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.

Articles Tagged with auto accident

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schoolbus1This morning in Yorktown, Westchester County, a school bus carrying five high school students was involved in a collision with an SUV. The crash occurred before 9:30 a.m. on Route 132,  between Barger and Wildwoods streets as the investigation unfolds. While the front of the school bus was demolished (see video below), the students, thankfully, only sustained minor injuries and were taken to Westchester Medical Center with non-life-threatening conditions. The bus driver was also hospitalized for observation. Tragically, the SUV’s driver is currently in critical condition, possibly due to a medical emergency that could have precipitated the accident.

Understanding Your Rights After a School Bus Accident

If you or your child are involved in a school bus accident, it is crucial to seek medical attention immediately, even if no injuries are apparent at the time. Some injuries, particularly those related to trauma or whiplash, may not become evident until hours or even days after the incident.

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Vision Zero Cities 2022Transportation Alternatives “Vision Zero Cities” conference started yesterday and continues until Friday at the end of the day.  Participants can still register for selected segments.

The conference was held online yesterday with an in-person Vision Zero Cities 2022 Opening Reception hosted at Liberty Park at World Trade Center last night.

Today, sessions will be hosted in person at the Center for Architecture at 536 Laguardia Place in Manhattan.

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Pickup truck accident locationA pedestrian was fatally struck by a pick up truck in New York City last Friday around 5 pm.  51 year old Jose Rubi was crossing Maspeth Avenue in Bushwick when he was hit by a 46 year old man driving a 2015 Ford pick up. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. According to the police, the driver was attempting to make a left turn onto Vandervoort Ave when he struck Rubi. He told the police that he didn’t see the victim.

The police blamed the victim for crossing “mid block”. However it is unclear how the police could determine that the pedestrian was crossing mid-block while the driver testified that that the accident occurred as he was making a left turn at the intersection.

After the accident, the pedestrian was rushed to a nearby hospital but he didn’t survive his injuries.

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A pedestrian was killed and six other were injured by a reckless driver on Canal Street in Chinatown, New York last week.  A surveillance video of the accident shows 70 year old Henry Herman of Monroe, NY, backing up for at least half a block and then crashing into pedestrians on the busy sidewalk near the intersection of Forsyth and Canal Street. People were in shock as was the driver. He came out of his car, checked on the people he hit and said “My god” according to a witness. It was raining at the time of the accident and it may have affected the driver’s vision. The police believe the driver was accelerating into a parking spot and he might have lost control and jumped the curve. He was arrested and charged with failure to yield to pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.

56 year old Chun Deng Zhang from Queens died in the accident. Two other people were critically injured. Four others suffered non-life threatening injuries.

See video surveillance in the NY Post

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marijuanaTwo recent studies indicate that States that had legalized the recreational use of marijuana have seen a significant increase in car accidents compared to States that haven’t legalized marijuana for recreational use.  One of the studies was released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and  the other one by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). These two studies were presented last week at the Combating Alcohol- and Drug-Impaired Driving Summit, that was hosted by IIHS and HLDI.  The study presented by HLDI looked at collision claims per insured vehicle in the Sates of  Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington compared to the States of  Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming from January 2012 to 2017. Researchers found that the frequency of collision claims per insured vehicle rose a combined 6 percent by year in the States that started the retail sale of Marijuana compared to the States where Marijuana is still a controlled substance. The study presented by IIHS compared the change in crash rate in Colorado, Oregon and Washington with neighboring States that didn’t enact recreational marijuana laws and found a 5.2% increase in the rate of crashes in States that authorized the recreational use of Marijuana compared to the States that didn’t authorize it.

The numbers found by both teams of researchers are consistent with each other however because the police still have no proper tool to detect if a driver was under the effect of Marijuana when involved in an accident it is difficult to prove that the legalization of marijuana make roads less safe.

While alcohol tests after an accident are pretty reliable, there are still no available tools to test if a marijuana user was impaired by the drug at the time of the accident. Because THC remains in the body for a long period of time after the substance is  consumed, a positive THC test doesn’t imply that the driver was high behind the wheels.