A young man died in a NYC car accident early last Saturday. Hassan Jones, a 28 year old US Army veteran, was driving with his cousin on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens when they bumped into a SUV in front of them. Both cars stopped on the side of the road. The two occupants of the SUV stepped out and as Hassan and his cousin did the same. An argument followed. One of the SUV passengers punched Jones. He fell to the ground. He was struck by a car and dragged several feet on the road. He died at the scene of the accident. After realizing what happened, the driver stopped. He panicked, abandoned his car and ran away on foot. He was later on found by the police and identified as 19 year old Starlyn Colon-Burgess. He was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident. According to the NY Daily News both cars involved in the first accident also fled the scene of the accident but the police were able to find them.
To address the spike in fatal crashes and to assure autonomous cars safety will be the main tasks of Ms Chao the new head of the Department of Transportation
After decades of steady decline, deadly car accidents are on the rise again in the U.S. According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety, 17,775 people died on American roads during the first six months of 2016. Compared to the same period of 2015, the number of traffic fatalities increased by 10.4%. This is the biggest spike in 50 years. The new Transportation Secretary will have to identify ways of reversing this alarming increase of traffic deaths. Distracted driving is the number one cause of fatal crashes. A few year ago distracted driving was mostly related to people calling or texting while driving. These days all kind of apps are being used by motorists while driving.
Another difficult task, also related to new technologies, that Ms Chao will have to handle is the development of regulations for automated cars. Car safety advocates who have previously emitted concerns about the Obama administration’s lack of strong safety regulation in this field are now even more worried. With the Trump administration’s anti-regulation stance, there is a significant risk that many road users will die in the near future as a result of auto-makers being allowed to launch automated cars in an almost self-regulated environment.
Read more in Fairwarning
NYPD officer dies in NYC car crash
A NYPD officer died and a sergeant was seriously injured in a car accident that occurred last week in the Bronx. 27 year old rookie officer Bianca Bennett was a passenger in a car driven by Sergeant Randolph Price. Both cops were off-duty. They were returning from a diner with friends in City Island. Price who was speeding, lost control of his vehicle and careened into a tree stump. The car flipped upside down and burst into flames. Two other cops on their way home from the firing range saw the accident and ran to the rescue. They were able to pull Price out of the flames but it was too late to save Bennett. According to them she was so badly burned that it was impossible to determine if she was a woman or a man. 27 year old Bennett was fiancee to her high school sweetheart Micheal Coleman, they were about to get married in April. A vigil was held yesterday in the East Village. Read more in the NY Daily News
Pedestrian accidents on the rise in Forest Hills and Rego Park, Queens, NYC
The number of pedestrians hit by cars in The NYC 112th Precinct increased by 64% in January 2017 compared to January 2016. Last month 23 people were struck by cars in Forest Hill and Rego Park in Queens compared to 14 during the same period of 2016. Many of the pedestrian accidents occurred during a turn. In order to try to reduce these types of crashes, the NYPD 112th Precinct launched a campaign to tell motorists to be careful while driving through an intersection or trough crosswalks. Last week officers handed flyers to motorists containing Zero Vision information and also specific reminder about speed, not cutting corners and being especially on the look out for pedestrians after sunset. Read more in DNA Info
New York Medical Malpractice Attorney Ben Rubinowitz to lecture at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Ben Rubinowitz, a partner at our firm, has been asked by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine to deliver a Grand Rounds lecture to its radiologists. This talk will specifically focus on medical malpractice and communication issues that lead to medical negligence. Throughout his 30 years as a trial lawyer, Ben has been lecturing to doctors, lawyers and patients concerning all areas of medical malpractice and personal injury. Ben’s lecture will take place on February 8, 2017.
High risk of car accidents on the New York Taconic Highway
2,080 crashes occurred on the New York Taconic State Parkway over a period of 3 years. While being a picturesque scenic road that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, the road has a horrific history of severe traffic accidents.
In 2009 a 36 year old mother driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana entered the Taconic highway in the wrong direction. She had 4 passengers, all children. There were her daughter and 3 nieces. She collided with a SUV after driving almost 2 miles in the wrong lane. There were 3 occupants in the SUV. All 8 people died in the accident. This accident was the deadliest on this highway since 1934 when 20 people died in a bus accident near Ossining, New York
According to a recent article published by Only in Your State, most accidents occur in Westchester and Putnam Counties. Speeding is common on this segment of the Taconic. The Taconic is the longest Parkway in New York State. Click on link above to see map of Parkway and photographs of dangerous portions. A report from 2015 indicates that, for the 7 years before 2015, State Troopers gave 54,000 speeding tickets on the Parkway. 18,000 of them were for drivers speeding in the Westchester area. The highway is used daily by commuters going to work in the city. The two lanes available in each direction are often overcrowded.
