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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A pedestrian died in NYC after being struck by a car that drove over him and didn’t stop. Sunday morning around 2:30 am, 43 year old Doodnach Lalcahn started to cross the intersection of 115th Ave and 131st Street in Ozone Park Queens, NYC, when he fell on the ground. A video surveillance shows a car driving over him, slowing down and then continuing on its way. Other vehicles drove by without stopping . Finally a good Samaritan parked his car in front of the victim to prevent other cars from hitting him. Unfortunately it was too late. The man who suffered severe head trauma died at the scene of the accident.

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To reduce pedestrian accidents at dangerous New York intersections, City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) wants to re-introduce an old crosswalk system named the Barnes Dance. The Barnes Dance is a system from the 60ies where all cars have the red light at the same time at an intersection so all pedestrians can cross safely without mixing with traffic. This type of crosswalk system was named after traffic engineer Henry Barnes. The bill which will be introduced tomorrow is asking the NYC DOT to look at the feasibility of a Barnes Dance system at the 25 most dangerous intersections of the city. Read more in the NY Daily News

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A window washer died on Monday in New York. The 57 year old worker was cleaning the windows of a building in the Upper East Side located on East 81st Street between Lexington and Park Ave. He fell off a third-story ledge and died. In New York Window Washers are protected under both Section 240 and Section 202 of the New York State Labor Law. For a discussion of Section 240 see our New York Construction Accident page. Section 202 known as The Window Washers Law provides that ” The owner, lessee, agent and manager of every public building and every contractor involved shall provide such safe means for the cleaning of the windows and of exterior surfaces of such building as may be required and approved by the board of standards and appeals.” As a practical matter most window washing accidents are covered by section 240 which is a self executing statute which does not require violation of a provision of The Industrial Code and to which comparative negligence does not apply.

 

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A pedestrian died and two other people were injured in a car accident in NYC on Sunday. The accident occurred at the intersection of E. 94th Street and Avenue K in Canarsie, Brooklyn. The driver of a SUV struck another car, lost control of the vehicle that slammed into two pedestrians waiting to cross the road. The pedestrians were a couple living nearby. The wife, 51 year old, Chooi Tan  suffered severe injury. The couple as well as the driver of the car hit by the SUV were all transported to the hospital. Chooi Tan died at the hospital while her husband and the driver were in stable condition.

The driver of the SUV and a passenger fled the scene of the accident by foot. The police are still looking for them. The SUV was reported stolen last Friday.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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In New York City there are around 3,500 motor vehicle accidents related to distracted driving every month. It is the main cause of accidents in the city. Many New York drivers consider their cars like a second office and handle all kinds of businesses that require using their phone while they are behind the wheel. Despite multiple campaigns to try to convince drivers not to text and drive, a recent At&T survey indicates that Americans continue to illegally use their mobile phone while they are driving. They are not only texting but they are also engaging  in social media, surfing the web and even having video chats.

The increase in car accidents related to texting and driving can be somewhat compared to the drinking and driving crisis in the 80ies. Several road safety advocates who have previously been involved in campaigns to reduce the number of accidents related to drunk driving are now working on campaigns to reduce distracted driving.  These advocates believe that distracted driving so far hasn’t been treated as seriously as drunk driving and that more needs to be done including at the legislative level.

In New York, lawmakers are considering introducing a textalyser.  Just like the breathalyzer is able to check alcohol blood level, the textalyser is be able to check if the driver was texting behind the wheel. According to lawmakers the textalyzer does not access private data but only checks if the driver was using the phone to text, email or do anything else illegal under New York’s hands free driving laws.

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NYPDWhen Lauren David died in a bike accident in Brooklyn (see previous blog), the NYPD initially reported that David was biking against traffic. In a recent article the Gothamist indicated that the police have amended their report and after investigation they found that David was indeed riding in the direction of the traffic. The police also told reporters that they are discussing possible charges against the driver with the Brooklyn DA.

