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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776 pedestrians, 513 bicyclists, 1236 passengers and 1960 motorists suffered personal injury in motor vehicle accidents in New York City in September compared to respectively 714 pedestrians, 565 bicyclists, 1448 passengers and 2010 motorists in August and 751 pedestrians, 485 bicyclists, 1677 passengers and 1523 motorists in September 2014.

While the number of pedestrians injured in NYC traffic accidents  has been below 1000 since the beginning of 2014, the number of people injured in bicycle accidents stayed over 500 for the last 3 months. The number of motorists injured has also been unusually high and staying above 2000 for the last 3 months.

Personal injuries in motor vehicle accidents in NYC September 2015
4 pedestrians, 2 bicyclists, 2 passengers and 6 motorists died in motor vehicle accidents in September compared to 11 pedestrians, 3 bicyclists, 2 passengers and 5 motorists in August and 13 pedestrians, 1 bicyclist, 4 passengers and 8 motorists in September 2014. The Vision Zero Initiative is having a positive impact. Since the beginning of the year, it is the fourth month that the total monthly traffic fatalities are below 15. In 2014 it happened only twice and in 2013 the monthly number of people dying on New York City Streets never went below 15.

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Another pedestrian died in a car accident in NYC on Monday night. Paul Omoregie, an unlicensed driver who was trying to stop another car from passing him lost control of his vehicle and slammed into a bus stop stand and a tree before fatally striking 50 year old Charles Kinyeti who was walking back home from work on Flatbush Ave near Abermarie Rd. in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The driver and 3 year old child who was sitting in the back of the car as well as another female pedestrian suffered minor injuries and were hospitalized.

The police arrested the man yesterday for driving without a license. Read more in the NY Daily News.

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Three pedestrians died in New York car accidents over the weekend after 8 others already died during the week. Two of the accidents happened on the Upper West Side (see previous blogs here and here) and the third one happened in Ozone Park, Queens where a 68 year old man was struck by a car (read more here).  Several people suffered serious personal injury in NYC this weekend as well. A bicyclist in his 60s was struck by a car Saturday morning around 10:30 am in Hollis Queens. A pedestrian suffered severe leg injury after being struck by a fire truck  at E. 15th St. and Irving Place in Manhattan on Saturday night.   (Read more in the NY Daily News)

These accidents happened shortly after Mayor de Blasio told journalists in a press conference that it had been a “very tough week” and that Vision Zero has “never been more necessary”. The mayor indicated that since zero vision was initiated the number of speeding tickets doubled  and the number of failure to yield tickets tripled.  (Read more in the Gothamist).

de Blasio

 

 

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An elderly pedestrian died after being struck by a taxi on The Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC early Sunday morning. 88 year old Luisa Rosario, a beloved neighborhood figure, was starting to cross 109 street with the light and had the right of way when a taxi which turned right onto 109th Street from Columbus Ave hit her. The taxi driver, 73 year old Salifu Abubkar,  said he didn’t see the victim. He also told the police that he had been working non-stop for 16 hours.  He was charged with failure to yield.

Taxi drivers are prohibited by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to drive more than 12 hours straight and if they do so they may be issued a summons by the Commission.

Salifu Abubkar has been driving a cab for 30 years and had never had any serious accidents. Taxi drivers don’t have retirement pensions therefore if they don’t have any other source of income they are forced to continue to work.  Read more in the NY Daily News

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Last Thursday an 84 year old woman was killed in a bus accident in Queens, NYC, and the driver just sped away. Earlier during the week another victim was killed by a hit and run bus driver in New York City (see previous blog). This particular accident happened at the busy intersection of Main Street and Kissena Boulevard in Flushing around 8:30 pm. 84 year old Aglaia Goularis was crossing the street when a white Skyliner charter bus that was on its way to Foxwoods Casino struck her. She suffered severe body trauma and was declared dead at the scene of the accident. The driver didn’t stop but he was later identified by the police. Read more in the New York Post.

Intersection of Main Street and Kissena Blvd

The intersection of Main Street and Kissena Boulevard in Queens where the deadly bus accident happened

 

 

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3 pedestrians died and 3 others suffered personal injury in a car accident in New York City last Saturday during Halloween celebrations. 10 year old Nyanna Aquil and her 65 year old grandfather Louis Perez  as well as 24 year old Christian Leka died after 52 year old Howard Hunger lost control of his vehicle, jumped the curb  and slammed into trick-or-treaters walking along Morris Park Ave near Bogart Ave. According to the preliminary police investigation, the car driver appeared to have suffered a seizure while he was driving. As he was driving west on Morris Park Ave he struck a car in front of him twice before driving into oncoming traffic and jumping the curb. He is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries.

Louis Perez was walking with her granddaughter Nyanna and her two young sisters and Christian Leka in the company of her fiancee was holding his 9 year old sister’s hand when the car crashed into the two groups of trick-or-treaters.  Leka shoved her fiancee to the ground and pushed his sister away saving their lives. One of Nyanna sisters as well as Christian Leka’s sister and his fiancee were injured and hospitalized.

So far this year  13 pedestrians were killed by a car jumping a curb in New York City.

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An elderly pedestrian died in a bus accident in New York City. The 70 year old woman was crossing the street at the intersection of Sackman Street and Fulton Street around 6:15 am yeserday morning when she was struck by a MTA bus turning from Sackman Street onto Fulton Street.  The bus kept going and the victim was left on the road “cut in half” according to Ramon Garcia, a witness who tried to help her. She died at the scene of the accident.  The witness said the bus driver stopped briefly at the stop sign before making the turn and hit the woman who was using a walker.

Though the driver left the scene and may have violated the Right of Way Law, police “did not immediately suspect criminality.” The Right of Way Law makes it a misdemeanor for a driver to injure or kill someone who is walking or biking with the right of way. Read more in Street Blog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI28pp1NSVs

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SoMummyInjuriesPosterpeople died and 4000 suffered personal injuries during Halloween activities last year. 40% of the injuries were lacerations from pumpkin carving.  People, especially children, tripping in their costumes and falling caused many injuries as well. Candle fire is also a common cause of injury during Halloween.

Below are a few tips to keep your Halloween celebration fun and prevent it from turning into a real nightmare:

  • Do not give carving knives to children but have them helping you by tracing the design with a marker or scooping big chunks with spoons. Be careful yourself when using the carving knife!
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A 22 year old man died in a motorcycle accident in Queens, NYC around 5:45 am on Sunday morning. 22 year old Nathaniel Gomez was riding on Steinway street near 23rd Ave when he lost control of his bike. He was rushed to the hospital where he died. Read more in the NY Daily News

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Qualified and competent OSHA inspector OSHA construction site safety inspectors play a very important role in preventing  workers from being injured or dying on construction sites. Unfortunately with the recent boom in the construction business in New York City, these inspectors are very hard to find and their rates have been increasing significantly.

Certified Site safety inspectors have taken a safety course with OSHA and must meet specific criteria before receiving a OSHA certification. However these last years many  unscrupulous workers just blew off the classes and presented falsified OSHA cards to contractors in order to become site safety inspectors.

Since the beginning of the year the City has been cracking down on these workers.