New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog21 year old Michael Messina was critically injured after being hit by a car in NYC early this morning. The young man was riding a scooter on Cooper Ave near 73rd Place in Glendale, Queens around 3:45 am when a car traveling in the opposite direction veered into his lane and hit him.. The car then caught fire but the driver was able to escape safely. Messina was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident where he was tested for alcohol. The breathalyzer showed 0.71 which is just below the legal limit of 0.8. Read more in the NY Daily News
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Uber settles suits over misleading safety practices for $25 million
Negligent safety practices such as not doing enough while checking drivers backgrounds are putting Uber users’s safety at risk. The popular car service company just settled a lawsuit that was filed against it two years ago by the District Attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles over the claim that the company misled clients on its safety practices and the methods used to screen drivers.
Uber will have to pay $10 million split between the District Attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles and another $15 million if it doesn’t comply with the terms of the settlement after two years.
The lawsuit alleged Uber doesn’t do enough to protect its passengers. Drivers are screened by a third party and don’t need to provide fingerprints. Last year third party background checks failed to uncover the criminal records of 25 drivers in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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New York City DOT rejected request for stoplight at site of recent fatal car accident in Queens
Last week a pedestrian died in a hit an run accident at the intersection of 21st Street and 3oth Road in Astoria, Queens, NYC. We pointed out in a recent blog related to this accident that the intersection was very dangerous and had no crosswalk. An article in DNA now indicates that 9 people were previously injured in car accidents. The article also mentions that Transportation Alternative had campaigned for the installation of stoplights at this location but that it was declined by the DOT. After last week’s fatal accident, the DOT said it would reconsider its decision. Read more in DNA
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Fatal Motorcycle Accident in Queens, NYC
A motorcyclist died after he apparently crashed his bike into a tree in Bay Side, Queens, NYC. According to the the NY Daily News the motorcyclist was found dead on a path in Little Bay Park by a passing bicyclist. His dirt bike landed several feet away on some rocks near the water. The man apparently lost control of his bike and hit a tree. The cyclist who found him told the News that the motorcyclist may have hurt himself after crashing on the rocks and then walked to the grass and laying on it before he died. Read more in the NY Daily News
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Pedestrian suffers critical personal injury in New York Taxi accident
A pedestrian was critically injured in New York after being hit and dragged half a block by a taxi on Thursday morning. 32 year old Meral Arisoy was on the sidewalk near the intersection of 8th Street and University Place in Greenwich Village when an out of control taxi crashed into a tree pot and then hit her. Her body got wedged under the car and she was dragged down the University Place sidewalk for half a block before the taxi stopped. According to witnesses the taxi driver was speeding before he lost control of the vehicle. Read more in the NY Daily News
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Driver charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian after killing a man while making a left turn in the 109th Precinct in Queens, NYC
Another pedestrian was killed in a car accident in NYC in the 109th precinct. According to Streetblog, this is the third pedestrian to die in this precinct since the beginning of the year. The accident happened Tuesday morning at the crossing of Prince Street and 35th Ave in Flushing, Queens. A 57 year old man who was crossing the street in the crosswalk was struck by a SUV driven by 55 year old Raymond Ortiz as he was making a left turn. Ortiz stayed at the scene of the accident and was charged with violation of the right of way law. The victim died at the hospital.
Earlier in the year, at the beginning of March, in the same precinct, 90 year old Dorothy Heiman was fatally struck by a car making a left turn. The driver wasn’t charged. In January a pedestrian was killed by a cement truck in the same precinct and the driver wasn’t charged either. In both cases police weren’t very cooperative in providing accurate information to determine if the pedestrian had the right of way.
Last year after several pedestrians were killed in the precinct, most of the time by negligent drivers, the police and the council members blamed the victims for their own deaths and lectured pedestrians on how to walk.
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To decrease fatal car accidents, NYC lawmakers propose installing more speed cameras
The installation of 140 speed cameras in NYC proved to be a successful way to reduce speeding in school zones and protect residents from fatal car accidents. Today State Sen. Jose Peralta and Assemblyman Michael DenDekker will propose to extend the installation of similar cameras to 2,000 school zones in New York City. The two democratic politicians from Queens are also proposing to have these cameras running 24 hours instead of only during school time as is the case now. Peralta and DenDekker also suggest that if a driver gets caught five times or more he or she should have his vehicle registration suspended.
The new bills introduced today by the two legislators are coming on the steps of a new Transportatrion Alternative campaign that requires the installation of speed camerat at #EverySchool
Read more in the NY Daily News
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One pedestrian died and another suffered personal injury in two separate car accidents in New York City last night
No pedestrian crossing at this intersection Picture: courtesy of Google map
A 45 year old man was fatally struck by a negligent driver who didn’t stop after he hit the victim. The car accident happened on 21st Street and 30th Road in Queens, NYC, yesterday around 11:00 pm. The man was transported to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved. The car that hit the pedestrian is believed to be a red Toyota. The police are looking for surveillance footage. The intersection is very dangerous because there is no pedestrian crossing even though it is located in a very busy area of Astoria. According to residents speeding is frequent.
Another accident happened a little bit later in the Bronx. A pedestrian suffered serious personal injury as he was trying to cross the Major Deegan Expressway near 138th in Port Morris shortly after 4:00 am. The victim was transported to the hospital while according to the NY Daily News a car was spotted at the scene of the accident with a smashed windshield and hood.
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NY developer who exposed construction workers to lead and asbestos dangers to pay 700K in penalties
Picture source: Google Map
A NY developer who exposed construction workers to lead and asbestos hazard during the renovation and the clean up of an abandoned psychiatric hospital Upstate New York settled with the US Labor Department. As part of the settlement, the developer committed to enhance safeguard for the employees renovating the site and pay a $700k fine.
Dover Greens LLC, formerly known as Olivet Management LLC was cited in 2014 for 45 willfull violations after the company knowingly exposed its own construction workers and the construction workers hired by 13 other contractors to lead and asbestos hazard while cleaning and renovating the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Dover Plains.
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At least 20 people injured in NY bus accident
At least 20 passengers suffered personal injury in a bus accident in Upstate NY yesterday. The bus was operated by W&D Tour a Brooklyn based bus operator. It was transporting SUNY Maritime students from the Bronx, NYC. They were heading back to New York City after attending a conference at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. Slippery road conditions due to earlier snow may have been a factor in the accident. The bus accident happened in the morning around 10:45 am on Route 28N in Minerav, in the Adirondack Mountains, NY. The bus fell off the side of the road and landed upside down in the woods. 20 people suffered non life threatening injuries. Read more in the NY Daily News
