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 Wrongful Death

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Staten Island Pedestrian accident locationA pedestrian died in New York City on Sunday morning. He was hit by a drunk driver around 4:40 am. 32 year old David Bloomer, a father of four, was crossing Tompkins Ave at Broad St. in Stapleton, Staten Island, NYC when he was struck by a car. The driver tried to speed off but one of David’s cousins rallied a group of people to run after him. They were able to catch him a block away from the accident. The driver, identified as 25 year old, John Rudder was allegedly drunk.

During the accident, Rudder hit Bloomer so violently that the pedestrian went flying into the air and crashed through the windshield of a jeep that was parked nearby. The firefighters had to remove the roof of the jeep to try to save him. Unfortunately Bloomer died at the scene of the accident.

Bloomer left behind him 2 children, 17 year old Charlie Perez, 8 year old Mikayla Papon and 2 stepdaughters, 14 year old and 6 year old Yolanda and Dakota Makins.  He was a DJ and a beloved member of the Stapleton Community.

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12 people died and 4,578 were injured in traffic accidents in New York City in April. Among the fatalities were 7 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and 2 motor vehicle passengers. The number of fatalities recorded last April is the lowest number of traffic fatalities ever recorded in April since Vision Zero started. Last year during the same month 20 people died in NYC motor vehicle accidents. In 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, there were respectively 14, 19, 21 and 15 fatalities.

Traffic fatalities NYC April 2018
Sadly, the number of people injured in accidents in the city was higher in April 2018 than it was in April 2017. It wasn’t as high as in 2016 but it was higher than in 2014 and 2015 and also back at the level where it was before Vision Zero was implemented.  While pedestrians and cyclists account for most deaths, motorists and passengers sustain most of the injuries.Motor vehcile accident injuries New York City April 2018

Motorists injuries continue to be on an ascending trend with a record number of 2,117 motorists injured last April compared to respectively, 1,922, 2,061, 1,363, 1,305 and 1,599 in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Distracted driving might be one of the reasons why this number continues to increase.

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ATV on paved roadEven though driving an ATV on the road might be allowed in your town, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently released an announcement urging ATV users to stay off paved roads.

According to the agency, ATVs which are designed for off road use are more difficult to control on paved surfaces and are at risk of over turning. Obviously there is also a higher risk of collision with cars and other motor vehicles when driving an ATV on a paved road.

ATVs are dangerous vehicles. Between 2010 and 2013, 430,000 people were treated for injuries related to ATV accidents and 2,400 died from these accidents. Among the 2,400 deaths, 770 occurred on a paved road, That’s more than 30% of all ATV deaths.

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A cyclist died after he was doored by a car in Queens, NYC, and ended up under the wheels of a truck. The accident occurred yesterday afternoon in Long Island City. The 45 year old man was riding his bike North on 21st Street near 46th Avenue when the passenger of a car parked in the street suddenly opened his door and hit him. The impact sent the cyclist flying  in the middle of the street in front of a box truck. The  truck driver didn’t have the time to stop and ran over him. The man was transported to the hospital in serious condition. He later died from his injuries The car driver and the truck driver stayed at the scene of the accident. The truck driver was taken into custody after the police found that he didn’t have a valid license.

Read more on the CBS New York website

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accident sceneSadly NYC motorcycle accidents are always increasing when the warm days come back in the city.  Over the last few days two people died in two separate motorcycle accidents in New York City.

Last Saturday night a motorcyclist was killed after he collided with a minivan in Queens. The accident occurred a little bit after 10:14 pm at the intersection of 221st Street and 113th Drive in Cambria Heights. The motorcyclist who was travelling west on 113th Drive crashed into the passenger door of a minivan travelling North on 221st Street. The motorcyclist was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He later died from his injuries. The 55 year old van driver stayed at the scene of the accident. He suffered minor injury. (Read more in Pix11)

Another motorcyclist died in Brooklyn. 27 year old Luimy Acosta-Collado was riding a dirt bike on Hancock Street in Bushwick on Monday night around 10:50 pm when he struck a car that was doubled parked. He landed on his back and was pinned under a SUV. The bike continued on its way without its driver and crashed into another car. Luimy just lived a half block away. Right after the accident occurred, neighbors as well as his wife ran in the street to try to help him. His wife was frantic and crying. She was saying “please don’t let my husband died”.  The man was rushed to the hospital but he didn’t survive. The driver of the SUV, a 24 year old woman stayed at the scene of the accident. She wasn’t hurt.  As the police arrived to investigate the accident they were unable to find the dirt bike. It was apparently stolen shortly after the accident occurred. The dirt bike that Luimy was riding didn’t belong to him. Dirt bikes are illegal in New York City and neighbors believe that the owner of the bike took it back before it got confiscated. (Read more in the NY Daily News)

