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.
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Grand Central ParkwayA man died in a NYC motorcycle accident yesterday night. According to the NYPD the 28 year old motorcyclist was speeding on Grand Central Parkway, weaving in and out of traffic. As he was traveling in the right center lane he crashed into the back of a SUV. The driver and the passenger of the SUV suffered neck and back injuries and were transported to the hospital. The motorcyclist was also taken to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved.

Read more in the NY Daily News 

Picture of the Grand Central Parkway and Jewel Ave courtesy of Google Map

 

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57 pedestrians, 21 bicyclists and 289 motor vehicle occupants were injured in a car accident between 2010 and 2014 at the intersection of Atlantic Ave and Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn, New York City. 5 people also died in crashes at this same location between 2008 and 2016. This busy intersection is one of the most dangerous in New York City and the Department of Transportation wants to make it safer. Last week the DOT presented  a study of the actual traffic conditions at this intersection and proposals to make it safer. As of now, pedestrian crossings are extremely long, the traffic is heavy and often conflicting with pedestrians while turning. Bike lanes do no connect, taxi and buses block the traffic while dropping passengers and the sidewalk design is not appropriate. The intersection is very dangerous. The DOT proposes not only to redesign the intersection of of Flatbush Ave and Atlantic Ave but also the Flatbush Ave intersections near Hanson Place and Ashland place. Among the changes, the plan includes the addition of pedestrian islands and curb extensions to reduce the crossing distances as well some blocks being converted to pedestrian areas and new signalization. The complete study can be downloaded here

Dangerous Intersection NYC

Picture courtesy of Google Map

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boy dead in water slide accidentCaleb Schwab sustained a fatal neck injury as he was riding the the “Verrückt” which is the world’s tallest water slide. The 10 year old boy was decapitated and found dead in a pool at the bottom of the slide.

The accident happened at the Schlitterbahn water park  in Kansas. The “Verrückt” which means insane in German was named the tallest water slide in the world by the Guinness Book of  World Records in 2014. The opening of the ride was delayed after tests on the 168-foot water slide had rafts flying off the slide (see video below).  When the ride finally opened the minimum age to ride it was 14 years old. However a month after the opening the age limit was removed and only the height requirement of 54 inches was kept as a limit to get on the ride.

Caleb boarded the raft with two other women who were not related to him. Both women suffered face injuries. Kelsey Friedrichsen and Josh Foster, a couple waiting  at the top of the water slide to be on the next ride told People Magazine that they saw a group of people at the bottom and a woman being treated for injury to her face. Then they saw first responders covering the body of Caleb.  “It looked like he must have somehow been ejected from his seat, bounced around between the netting and the slide and just slid down,” Friedrichsen said. “He would have fallen down without the raft. It’s kind of like a tube.” A 14 year old girl who took a ride on the “Verrückt” earlier during the day also mentioned that “toward the end of the ride the Velcro on her belt had come undone.” Investigators are still working on determining the exact cause of the accident.

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NYPDWhen a victim is injured in a car accident in NYC, the NYPD tends to blame the victim and anonymous police sources often speculated to the press about the cause of the accident. This attitude was criticized  in a recent report published by Transportation Alternatives (see page 19 of the report). They did it again last week as a preliminary report  from the police indicated that 22 year old Jack Delaney Koval was killed on the West Side Highway after the young man jumped a divider and stepped into oncoming traffic. Further investigation and surveillance footage of the accident revealed that the young man was in the crosswalk when he was fatally hit by the car. He wasn’t jumping a divider like police sources initialy told the press.  Read more in the Gothamist

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snoop Dog42 people were injured at a Snoop Dog and Wiz Khalifa concert last Fridat night in Camden NJ. The two artists were performing at the BB&T Pavillon when  a railing collapsed causing dozens of fans to fall several feet below onto the concrete (see video at the bottom). One person was critically injured and dozens of them were transported to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries such as bruises and broken bones.

Accidents at concerts and festivals are not very common however when they happen they are often catastrophic because they include a large number of people that are often intoxicated. It is the responsibility of the event organizers to make sure the venue is safe and that contingency plans are in place in case of complications.  Inadequate protection and planing can quickly lead to dramatic disasters during crowded concerts and festivals.