In New York City the police have a habit of immediately blaming the victims before investigating the accident. Just a few days after David was killed, another biker died in a traffic accident in Brooklyn.  James Gregg was fatally struck by a truck which was driving in a non truck zone. Again the police found ridiculous excuses to blame the victim (see previous blog). Last Sunday the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams who led a memorial bike ride for the two victims (see previous blog) asked the NYPD to stop speculating  on the causes of accidents until the investigation is finished.

Picture: courtesy of Wikipedia

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Bike Lane in BrooklynTwo people died in bike accidents in Brooklyn, NYC in April.  James Gregg was killed on April 20 by a tractor trailer truck who’s driver illegally drove in a non truck residential street (see our previous blog). Lauren Davis was fatally struck by a car making  a left turn on April 15th (see our previous blog).

On Sunday, Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, led a memorial bike ride in honor of these two victims. He laid flowers in front of a ghost bike memorial installed by Transportation Alternatives at the intersection of 6th Ave and Sterling Place where Gregg died. The bicyclists then rode to the intersection of Clason and Lexington Avenues where Davis was killed.

Adams asked the DOT to continue its work to protect NYC Bicyclists. He also asked the NYPD to enforce the 25 mph speed limit and the law that prevents trucks from driving in residential areas.

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A young pedestrian was struck by a car in New York City last week. The accident happened at the dangerous intersection of E. 165th St. and The Grand Concourse in the Bronx. The 11 year old boy was crossing the Grand Concourse when he was struck by a car driving South on E. 165th Street. The boy was critically injured during the accident. (read more in the NY Daily News)

E. 165th Street between Jerome Ave and Melrose Ave was flagged by Vision Zero  for a safer street redesign. Between 2009 and 2013, two pedestrians died, 37 were injured (including 5 severely) and 6 bicyclists were injured in traffic accidents at this specific part of the street.  The two fatalities occurred at the intersection of E. 165th St. and The Grand Concourse where the 11 year old boy was critically injured last week.

According to Vision Zero statistics, 50% of the pedestrian accidents on E 165th street are caused by drivers failing to yield and 28% of all motor vehicle crashes on this street took place while a driver was making a left turn.

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A cab driver died and a woman were injured in a car crash in Long Island, NY, early Saturday morning. 23 year old Duke Obule was drunk and speeding behind the wheel of a luxury sports car when he lost control of the vehicle at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and Lincoln Road in Franklin Square. The impact was so strong that the taxi careened all the way across Hempstead Turnpike and crashed into a utility pole. The cab driver was killed in the accident.  The drunk driver fled the scene of the accident by foot leaving behind an injured 20 year old woman who was in the car with him at the time of the accident. She suffered a broken ankle and was taken to the hospital. Obule  was caught by the police an hour later on Hempstead Turnpike,  a mile away from the accident. Not only was Obule  drunk driving and speeding but he also had no license. He faces 10 charges including manslaughter and DWI. According to residents Hempstead Turnpike has a history of speeding and accidents.

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printing houseA construction worker died after a scaffolding plank fell on his head at a New York construction site. 32 year old Luis Mata, was dismantling scaffolding at the Printing House Luxury Condos on Hudson Street when one of the planks became loose and fell 10 stories on his head. The construction worker was wearing a hard hat but the impact was so strong that he suffered severe head and neck injuries. He later died from his injuries at the hospital. Luis Mata was a non union worker from Mexico. He was living with his uncle in Westchester County. He was supporting his mom in Mexico.

Unfortunately we are seeing an increasing number of construction site accidents on non union jobs, as a result of contractors not implementing proper safety measures.

Following the accident, the NYC Department of Building issued a partial stop work order on the building. DOB records for the building located at 421 Hudson Street show that at the time of the fatal accident, the building had 6 open ECB violations including two class 2 and two class 1 violations  as well as 8 DOB violations.