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 bicycle accident nyc

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location of the tractor trailer truck accidentA cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run tractor trailer accident in New York City on Thanksgiving day. The victim was riding her  bike East on Liberty Avenue near the intersection of the Van Wick Expressway Service Road in Queens, NYC when she was struck by a tractor trailer truck making a left turn onto the Van Wick Expressway Service Road.

The victim, a 43 year old woman, was knocked down from her bicycle, and fell under the truck where she got trapped.  She was then dragged several feet by the truck. The truck driver never stopped. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

The truck driver who was behind the wheel of a 2014 Kenworth T8 Series tractor trailer truck is a 48 -year old man who was later on identified by the police. The accident is still being investigated by the police. The intersection of Liberty Avenue and Van Wick Expressway is extremely dangerous, especially for people on micro mobility devices.

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70 people died in traffic accidents in New York City during the third quarter of 2022. Among the victims were 26 pedestrians, 4 cyclists, 15 motor vehicle passengers and 25 motor vehicle operators. Pedestrians and motor vehicle operators accounted for most of the deaths while passengers fatalities reached a record high.

Since Vision Zero started in 2014, auto accident fatalities gradually declined from 82 during the third quarter of 2013 to a record low of 56 fatalities during the third quarter of 2019. However, everything changed during the Covid19 crisis of 2020 when NYC streets were almost empty and speeding caused traffic fatalities to peak again and reach 77 during the third quarter of 2020. Since then, the number of fatalities during Q3 never went back below 70.

Auto accident fatalities NYC Q3 2022

While fatalities remained higher than usual, car accident injuries stayed lower than usual

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Another cyclist was fatally struck by a tractor trailer in NYC on Wednesday. The tractor trailer was on a non truck route. The victim was identified as 25 year old Kala Santiago, a mother of 2 children, 2months and 1 and half year old. She was on her way to work and was riding her bicycle on Parkside Avenue near Parade Place in the vicinity of Prospect Park when the fatal accident occurred.

Truck driver blames the victim even though he failed to yield to her

So far the police did not charge  the truck driver who was identified as Saeed Ahmed. He told the police that the cyclist fell under his truck after she hit a vehicle parked on the side of the road. He also said he saw the cyclist in front of him and she seemed nervous. The driver also told Liam Quigley from the NY Daily News (see twitter post below) that he saw the cyclist and overtook her but stopped as soon as he saw she fell under the wheels of the truck.  Pictures of the accident seemed to indicate that Kala Santiago might have been crushed between a parked truck on the right side and the tractor trailer on her left side. Another surveillance video shows that the tractor trailer failed to yield to her and overpassed her with oncoming traffic in the other direction. As a result there was not enough space and the cyclist might have been crushed between the two trucks.

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car in bike lanes can cause deadly bicycle accidentsNew York cyclists are facing higher risk of getting injured or killed in accidents every time they have to go around vehicles parked in a bike lane.  To deter drivers from doing so, the city is proposing a new law that would allow citizen not only to report truck and cars parked in the bike lanes but also to get a percentage of the money the city will make by ticketing the offender.

New bill would pay back citizen $43.75 per vehicle reported to the DOT

A bill proposed by NYC councilman Lincoln Restler wants to use citizen enforcement to fight back against the multiple motor vehicles obstructing bike lanes. Bikers encountering violators would snap a picture of the vehicle and submit it to the department of transportation for review. If legit, the vehicle owner would then receive  a $175 ticket. The city would then give back 25% or $43.75 to the person who reported the violator.

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17 pedestrians, 4 cyclists, 14 passengers and 22 motorists died in auto accidents in NYC  during the two hottest months of the summer. Truck accidents were close to record highs while bus accidents were slightly lower than usual.

35 people died in car accidents in New York City in July and 22 in August for a total of 57 fatalities compared to respectively 51, 42, 39, 32, 43, 44, 41, 50 and 56 during the months of July and August 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. The number of fatalities was even higher this summer than what it was during the summer of 2013 before Vision Zero started.

The month of July was particularly bad with a record 35 people dying during this month. The only time since 2013 that this number of people were killed in traffic accidents was in September 2020. Since the Covid19 crisis of 2020, traffic accidents fatalities have been much higher than what they were the years before. Among those who died in July were 11 pedestrians, 3 cyclists, 7 motor vehicle passengers and 14 motor vehicle operators. The number of motor vehicle operator deaths in July reached a level never seen since the beginning of Vision Zero except again in September 2020.

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Truck Smart Guide NYCWhile trucks remain essential in new York City, they pose a serious risk to other road users in particular to pedestrians and cyclists.  According to statistics, 67% of  truck accidents involving a cyclist or a pedestrian result in serious injury or death.