Here are some of the most terrifying concert accidents that happened in the past, the most deadly were due to fire accidents in venues where organizers neglected attendees safety:

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NYPD attitude toward NYC car accidents29 people died in car accidents in New York City last June bringing the total number of car accident fatalities in the city to 111 for the first sixth months of 2016. These numbers are higher than last year when 20 people were killed in NYC car accidents in June and a total of 107  vehicle accidents fatalities were recorded for the first semester. At the end of 2015 Mayor de Blasio was proud to announce that the number of  NYC fatal car accidents was at its lowest thanks to the many initiatives launched in the city under the Vision Zero program .

So what went wrong in 2016?  A report recently released by Transportation Alternative is pointing fingers at the NYPD and said they are getting Vision Zero data wrong. Transportation Alternatives conducted an in-depth analysis of the NYPD traffic enforcement practices and discovered that the NYPD hasn’t committed to use appropriate policing to deter the most deadly driving violations: failing to yield and speeding. Transportation Alternatives also found out that there are no clear plans in regards to participating in the Zero Vision program and that the allocations of resources is not based on street conditions.

In its report, Transportation Alternatives especially criticizes the attitude of the NYPD towards bicyclists. While 12 of the 14 fatal bicycle accidents that occurred this year were caused by negligent vehicle drivers, the police still continue emphasis on minor cyclists violations rather than going after reckless drivers endangering bicyclists. Transportation Alternatives recommends that initiatives like Bicycle Safe Passage be a norm rather than a temporary police blitz.

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left turn crashes study DOT NYCIn New York City, left turn accidents account for 19% of the crashes that kill or severely injure (KSI) pedestrians and bicyclists compared to 6% for right turns.

At most New York intersections drivers are permitted to tun left while pedestrians are in the crosswalk. While pedestrians have a false sense of security because they are in a crosswalk, left turn drivers often concentrate  on on coming traffic while turning and fail to look for pedestrians. Additionally because they can be taken at a wider angle, motorists tend to take left turns at a higher speed than right turns.

From 2010 to 2014, 108 pedestrians and bicyclists were killed by drivers turning left in New York City, that’s more than 20 people every year and almost two people every month.

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hospitalNew York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York  placed on the list of the US News 2016-17 Best Hospitals Honor Roll, in respectively the 6th, 10th and 15th position.

Each hospital is evaluated on 16 adult medical specialties and 10 pediatric specialties.

The  New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell in New York, NY is globally ranked number 1 in New York and number 1 in New York Metro Area. It is ranked nationally number 2 in Rheumatology and number 3 in Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery as well as Cardiology and Heart Surgery.

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The police arrested the driver who killed two pedestrians in Brooklyn and then fled the scene of the accident (see previous blog) . The man was identified as 21 year old Efrin Lanfranco-Perez. The young man was speeding when he hit Delmer Maldonado and Israel Turcios who were crossing the street under the J train in Brooklyn, NYC. The impact was so violent that one of the men was thrown in the air and the other one thrown onto the sidewalk. Both were killed in the accident. After hitting the two men, Lanfranco-Perez got out of his car and fled the scene of the accident on foot. He later on turned himself into the police with his lawyer and said he left because he panicked.  He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident without reporting a serious physical injury or death and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The lawyer said his license was suspended because he didn’t pay a ticket. He is being held on $30,000 bail (read more in the NY Daily News)

Hit and run accidents are occurring on a weekly basis in NYC. The NYPD are still looking for another driver who killed a pedestrian last week as he crossed a Queens service road. The police didn’t provide a description of the car but indicated the driver was form Maryland.

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Anton YelchinA defective car killed Anton Yelchin and his parents are suing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, manufacturer ZF North America and car dealership chain AutoNation for the wrongful death of their son. 29 year old Anton Yelchin, a “Star Trek” actor was killed last June in front of his house. The actor had just exited his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Because of a defect in the design of the electronic gear shift position indicator, Yelchin thought his car was in “Park” position but it wasn’t. Therefore the parking break wasn’t engaged. The vehicle started to move toward him rolling backward and  fatally crushed him against the security gate.

The car maker was aware of the design defect and in April it had recalled more that 1.1. million Jeep Grand Cherokees after receiving 41 reports of injuries related to the gear shift. According to Yelchin’s parents, a recall notice was received in the mail seven days after the death of their son. The parents said that it was too little too late.

See our previous blog for more info about the recall and read more about Anton Yelchin parents’ lawsuit in US Magazine

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