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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A man who was driving at 107 mph in a 50 mph zone lost the control of his vehicle and killed himself and his passenger in a frightening car accident, Friday night, a little after midnight in Queens, NYC. The 30 year old driver who was speeding West on the Long Island Expressway lost control of his car as he was trying to switch lanes near Flushing Meadows Park. The car struck a guardrail, flipped over over it and ended it course against a pillar. Both the driver and his passenger, another man in his 30’s died shortly after they arrived to the hospital.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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rubinowitz_ben.jpgGGCSMB&R is proud to announce that our Managing Partner New York Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz was the 2013 recipient of the Robert Keeton Award for Outstanding Service as a National Institute for Trial Advocay (NITA) Faculty Member. This award recognizes Ben’s exceptional work as a NITA faculty member. Here is what NITA has to say about Ben: “In considering his nomination, it was recognized that “Ben is a ‘best’ teacher and deserves the best teacher award.” He began teaching early in his career, and has contributed to new and evolving methods, such as “drills” and the drill room. He lectures in the same persona that he presents to a jury-a consummate role model.”

The National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) is the nation’s leading provider of legal advocacy skills training. It is a deidcated team of professors, judges and practicing lawyers who believe that skilled and ethical advocacy is a critical component of legal professionalism and all systems of dispute resolution that seek justice

Below is a video demonstrating Ben’s skills as a NITA teacher

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Truckdrivers.jpgIn order to better prevent truck accidents and save lives, a new provision that took effect a year ago was added to the Hours of Service rule for truck drivers. The provision limits the maximum average work week for truck drivers to 70 hours instead of 82 hours. The provision also allows truck drivers who reach the maximum 70 hours of driving within a week to resume if they rest for 34 consecutive hours, including at least two nights when their body clock demands sleep the most – from 1-5 a.m and require truck drivers to take a 30-minute break during the first eight hours of a shift.

This week at the Senate Hearing on Truck Safety, the 34-hour restart provision was at the center of the discussions. Some senators waned to suspend the provision while the FMCSA studies its impact on safety arguing mostly that too many trucks are hitting the road at dawn. Anne Ferro, chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, defended the restart. She said that the provision helps in saving 400 lives a year and doesn’t affect truck companies. She also said that the agency estimates the provision is putting about 250,000 more trucks on the road, “a drop in the bucket compared to the 10 million” already on the road.

Read more in Heavy Duty Trucking website

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11 firefighters and 2 residents suffered personal injury in a 4-alarm fire that burned two houses on Hill Avenue in the Bronx, NYC yesterday afternoon. The fire started at 4519 Hill Ave and spread to 4515 and 4523 Hill Ave. One of the firefighters was seriously inured, 8 of them were taken to the hospital for minor wounds treatment and 2 others were treated on site. Two residents also suffered personal injury. One of them was injured after he jumped from a second floor window to escape the flames.

Read More here

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Gary%20Messina.jpgA skydiving student died and his instructor suffered critical personal injury in a skydiving accident in Calverton, Long Island, NY, yesterday. According to officials, the student, Garry Messina, a NYC correction officer who was celebrating his 25 year old birthday, died on impact after a parachute failure during a tandem jump.

In a statement, Rich Winstock, the director of the United States Parachute Association (USPA), said that the accident was under investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration and that wind may have been a factor.

According to statistics from the USPA, in 2013, there were 24 skydiving fatalities out of 3.2 million jumps, that’s a 0.0075 fatalities per 1000 jumps. For tandem skydiving the fatality rate is 0.003 student fatalities per 1000 tandem jumps. The rate of personal injury is approximately 3 per 10,000 skydives.

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How in the middle of the day, did a driver fail to see an 80-year-old crossing the street in front of her on a one way residential street?
In a recent article in StreetBlog, Brad Aaron is questioning why the police didn’t charge the driver who crashed into 80 year old Margherita Nanfro as she was crossing Rutherford Place at Bay 16th Street in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, NYC, around noon on July 25th. Pictures from the accident suggest that the driver may have been speeding as the impact was strong enough to throw the elderly woman onto the windshield. Reports also suggest that the victim had the right of way.

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An 87 year old woman who was trying to cross the street was hit by a car near Willets Point Blvd and 163rd St in Flushing, Queens, New York, yesterday night. She suffered severe head injuries and later died in the hospital.

In New York City, senior pedestrians have a higher risk to die in a car accident than adult pedestrians. Recent statistics from the DOT show that seniors represent 12% of the NYC population but account for 36% of NYC pedestrian traffic fatalities.
NYC%20Senior%20pedestrian%20accidents.jpg
Source: DOT Safe Street for Seniors New York City

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3 children who were trapped in an apartment fire in Brooklyn were rescued by courageous New York firefighters. The firefighters who arrived at the scene 2 minutes after a call was made first spotted two young boys at the window of the apartment, They were trapped and crying. The firefighters used a bucket ladder to rescue the 5 and 8 year old brothers. The children told the firefighters that their 4 year old brother was still inside the apartment. Justin Tallett a 27 year old rookie firefighter and a former army medic who was in Afghanistan in 2012 was able to get in the apartment. He fought the smoke and the flames and was able to rescue the third brother. The boy who was seriously injured was resuscitated on his way to the hospital and is expected to survive. The grandfather who was supposed to supervise the children bolted out of the department leaving the children behind.

Read more in the New York Daily News

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A young man was found dead in an elevator shaft at a public housing building in the Bronx, NYC. 20 year old Tito Morales died after he got crushed between the wall and the elevator car. Morales was visiting his girlfriend last night at the Adams Houses in the Bronx. He went out to buy cigarettes at 3:00 am and was found unconscious crushed between the 18th and the 19th floor an hour later. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Residents of the building said that they were often getting stuck in the elevators and that they would sometimes wait for hours before being rescued. Another resident mentioned that the only way to get out was to try to get out through the top.
It is not clear yet what exactly happened to Tito Morales. The NYPD is invetigating the elevator accident.

Continue reading →

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220px-Kelsey_01.jpgDr Frances Kelsey, a pharmacologist, doctor and FDA officer prevented the introduction of the drug Thalidomide in the American market, preventing birth defects and saving the lives of thousands of babies.

In the late 1950’s Thalidomide was a very popular drug used in Europe especially in West Germany and many other countries by pregnant mothers for morning sickness. At that time Dr. Frances Kelsey had just started to work at the FDA as a medical officer. She was assigned the review of the new drug application for approval of distribution of thalidomide in the US.

Despite intense pressure from the German manufacturer she refused to authorize the distribution of Thalidomide in the US in 1960.