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accident sceneA 20 year old woman was killed in a hit and run car accident last Thursday  in Queens. The driver who hit her and tried to run away was arrested by the police. 19 year old Alfaheed Odesanya was driving North on  Guy R. Brewer Boulevard when he blew a red light at the intersection of Archer Ave. He struck another car driven by a young woman. After he struck the car Odesanya and a passenger abandoned the scene of the accident and tried to run away on foot. He was quickly caught by the police and charged with leaving the scene of a serious crash. The young woman was transported to the hospital in critical conditions. She later died from her injuries

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Speeding and maybe alcohol may have caused the death of two off-duty police officers who went for a joy ride in a rental Maserati after a wedding celebration. Last Sunday afternoon, NYPD Officer Michael Colangelo  married Katherine Berger at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, Ulster County. After the celebration was over, a little bit after 11:00 pm, detective John Martinez who had worked in NYPD’s special operations with Colangelo in the past and another unidentified passenger went for a joy ride in a Maserati rented for the wedding. Sadly they never came back, the car hit a tree killing both the driver and the front-seat passenger . The unidentified back-seat passenger was rushed to the hospital and is expected to survive.

The 31 year old groom was behind the wheel when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed in into a tree. He was speeding and neither he and his friend Martinez were wearing a seatbelt. The backseat passenger who only suffered injuries was wearing a seat belt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpmzEtZZo34

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School busFor years safety advocates have recommended that school buses be equipped with  3-point seat belts to protect children from injuries or deaths in case of a bus accident. Yesterday the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) joined in by recommending for the first time that all US School buses be equipped with lap and shoulder belts.

Based on previous studies, The NTSB also recommended  that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandate automatic emergency braking systems for all American school buses.

States such as New York, New Jersey, Florida and Louisiana that already have buses equipped with lap belts should also upgrade to lap and shoulder belts.

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location of the fatal pedestrian accident BK NYCOn March 5th, Ruthie Ann Blumenstein was crossing the road with Abigail, her 5 year old daughter when a reckless driver struck them (see our previous blog). Abigail died at the scene of the accident and her mother suffered serious injury. At the time of the accident she was 39 weeks pregnant with Sophia Rosemary Wong Blumenstein. On Wednesday our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz who represents Mrs Blumenstein announced that sadly her unborn child had died from the injuries suffered during the crash. “The pain suffered by Ruthie and Jonathan is nearly impossible to fathom,” Mr. Rubinowitz said. “As you might imagine, they are overwhelmed by the sadness of the deaths of their children.”

Ruthie Ann Blumenstein is a Tony-Waward winning actress. The actress and her daughter Abigail were among a group of pedestrians who were crossing the intersection of Fifth Ave and 9th street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when Dorothy Burns ran a red light and erratically plowed into them.  Abigail and 20 month old Joshua Lew died at the scene of the accident. Several pedestrians were injured including the pregnant Ruthie Ann Blumenstein.

Dorthy Burns was recently indicted by a Grand Jury and was charged with manslaughter, assault and criminally negligent homicide (see previous blog).  Burns suffers from multiple sclerosis. Prior to the fatal accident she received 12 driving violations for speeding in school zones and running red lights. Her license is now suspended. It is outrageous that she was still allowed to drive at the time of the accident.

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keyless carMultiple owners of key-less cars have been dying of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning after mistakenly thinking that their car had stopped running. In most scenarios the car owner parks the vehicle in the house garage and takes the wireless key fob thinking that the car has shut down while it hasn’t. Overnight the garage and the house fills with odorless carbon monoxide gas, leaving the owner and other potential house residents dead or severely injured.

There are no exact records of how many people have died or how many people were left with serious injuries such as brain damage after inadvertently leaving their car running but 24 deaths nationwide were reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2006 when the first known case occurred. 70 year old Jeanette Colter, a Florida resident who  left her Toyota Avalon running in the garage ended up collapsing and dying between her kitchen and her living room. Her 89 year old husband died in the bedroom.

In 2009 after several other similar accidents were reported, the Society of Automotive Engineers formed a panel to develop recommended practices to address key-less ignition hazards. In 2011, the group recommended an externally audible or visual alert or automatic shut off of the engine if all doors are closed and the key fob is not present. That same year the NHTSA proposed a new rule with similar recommendations.