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.
Published on:

A 46 year old mother  suffering from multiple sclerosis was fatally struck by a  garbage truck in New York City as she was trying to cross the street with her walker. Last Thursday around 10:30 pm, Alberta Bagu who was using a walker was crossing Broadway mid block between Ditmars Street and Willoughby Avenue in Bushwick , Brooklyn, when a private garbage truck hit her. The truck driver continued on his way without stopping. Later on the police were able to identify the truck and talk to the driver. The driver told the police that he didn’t realize that he struck a pedestrian. Alberta Bagu was found dead at the scene of the accident.  Read more in New York CBS Local. NYC is becoming a dangerous place for pedestrians.

Another pedestrian died a day earlier in Brooklyn as well after she was struck by a driver who lost control of the car while she was making a turn (see NY Daily News).

Published on:

A manhole explosion sent fire and black smoke in the air this morning around 9:30 on 37th Street between Seven and Eighth Ave in Manhattan, NYC. The explosion caused several buildings nearby to loose power for some time. One building was reported to have no power for at least 8 hours. It took several hours for the firefighters to stop the fire that was coming out of the manhole. Manhole explosions often happen when the rain brings down the salt from the winter into frayed wire or when rats  gnawed at the wire. An investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of this specific explosion. read more on NBC New York.

Published on:

A 50 year old pedestrian was seriously injured after being hit by a bus in Manhattan. 50 year old Devan Snipner was in the crosswalk  when he was struck by a double-decker sightseeing tour bus making a left turn from West 4th Street onto 6th Ave. According to witnesses, one of the pedestrian’s legs got crushed under the bus. Snipner was transported to the hospital in critical condition. According to the Gothamist he is now in stable condition. The driver stayed at the scene and so far hasn’t been charged. The police are still investigating the cause of the accident.

Bus accident location

Picture courtesy of Google Map: the pedestrian was crossing on 6th Ave when the bus coming from West 4th made a left turn and hit him

Published on:

A speeding SUV driver is responsible for the death of 42 year old Susana Ha and her 10 year old daughter Angelica Ung in a crash between two cars that happened last Wednesday on 210th St. in Queens, NYC according to a police source. Susanna Ha was riding with her two young daughters in the back seat and her mother was in the passenger seat of a car driven by her dad when the driver of a speeding SUV who was travelling in the opposite direction veered to the left, crossed the double yellow line and hit their car. The accident took place in a 15 mph school zone with a speed bump in the middle of the street.

The mother and the youngest daughter were killed in the accident while the other daughter was in critical condition. The 67 year old grandmother was seriously injured while the 74  year old grandfather who was driving the car was in stable condition. The 46 year old driver of the SUV was also injured and in stable condition. To date no criminal charges have been filed. Based on photos of the front end of the SUV and video it had to have been going well above the speed limit.

Read more in the NY Daily News 

Published on:

A 90 year old woman lost control of her car and crashed into the front window of the Aeropostale clothing store of the Bay Terrace shopping Center on Bell Blvd in Queens, NY. The accident happened on Sunday afternoon around 4 p.m. The driver who pressed the gas pedal by mistake, drove through the shop front window and ended up next to the cash register. A 39 year old worker suffered minor personal injury from falling glass and the elderly driver reported pain in her left arm. Read more in the NY Daily News

In New York State, the Department of Motor Vehicles does’t remove driving privileges based on age but an elderly driver may be requested to pass a re-evaluation program. New York State Vehicle & Traffic Law Section 506 (1) states that: “If the Commissioner has “reasonable grounds” to believe that a person holding a license is not qualified to drive a motor vehicle, the Commissioner may require such person to submit to an examination to determine their qualifications.”

If you have an elderly parent or close relative who you feel no longer has the ability to drive safely it is incumbent on you to discuss with them your concerns. This is a very difficult discussion to have since giving up one’s driving privileges makes one feel a loss of independence. Such a discussion must be in a reasoned manner. For an excellent article on having this discussion see “How to Talk to Elderly Adults About Giving up the Keys” by Constance (Connie) Matthiessen in caring.com.

