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 brooklyn wrongful death

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Location of the fatal pedestrian accident in Brooklyn, NYCA motorist fatally hit a pedestrian in Brooklyn, NY and took off on foot last Saturday morning around 8:00 am. The pedestrian was 52 year old Angel Aguilar-Duran, a private sanitation worker on the job. At the time of the accident, Angel was standing  in the street, guiding the driver of the garbage truck backing down on Hope Street near the Havemeyer Street intersection. As they were maneuvering, the driver of a 2005 Honda Odyssey minivan got impatient  and attempted to go around the garbage truck. She struck Angel who fell under the wheels of the minivan and dragged him under the vehicle for 50 feet.

The driver of the minivan took off on foot 

The sanitation worker was stuck under the minivan with his legs sticking out. People in the street started to run toward the minivan to help while others ran to a nearby firehouse to ask for help. The passenger got out of the minivan while the driver stayed inside and stayed silent. The passenger tried to pull the sanitation worker from under the car but people around him told him not to move him. He then picked up a car jack from the minivan and hoisted the vehicle up. Then in the weirdest move, the driver of the minivan got out of the vehicle and took off on foot. A few minutes later, the passenger did the same despite witnesses yelling at them to stay at the scene of the accident.

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Monthly ambulance crashes in NYCAn elderly woman died and 8 other people were injured after a car T-boned an ambulance in New York City.

The accident took place last Sunday afternoon around 3:00 pm in Flatlands, Brooklyn, NYC. An Hatzola ambulance was transporting a 95 year old woman who suffered a cardiac arrest  to the hospital. The emergency vehicle was  heading South on Schenectady Avenue with its lights and sirens on according to witnesses.  As it crossed Avenue N, the ambulance was T-boned by a car travelling west bound on Avenue N.

A witness told the NY Daily News that the light had just turned from orange to red when the ambulance crossed the intersection and that the driver of the black Nissan who was speeding might not have heard the ambulance sirens.

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location of the blakhoe accidentA New York City pedestrian crossing the street was killed by a backhoe on Friday afternoon. 61 year old Estelle Davis was walking in a crosswalk near New Lots and Van Sinderen Avenues. She was looking down at her phone when a backhoe that was doing work nearby struck her.  The backhoe belongs to Vail Industry, an independent contractor that was hired by Con Ed to perform some work in the area. Estelle Davis was on her way to work. She was a nurse working two jobs and also serves as pastor on Sunday.

The police thought initially that the woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver but a video surveillance captured images of the accident. Investigation is still ongoing but it is not clear yet why heavy construction equipment was backing up in a pedestrian area with no protection or warning. A flag worker was present at the scene but he was positioned on the other side of the machine. (Read more in the NY Daily News )

Extensive regulations have been developed by OSHA to prevent pedestrians being run over by heavy construction equipment

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location of the school bus accidentA 6 year old pedestrian was fatally struck by a school bus in New York City. The accident took place on Wednesday morning near the intersection of South Fifth Street and Hooper Street in Williamsburg. 6 year old Shimon Fried was on his way to school with his older brother.  They were about to get on the school bus when the worst happened. A video from inside the bus shows that they both crossed in front of the  bus with the 9 year-old brother in front, followed a few seconds later by the youngest. The 9 year old got on board and the bus driver closed the doors and took off, running over young Shimon and continuing on its way. The video in the bus shows that the bus appears to rise up as it runs over the child. The driver did not stop and continued  to drive.

A MTA Bus driver found the victim lying on the street

The victim was discovered by  Francisca Biascbrea, a MTA Bus driver. She first thought the victim lying on the road was a doll. She stopped the bus and got out.  She immediately called 911 after she realized it was a young boy.

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location of the fatal e-bike accidentTwo e-bike riders died in NYC accidents  during which they lost control of their bike while no other vehicles were involved since the beginning of this year. Another similar accident occurred around Christmas (see previous blog).

On Thursday January 6th around 2:45 pm, 26 year old Cheng Wang was riding a e-bike on Ralph Avenue. As he was near Avenue D in Flatbush, Wang lost control of his e-bike and fell to the ground. EMS found him unconscious in the street and rushed him to the hospital. While unconscious, Wang was still alive when he arrived at the hospital. He died less than 12 hours later from internal injuries. It is not clear what caused Wang to loose control of his e-bike. The segment of Ralph Avenue where he fell is in an industrial area and the pavement has a lot of cracks.  The weather was very cold as well and the road might have been icy. (read more in StreetBlog)

Less than 24 hours later, on Friday January 7, a man on a e-bike crashed into a parked car in the Bronx and died from his injuries, The accident occurred around 12:45 am. The victim was riding an e-bike on East 149th Street in the Bronx when he crashed into the back of a car parked next to the curb. A surveillance video shows the cyclist riding in the middle of the street, then veering to the right and hitting the car parked against the curb. It is not clear why the victim piloted his  e-bike that way. Maybe there was a pothole, debris on the ground or black ice? The victim who according to the NY Daily News was in his 30ies was not wearing a helmet. He suffered major head trauma. EMS found him unconscious in the street and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The man did not have any identification on him.

