Amateur athletes have a higher risk of getting injured in the spring than in the middle or the end of the warm season. As the weather is getting really nice in New York, most of us just want to get out of the house and enjoy outdoor activities. Don’t over do it warn orthopedists and sports medicine specialists who are seeing an increase of patients every year when spring comes. Take it easy when you get back to your favorite activity as your brain might very well remember the moves but your body is still in winter mode.
Auto accident injuries at record high and upsurge of bicycle accident deaths in New York City during the first trimester of 2019
6 cyclists, 27 pedestrians, 5 passengers and 9 motorists died in NYC traffic accidents during the first 3 months of 2019 compared to 1 cyclist, 26 pedestrians, 2 passengers and 13 motorists for the same period of 2018. A total of 47 people died in motor vehicle accidents in New York during this first trimester, 5 more than during last year’s first trimester. The number of traffic deaths significantly decreased between the first trimester of 2013 and the first trimester of 2014, reached its lowest in 2015 at 40 and then oscillated between 40 and 50 for the last 4 years with no further improvement.
12,997 people were injured in auto accidents in New York City during the first 3 months of 2019 compared to respectively 12,920, 12,608, 11,936, 10,069, 10,805 and 11,676 during the first trimester of 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. This is a record number of motor vehicle accident injuries for the first trimester. Except for pedestrian injuries which were at their second lowest level since Vision Zero started all other road users recorded a significant increase of injuries during the first trimester of 2019 compared to the same period of 2018 with motorist injuries at a record high.

The most alarming data this first trimester was the death of 6 cyclists. This number has never been so high in the past. After an uptick to 4 during the first trimester of 2016 the number of deaths related to bicycle accidents in NYC went down to 2 and 1 during the same period of 2017 and 2018. Last year during the entire year, 9 cyclists died in traffic accidents which was a record low. However the first trimester deaths are an indication that the city can’t relax its efforts to improve protection for the growing number of people commuting by bikes in the city.
New Jersey about to significantly extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases
Victims of sexual abuse in New Jersey are anxiously waiting for Governor Murphy to sign a bill that was passed by the legislature and that would extend the two-year statute of limitations in civil cases for sexual-assault victims.NYC school teacher arrested for sexually abusing an 11 year old girl
An 11 year old girl was allegedly sexually abused by a NYC school teacher. 29 year old Daniel Santiago, an elementary school teacher was arrested on Monday and charged with sex abuse and acting in a manner to injure a child under 17. The teacher who worked at the Brooklyn Science and Engineering Academy which shares a building with PS 244 in East Flatbush had been abusing the victim since February this year.
A cousin saw the abuser’s inappropriate messages on the girl’s cell phone
The abuse started on a bus trip. While students were riding the bus, the teacher inappropriately touched the chest of the girl. Then on the same trip but while returning, the teacher sat next to the girl and slipped his hands into her pants to touch her genitalia. He then asked her to touch his genitalia which she did. The same occurred at the school again. The teacher also sent inappropriate text messages and pictures to the 11 year old student.
One dead two injured in Manhattan car accident related to speed
A speeding driver lost control of her vehicle causing a huge crash, killing the passenger who was her husband and hurting another road user.
The accident occurred early Tuesday morning in New York. 25 year old Dhanairy Ramirez was driving her Honda at a speed estimated to be 80 to 100 mph Northbound on St. Nicholas Ave. Her husband, 28 year old Eduardo Liranzo was in the passenger seat. She sideswiped two parked cars near 172nd Street. She didn’t stop and continued to speed on St Nicholas Ave and rear ended a parked MTA truck near 190th Street. The truck driver was inside the cabin at the time of the accident. He suffered back injury.
The couple in the Honda were pinned inside the crumbled car and firefighters had to cut the vehicles to rescue them. Both of them were rushed to the hospital. The passenger didn’t survive and the driver was critically injured. According to family members who spoke to the NY Daily News, she is still unconscious and in critical condition. The couple has a newborn son. The young dad also leaves behind another son that he had with another woman.
