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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Hit and Run Crashes by State2,049 people died in 1,980 fatal hit and run crashes in 2016 in the US according to a study recently released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. This is the highest number of fatal hit and run crashes ever recorded in the US. Among the 2,049 people who died in these accidents, 1,229 of them were pedestrians, 169 were cyclists, 380 of them were drivers and 229 were passengers. Since 2009 hit and run crashes increased by an average annual rate of 7.2% per year.

New Mexico, Louisiana and Florida have the highest rate of fatal hit and run crashes per 100,000 people while New Hampshire, Maine and Minnesota have the lowest rate.

Almost 60% of the victims of fatal hit and run are pedestrians with elderly over 80 year old and children under 6 being 50% more likely to be a victim of such accidents. Gender is also a factor. 70% of pedestrians dying in a hit and run accidents are male.

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accident sceneAn elderly woman died and her husband is in critical condition after both got hit several times in a freaky car accident at a Brooklyn car wash in New York City.

Tuesday afternoon around 3:00 pm, an elderly couple brought their car to a car wash located next to the Mobile gas station on Avenue U and Gerritsen Avenue in Marine Park.  As their car was coming out of the car wash it was hit by a black Jeep that had been left in neutral. The elderly couple were inspecting the damages on their car when a 61 year old employee of the car wash got behind the wheel of the black Jeep. He backed the Jeep up in the garage and hit a wall of the building, then for some unknown reason he drove forward speeding, striking the couple and crashing into their car. The impact was so strong that the couple’s car then crashed into two other parked cars across the street. The car wash employee then backed up again and drove forward again striking the woman for the second time. He repeated the same back and fourth maneuver for a third time before car wash employees were able to stop him and get him out of the car. The 85 year old woman identified as Joane Tornabene died at the scene of the accident. Her 90 year old husband, Frank Tornabene was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The police are still trying to figure out the reason why the car wash employee behaved so erratically.

This is the second time in a week that someone was struck by a vehicle at a NYC car wash. A car wash worker lost his leg on Saturday in Queens . The man was wiping down a vehicle when he was struck by another car driven by a co-worker.

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NYC Traffic fatalities by mode before and after Vision ZeroSince Vision Zero started in 2014, NYC traffic fatalities decreased by 28% while nationally they went up by 15%. According to the Fourth Vision Zero Annual Report that was recently released by the de Blasio Administration, the decline was the strongest in pedestrian deaths. They went down by 45% since the program was launched in 2014.

STREET REDESGIN

Last year, under the Vision Zero umbrella, the city installed 832 additional Leading Pedestrians Intervals (LPI). 24.9 miles of protected bike lanes were built leading to a total of more than 60 miles of protected bike lanes in the City. Left turn calming treatments were placed at 110 intersections. 390 speed bumps were also created all over the five boroughs.

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Prevent falls in Construction Campaig
Falls are the number one cause of death in the construction industry. In 2016, a total of 991 hard hats died in construction accidents. Almost 40% of them, 370,  lost their life after they fell from a height. Most of these accidents may have been prevented.

To increase awareness and to prevent more injuries and deaths related to falls, OSHA and several other partners advocating for safe construction practices are asking employers all over the country to organize Safety Stand-Down events and discuss safety with their employees.  Employers are invited to focus on Fall Hazard and Fall Prevention. Safety stand-down can be conducted in various ways. Toolbox talk during a break or inspections of safety equipment, development of rescue plans or discussion related to specific job hazards are examples of activities that can be organized during a safety stand-down. The OSHA website proposes various suggestions and ideas to employers on how to organize a successful Stand-Down. OSHA also has an event page for Stand-Down events by regions that are free and open to the public. OSHA also encourages all employers to share their Stand-Down experience. Employers who are participating in the campaign will also receive a Certificate of Participation.

CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT PREVENTION EVENTS ORGANIZED BY THE NYC DOB

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Harleen Maggo died in a NYC fire accidentA Queens Village family who was celebrating an upcoming wedding was caught in a massive fire that quickly ravaged their house killing 3 of them and injuring many others. The house located on 211th Street and 93rd Road didn’t seem to have working smoke detectors. 32 year old Harleen Maggo (see picture), a mother of two and her parents Ragvir Kaur-Kainth, 82, and Pyara Kainth, 87  all died in the fire that erupted a little bit before midnight on Saturday night. Harleen’s two children, were also trapped in the fire but were able to be rescued by the firefighters. The 8 year old girl was in critical condition while the 6 year old boy was stable. Seven other people who were also trapped in the fire were transported to the hospital with serious injuries.  Harleen Maggo had been able to escape but she decided to go back in the house on fire to try to save her parents. She never made it back outside. The house was full of wedding guests partying when the fire started. Investigators are still trying to figure out the cause of the fire. Read more in the NY Daily News  Picture source: Facebook

No working smoke alarm either in another NYC fire that erupted 6 hours later

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An 86 ylocation of the deadly 9 year old pedestrian accident on Northern blvdear old driver fatally struck a young pedestrian in a crosswalk on Northern Boulevard Queens, NYC, and  left the scene of the accident. He was chased by a taxi driver who was able to stop him several blocks away.

