Today Ariel would have been 5 years old. In her memory the city renamed west 97th Street between Amsterdam Ave and Broadway “Ariel Russo’s Place”.

The Vision Zero Action Plan 2014 to reduce death and personal injury related to traffic accidents in New York was presented yesterday by Mayor Bill de Blasio

By GGCRBHS&M

4000 New Yorkers suffer severe personal injury and 250 are killed every year in traffic accidents and to Bill de Blasio this is unacceptable. Yesterday afternoon the Mayor of New York presented “Vision Zero Action Plan” the first report produced by a multi agency task force that the mayor created last month. (See previous blog) .

Vision Zero has proven to be a successful program throughout different cities of the world because its multi faceted approach brings together government, advocacy and private sector actors as well as the public to become part of the solution. In a similar fashion, yesterday’s action plan contains proposed actions by the City, the Police Department, the Department of Transportation, the Taxi & Limousine Commission, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Some of the most interesting recommendations include

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Published on: February 18, 2014

NY Health Department Investigation in the death of Rory Staunton shows that NYU Langone ER committed blatant medical malpractice

By GGCRBHS&M

Blatant medical malpractice was committed by the Emergency Room staff of the NYU Langone Hospital in New York that lead to the death of 12 year old Rory Staunton according to a recently released investigation by the the New York State Department of Health.

Rory Staunton died on April 1st 2012 from sepsis after a scrape on his arm became infected. He was taken to the ER at NYU Langone Hospital but was sent back home after the staff failed to diagnose sepsis. His condition worsened and he died the next evening.

According to the investigation by the NY Health Department “NYU Langone ER failed to provide care in accordance with acceptable standards of practice for both medical staff and nursing services, as well as a systemic failure related to the reporting and follow up of abnormal laboratory results”.

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Published on: February 17, 2014

Should the snow plow driver who killed a pregnant woman in a Brooklyn supermarket parking lot be criminally charged?

By GGCRBHS&M

A pregnant woman was struck and killed by a negligent snow plow driver on a supermarket parking lot in Brooklyn, New York. The baby was delivered by C-section but according to doctors the baby suffered oxygen deprivation and may have brain and other organ damages. The bobcat driver wasn’t charged but received 3 tickets because the vehicle, a Bobcat (skid steer loader), lacked an inspection sticker, a headlamp and a license plate light. The neighbors of the woman are upset and believe the driver should be criminally charged. What do you think?
Read more in the New York Daily News