The largest the truck, the most dangerous it is

Large blind angles can hide pedestrians and cyclists when they stand in front or on the side of a truck. Additionnally the heaviest a truck is, the longest it will take for the truck to stop.

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Traffic fatalities on the rise in the Bronx NYCAn 18 year old man was critically injured in an e-bike accident in the Bronx, NYC. The accident occurred on Saturday morning on Schley Avenue near the Throggs Neck Houses NYCHA complex. The young man who was was riding his e-bike on the sidewalk changed paths and moved onto the roadway when he got side-swiped by the SUV.  He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition where he is still struggling for his life. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. He was questioned by the police and was not charged. (reads more in AMNY)

Micro-mobility device users need to be better protected in the Bronx

While the police do not suspect any criminality, the accident  clearly highlights that infrastructures protecting cyclists and pedestrians alike are still missing in the Bronx, especially in family housing areas where it is expected that young people are riding their bikes around.  Compared to Manhattan and Queens where 75% of the protected bike lanes are installed in the city, only 6% of the bike lanes are installed in the Bronx, even though an equal percentage of residents use micro-mobility devices in every borough. Every New Yorker should be equally protected while they ride their bike, e-bike or e-scooter.

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52 pedestrians, 5 cyclists, 27 passengers and 29 motor vehicle operators died in crashes in New York City during the first semester of 2022 compared to respectively 58, 5, 16 and 39 during the first 6 months of 2021.  The total number of fatalities comes to 113  for the period under review compared to 118 for the same period a year earlier. While the total number of crash fatalities slightly declined for the first six months of 2022 compared to the first six months of 2021, it remains much higher than any other years since Vision Zero started. Pedestrian fatalities slightly declined, cyclists fatalities remained stable and while drivers fatalities were less, passenger deaths hit a record high.

car accident deaths New York semester 1 2022
Crash injuries in New York City during the first semester increased from 22,898 in 2021 to 23,963 in 2022. While the increase is significant it remains below the number of injuries reported before the covid19 crisis. Pedestrian injuries went up from 3,128 to 4,005 as well as passenger injuries from 5,492 to 7,361. Cyclist injuries declined from 2,303 to 2,027 and driver injuries as well from 10,975 to 10,570.

NYC crash injuries sem 1 2022

New York Pedestrian fatalities remain above 50 during the first six months of the year

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Ghost bike showing locations of previous NYC deadly bicycle accidentsThe NYPD just announced that an e-bike rider was killed in a an accident in Manhattan on July 11th around 12:40 am. The accident occurred on the Second Avenue bike lane near 89th Street. For reasons that so far are unknown, the cyclist who was a delivery person, lost control of the bike and hit a pole. He suffered traumatic brain injury and was pronounced dead upon his arrival to the hospital.

Another young delivery man on a bike died in a crash in the Bronx a week before.  21 year old Christian Castelan was killed by a hit and run driver at the intersection of East 172nd Street and Metcalf Avenue in the Bronx. According to witnesses, a white jeep that had been reported stolen a week before, turned too fast, hit the young cyclist and pinned him against another car. As witnesses ran to help the victim and gathered around him, the driver, a woman, got out of the car, picked up a baby on the back seat and got on board of another car that came to pick her up. Witnesses did not even notice she disappeared.  Christian Castelan had just turned 21 year old last May. He was born in New York and then returned to Mexico when he was a young boy. After he turned 18, he returned to the Bronx and worked as a food delivery person. A vigil was held last Thursday night.

Also in the Bronx, five days earlier, another e-bike rider was killed in a car accident. 26 year old Victoriano Angeles was driving his e-bike on St. Ann’s Ave in Mott Haven in the Bronx when he collided with a 2013 Chevrolet Impala.

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The New York block where a cyclist and two pedestrians were struckA reckless driver who tried to flee the police in Brooklyn, NYC, struck a bicyclist and two pedestrians, continued driving, struck three other pedestrians, crashed into a vehicle and then into a wall before running away with a passenger. One suspect is in custody while the other is still at large.

According to the police, two officers patrolling in Bedford-Stuyvesant saw a car with mismatched plates which is usually an indication that the car might have been stolen. They also noticed that the two people inside the car were smoking marijuana.   As they got out of the police car to talk to the driver after turning on their lights and pulling the car over, the driver of the vehicle took off.

As he was fleeing from the police, the reckless driver  first struck a cyclist and two pedestrians at the intersection of Macon Street and Ralph Avenue. He did not stop and continued speeding on Ralph Avenue. As he reached Hasley Street, the driver hit a grandmother and her grandson who were crossing the street. He then crashed into another car and careened into the wall of building. The driver and the passenger then got out of the car and ran away.