The accident occurred last Saturday Afternoon around 1:20 pm. 9-year-old Giovanni Ampuero and his mother, Karen Manrique, had the right of way and were walking in the crosswalk  on Northern Boulevard at the 70th Street intersection in Jackson Heights when Juan Jimenez made a left turn from 70th Street onto Northern Boulevard and plowed into them. The boy was lying in the street while her mother was holding him. He suffered severe head trauma. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.

After he hit the boy, Jimenez just sped off. A taxi driver who saw the accident started to chase him. He was able to stop him 10 blocks away.

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ocation of the cab bicycle accident in New YorkA cyclist who was hit by a cab in New York nine days ago has died from his injuries. On April 16th, 42-year-old Amaury Pena was riding his bike on East 39th Street by the exit of the Midtown tunnel. He was hit by a taxi heading North on Tunnel Exit. According to the NY Daily News the bicyclist was riding against the light when he was struck by the taxi driver around 8:20 am. The man was transported to the hospital with severe injuries. He suffered for 9 days before succumbing to his injuries on Wednesday. The taxi driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged.

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A young pedestrian died after being struck by a van on a Bronx sidewalk in New York City. 8 year old Cellou Diallo was part of a group of children that just came out of a van  that had parked on East 125th Street in Williamsbridge . As they were on the sidewalk with the driver, one of the kids noticed that one of the van’s wheels was on the curb. The driver asked the kids to wait on the sidewalk while she got back in the car and tried to proprely park. As she was maneuvering, she lost control of the vehicle while backing up and pinned 8 year old Cellou Diallo against the wall of the adjacent building. She got out of the vehicle screaming  “I killed a mother’s baby, I killed someone’s baby.”She was devastated and crying. The other children were horrified. The woman was a close friend and neighbors of Cellou’s parents. The two families would take turns driving the kids to after school programs. Cellou Diallo came from the same family as Amadou Diallo who was wrongfully killed by the NYPD. Our firm represented his mother.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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location of truck and bicycle accident on Webster AveA cyclist died after he was hit by a truck that never stopped. The accident occurred at the intersection of Webster Ave and the ramp of the Cross Bronx Expressway in the Tremont section of the Bronx.  The bicyclist was riding to the right side of  a white box truck when the truck made a right turn to get on the expressway ramp.  The truck hit the cyclist but never stopped. He just continued on his way onto the ramp and headed south toward I-95 New Jersey.  According to witnesses the cyclist who was in his twenties was knocked off his bicycle. He was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved. He died there from his injuries.

Sparse and dangerous unprotected bike lanes offer little protection to Bronx Bicyclists

Too little is being done in the Bronx  to prevent bicycle accidents. Webster Avenue was redesigned in 2012 to implement “Select Bus Service” but  bike lanesSouth Bike Lane Gand Concourse implementation were not part of this re-design.

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Marty Martinez plane crash picturesA woman died in a plane accident. 43 year old Jennifer Riordan, a mother of two and a Wells Fargo bank executive was sitting in a plane that just took off from Laguardia airport when one of the engines exploded.

Shrapnel blew out the window where she was sitting nearly sucking her out of the plane. Passengers struggled to pull her back while others tried to stuff clothes to fill the holes.  As the plane was quickly loosing altitude, pilots prepared for an emergency landing in Philadelphia. Terrorized passengers had to use their oxygen masks to be able to breath. The whole scene was completely chaotic with passengers screaming and flight attendants breaking into tears.  A nurse who was on the plane gave CPR to the injured passenger. She was rushed to the hospital after the plain landed. Unfortunately she couldn’t be saved and later on died from her injuries.

Operated by Southwest Airline, the aircraft that was originally heading to Dallas reported the accident as it was 32,000 feet in the air.  Southwest is operating 3500 flights every year. It is the first time that a passenger was killed in a flight accident since the airline started  51 years ago.  The plane was visually inspected on Sunday and no problems were detected.