Published on:

The health condition of a family who suffered serious personal injury after being exposed to a banned pesticide while vacationing in a St-John luxury resort, last March, will most probably not improve, Governor Kenneth Mapp said last week in a status update. 49 year old Steve Esmond, his wife Theresa Devine, 48 and their two sons Sean, 16, and Ryan, 14, suffered seizures and never recovered fully after they were exposed to methyl bromide while staying at their Sirenusa Villa in St-John. As of Today, the dad suffers from severe paralysis and must be strapped even to sit, the oldest son remains paralyzed from the neck down and the youngest one is in and out of coma with no sensation in his limbs and no control of his body. Only the mother seems to be recovering and is doing rehab. The accident happened after Terminix , the company hired by the resort for pest control, used a pesticide identified as Meth-O-Gas to fumigate a condo adjacent to the family’s villa. Meth-O-Gas contains methyl bromide, a very dangerous pesticide whose indoor use is illegal on US territory. Read more in The Virgin Islands Consortium

Published on:

A 29 year old male pedestrian died in a car accident in New York City last Saturday night. For some unclear reason instead of using the nearby pedestrian overpass, Caje Dawkins decided to walk across the Bruckner Express Way near Stratford Ave, half a mile from where he lived.  As he was trying to cross the busy highway he was struck by a SUV . The driver of the SUV stayed at the scene of the accident.  Read more in the New York Daily News

 

Published on:

An impaired motorcycle driver caused an accident that killed a 32 year old woman last Saturday around 3:20 am near the 60th street exit ramp of the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge. Tasha Rodriguez was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by a 30 year old friend when another of their friends, 28 year old Jeremy Perez who was riding behind them on another bike rear-ended them. Rodriguez fell off the bike and was ran over by Perez. She died in the accident. Both motorcycle drivers as well as the 21 year old  passenger of Perez suffered personal injury.  Perez was arrested and charged for driving while impaired. Witnesses said that just before the fatal NY motorcycle accident happened they saw five motorcycles driving at high speed and weaving in and out of traffic.  Read more in the NY Daily News . Motorcycle riders must understand and respect the fact that motorcycles are powerful machines, not toys and the rider and passenger are totally unprotected. It goes without saying that one should never ride while impaired. Further riders should never ride bikes above their experience levels. 

Published on:

Right HookIn 20o9 fatal bicycle accidents represented 1.9% of all traffic deaths in the U.S. In 2013 this number was 2.3%.  Big trucks such as tractor trailers and box trucks as well as garbage and dump trucks represent a small fraction of the traffic but they are involved in a disproportionate amount of the fatal bicycle accidents. As cities are encouraging cycling and walking and create specific bike lanes and other infrastructures, e- commerce also brings more trucks into urban neighborhoods at the same time.

Trucks are extremely dangerous for cyclists and in many of the fatal crashes involving a bicyclist and a truck, the cyclist is first hit by the side of the truck, slides under it and gets crushed under the wheels.  Such crashes happen most of the time when the truck is making a right-hand turn in front of the bike. It is called the Right Hook. Because of the large dead angles, the truck driver often doesn’t see the cyclist riding on its side and the cyclist realized too late that the truck is turning right.

The installation of side guards on trucks is so far the best way to prevent bicyclists and pedestrians from falling under the wheels if they are hit by a truck. So far a few cities including New York have passed legislation to require the use of truck side guards but the approach is piecemeal and bicycle advocates are calling for federal action. Read more in Fair Warning

Published on:

The police are still looking for a hit and run driver who struck a pedestrian last Saturday around 12:30 in Queens.  21 year old Betty Jean DiBlasio was crossing Ditmars Blvd near 19th Street in Astoria when she was hit by a Chevrolet Impala.  The driver sped away leaving the young woman lying on the pavement with a severe head injury. She died later at the hospital.  Read more in the NY Daily News.

According to the Vision Zero Queens Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, 16% of Queens pedestrians fatalities happen between 12:00 and 6:00 am though less than 4% of pedestrian activity takes place during these hours. 75% of Queens pedestrian fatalities are caused by dangerous drivers choices such as speeding, failing to yield to pedestrians, red light running, distracted driving, and driving under the influence.

Queens Pedestrians Fatality