After at least 32 babies died, Fisher-Price recalls the dangerous Rock’n Play Sleeper
The Fisher Price rock’n play sleeper is dangerous as babies not only can roll over when unrestrained but they can also suffocate or die from strangulation. A recent investigation by Consumer Reports found that at least 32 babies died in accidents that occurred while they were resting in the Rock’n Play sleeper. A few days after the investigation was published, Fisher Price announced that it was recalling all 4.7 million Rock and Play sleepers.
Rock’n Play sleepers are inclined padded sleepers that automatically rock the babies to put them asleep. The product requires the baby to be inclined on its back and to be restrained which the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) doesn’t recommend. Safe sleep guidelines from the AAP recommend that babies be put in their bed alone on their back on a firm flat mattress, free form soft bedding.
Positional Asphixia
Construction worker dies in New York crane accident
A NYC hard hat who was installing a crane died after the counter weight he was setting fell on him.
34 year old Gregory Echevarria was part of a crew installing a crane at a luxury residential development located at 570 Broome Street in Soho early Saturday morning. A little bit after 3:00 am the crane counterweight that Echevarria was installing slipped and fatally struck him. The crew immediately called 911. When the EMS crew arrived they found him unresponsive with severe injuries all over his body. He was declared dead at the scene of the accident. Two other workers were also injured in the accident. People who were in the area at the time of the accident reported a very loud sound as the 7.5 ton counterweight fell.
After the accident the crane was moved and a stop work order was issued by the Department of Buildings. The 570 Broom project is being built by Agime Group. KSK Construction Group is managing the construction project. The DOB previously received several safety complaints for the site.
Student fatally fell from Bell Tower at Fordham Univeristy
A student fell to her death in New York after trying to climb to the top of the Bell Tower at Fordham University. 22 year old Sydney Monfries was among a group of students who, at 3:00 am on Sunday morning decided to climb to the top of the Keating Hall and Bell Tower to take pictures and admire the view. As they were climbing up, Sydney fell through a hole in one of the stairway landings. She fell 30 to 40 feet and landed on the ground inside the tower. EMS found here there with multiple trauma to her head and body and had trouble getting a pulse. They were able to reanimate her and to rush her to the hospital. She was on life support for a few hours and ultimately died from her injuries.
A senior at Fordham College, Sydney was supposed to graduate in May. An intern at InStyle magazine, Sydney was studying journalism and specialized in digital technology and emerging media. She was a native of Portland, Oregon.
Fordham President, Joseph McShane told the parents they would receive a bachelor degree in journalism posthumously at an appropriate time.
23 year old construction worker falls to his death in Brooklyn, NYC
A young construction worker fatally fell from a building in New York City last Wednesday. 23 year old Erik Mendoza was replacing bricks underneath a water tower located on the rooftop of 1 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights when he fell off the building. A Mexican immigrant, Mendoza had arrived in the US 5 years ago. He had just started his job as a construction worker for the building a week before the accident.
No permit required doesn’t mean no worker protection
The work Mendoza was doing wasn’t didn’t require a permit, however it is the responsibility of the employer to make sure that employees effectuate their work in safe conditions. As he was working under the water tower with a colleague, he slipped and fell 13 stories, landing in front of the entrance of the luxury co-op pre-war building.
Fall fatalities at record high on US construction sites
887 workers lost their life after falling at their job sites in 2017 according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the highest number of fall deaths ever recorded by the BLS since the agency started to track these numbers almost 30 years ago. Fall fatalities account for 17% of all job-related fatalities and 40% of all construction job-related fatalities.
The most at risk are often construction workers with little training and experience who have been hired to work on construction sites after the recent boom in construction led to a labor force shortage in the industry. 60% of construction workers who died in a fall in 2017 were working for small companies (1 to 10 workers). As a comparison small construction companies only hire a third of the workforce in the construction industry in the US. Small companies are often hired for residential construction, a sector where fatal falls more than doubled between 2010 and 2015. Hispanic workers are the most at risk of dying in a fall accident. Language barrier, little training and also the fear of immigration authorities preventing undocumented workers to report dangerous conditions to OSHA are among the factors that led Hispanic workers to perform some of the most dangerous jobs in the construction industry.
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