 

 

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Location of the deadly e-bike accidentA e-bicyclist died in an accident in New York City a little bit after midnight on Christmas.

The accident occurred in a very dangerous area of sunset park in Brooklyn where several people were previously killed in traffic accidents.

33 year old Alejandro Santos  was riding a e-bike on Third Avenue near the intersection of 24th Street when he collided with the rear of a flat-truck bed that was unoccupied at the time of the accident. The young man was transported to the hospital with serious injuries to his legs as well as internal injuries. He died later on at the hospital.

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location of the fatal car accidentTwo women car pooling to work were killed after their car was T-boned by a speeding driver who blew a red light in East New York. The fatal car accident took place at the intersection of Flatlands Ave and Pennsylvania Av.

Sandra Liberice and Nerlye Sainvil were car pooling together to work. Both women were healthcare workers taking care of mentally disabled children at a group home run by the nonprofit organization “Services for the Undeserved. They had a night shift.  Sainvil had picked up Liberice and they were carpooling together to work. They were less than a mile away from their destination when the accident occurred. Video surveillance showed that the two women were travelling East on Flatland Ave. After the light turned green at the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave, Sainvil started to slowly drive through the intersection when all of sudden a speeding BMW T-boned them at full speed. The two occupants of the BMW were able to extricate themselves from their car and fled the scene of the accident on foot leaving the two women dying behind them.  They both died at the scene of the accident.

Both women were essential workers and had been going to work during the covid-19 lockdown. They both immigrated from Haiti. Nerlye  Sainvil immigrated to the US in 2001, She had a Law degree from Haiti and initially studied to work as a paralegal. She was hired as a direct care worker at the group home and decided to stay there.  Sainvil was 58 year old. She was a church goer and she as suppsoed to get married to her fiancé this year but the wedding was postponed because of the covid-19 crisis. Her fiancé and her 8 siblings were in shock. She was suppsoed to go to visit he sister in Pennsylvania during the holidays.

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location of the deadly pedestrian accidentA pedestrian was killed by a reckless driver in Brooklyn last week. The 53 year old woman was crossing the street in the crosswalk at the intersection of Glenwood Road and 55th Street when she was struck by a car driven by 22 year old Michael Rajpaul.

Rajpaul was chased by another driver who he previously hit

Previous to hitting the pedestrian with his 2008 Hyundai, Rajpaul had a fender bender with a BMW. Instead of staying at the scene of the accident he sped away and the driver of the BMW chased him. As he drove South on 55th in the wrong way and at high speed, he ran a red light and was t-boned by another car driving through the greenlight. His car spun around and he hit a 53 year old pedestrian wo got thrown into a parked car. She was rushed to the hospital but the impact was so intense that she died from her injuries.  None of the drivers were injured.

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location of the bike collision
A New York cyclist who was struck by a car died from his injuries one week after the accident occurred. On Saturday November 7th around 1:00 am , Juan Tiu-Caxaj was riding his bicycle on Autumn Avenue. As he crossed Fulton Street he collided with a car heading westbound on Fulton Street. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. He was not charged. The young victim suffered head trauma and was transported to the hospital. His condition was stable but  it deteriorated and he died from his injuries a week later.

According to the police, the cyclist rode through a stop sign just before the collision.  The investigation is still ongoing to find out the exact cause of the accident.

According to Vision Zero studies, East New York is among the most dangerous areas in New York for bicyclists. However so far not much has been done in this neighborhood to promote bicyclists safety compared to other areas of New York City like Manhattan.

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location of the fatal truck accidentA female panhandler was fatally struck by a tractor trailer in New York City yesterday. The accident occurred at the intersection of Linden Boulevard and Fountain Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, NYC. The 40 year old woman was a local character. Her first name was Dona but local residents nicknamed her “loca”. The woman who was squatting near the intersection would come out of her house with a long gown and approach cars for change.  If drivers didn’t give her money she would scream and curse at them. Locals would always keep an eye out for her.  A man who witnessed the accident told the NY Daily News that he regularly gave her money and that he would always warn her to be careful about the traffic and she would just laugh at him.  Sadly the worst happened yesterday morning. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident and was not charged.

In Brooklyn, young adults are the most at risk of getting injured or killed in a large truck accidents

According to statistics from the New York DMV, there are between 3,500 and 4,000 large truck accidents in Kings County every year. While the DMV is still working on the 2020 numbers, it reported 8 fatalities and 523 personal injuries in 2019 preliminary statistics compared to 7 fatalities and 502 personal injuries in 2018.  Among the 3,442 large truck accidents reported in 2019 preliminary statistics, 82 involved pedestrians (4 fatalities and 35 personal injuries), 42 involved cyclists (2 fatalities and 23 personal injuries) and 15 involved motorcyclists (no fatalities and 7 personal injuries).  Among the 523 personal injuries reported in 2019 in Kings County, 24 were serious, 41 were moderate, 414 minor and 21 of them were reported as level of severity unknown. More than a quarter of the injured victims were in their 30ies, around 20% were in their 20ies and another 20% were in their 40ies. Among the 8 people killed half of them were between 21 and 29 year old, 2 of them between 60 and 69 year old, one was in his fifties and another one was a teenager.