New York Personal Injury Lawyer Peter Saghir obtains $450,000 verdict for a foot injury
Our partner, NYC injury attorney Peter J. Saghir, recently obtained a verdict of 100% liability against a glass company that dropped a large glass panel on a woman’s foot as she walked on the sidewalk. On September 29, 2012, Manhisha Narwani, 28, was walking with friends on 9th Avenue at 50th Street when two workers who were replacing a glass storefront dropped a large glass panel on her left foot causing her to sustain three metatarsal fractures. She underwent surgery on two of the metatarsals and subsequent physical therapy. The glass company blamed Manisha for the happening of the accident and for failing to see the glass as it was being carried on the sidewalk. After a 5 day jury trial in New York County before Hon. Arthur F. Enforon, the jury found Manisha was free from fault and that the glass company and workers were 100% at fault for the happening of the incident. The jury awarded Manisha $300,000 for past pain and suffering and $150,000 for future pain and suffering. The top offer by the insurance company was 250,000.
Construction fatalities on the rise in New York State
464 hard hats died in construction accidents in New York State between the beginning of 2006 and the end of 2016. 55 of them died in 2015. Construction is the second most dangerous industry in NY Sate after the agricultural industry. In New York City deaths related to construction accidents represent 34% of all occupational deaths compared to 32% in Los Angeles and 24% in Chicago. Most of these deaths are preventable according to the Annual Report on Construction Fatalities in New York State published this week by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH)
Over the last few years, the boom in the construction industry led to an increase in hard hat fatalities in New York City. 25 construction workers died on the job in 2015 compared to 22 in 2014, 17 in 2013, 20 in 2013 and 17 in 2011. Over these five years, almost 60% of the fatalities were related to falls. Other common construction accidents were related to elevator installations, electrocutions, falling objects and workers caught between equipment or machinery. From 2014 to 2015, the number of NYC construction accidents involving injury or death almost doubled, It went from 231 in 2014 to 435 in 2015.

There are only 66 OSHA inspectors in New York State. In 2014, these inspectors visited more than 2,000 construction sites. Inspectors found violations on 2 out of 3 sites visited. The most common violation was failure to protect workers from falls. The average fine was $3,673. Since August 2016, OSHA increased its fines, hoping that it may deter contractors from violating safety standards. This increase in penalties took place two months after the preventable death of 22 year old Carlos Moncayo. After the death of Moncayo, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance collaborated with construction workers advocate groups to support the use of criminal laws to prosecute negligent contractors who recklessly endangered their employees life (see previous blog). As a result, Moncayo’s employer was criminally convicted and sent to jail.
New York Personal Injury Lawyer Richard Steigman to chair the NYSTLA “2017 CPLR Update”
Our partner, NY injury attorney Richard Steigman will be the chair of the “2017 CPLR Update” seminar organized by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. The Co chair will be Judge Ariel E. Belen (Ret.), JAMS Mediator & Arbitrator, Justice, Appellate Division, Second Department. The seminar will cover all new recent developments in the field of New York Civil Practice. Participants will be updated on the recent legislative changes and court decisions in this field.
The seminar will take place Tuesday January 24 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the NYSTLA Office. The address is 132, Nassau Street, Second Floor, New York, NY 10038.
To learn more about this seminar or to register please click here
Potential medical malpractice and technical risks faced by hospitals in 2017
As healthcare evolves so does medical malpractice. The ECRI Institute just published its 2017 Top 10 Hospital C-suite Watch List. Here are the top 10 issues and technical challenges faced by hospitals in 2017.
- LIQUID BIOPSIES
Liquid biopsies are tests using patients liquids such as patients’ blood, urine or plasma rather than tissues. They are easier, cheaper and less risky than needle or surgical biopsy of tissues. Mostly used for patients with cancer, these types of biopsies are the new trend but they are so new that their reliability is still questionable.Hospitals using these tests need to set up a solid genetic test clinical utilization process to mitigate diagnosis error.
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