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 car accident NY

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Granny road where the deadly crash occurredPolice are looking for a hit and run driver who struck two siblings, killing one and injuring the other in a car accident in Coram, NY. 

The crash occurred last Wednesday night around 7:30 pm on Granny Road near the intersection of Middle Island Road. Tyler Philips and Krystal Randolph, both 13 year old, were walking back home from the park. They were heading west in the bike lane when a motorist travelling in the same direction hit them. The car driver never stopped. The teenagers were walking in the bike lane because there were no sidewalks.

“Tyler is a hero” said his grieving mom

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car accident scene in ManhattanIf you were injured in a car accident in New York City or NY state, you should be able to obtain at least $50,000 compensation for your medical bills,  loss of  earnings and other out-of-pocket costs regardless of who was at fault in the accident because New York is among the 12 States in the US that have a No-Fault coverage. One can also purchase excess no-fault coverage up to $175,000.

The New York’s automobile No-Fault Law was enacted in 1970 with the goal to get insurance benefits quickly to anyone involved in a car accident regardless of who was at fault in the accident. It was initially a straight forward process that helped victims getting quickly compensated without having to go through long and complicated litigation.  However, under the pretext of abuse, insurance companies have made it so complicated to file a claim that you may need the help of an attorney to help you navigate the process and make sure you obtain proper compensation.

What does the No-Fault cover in NY State?

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car accident scene in ManhattanThere are multiple ways to reduce car accident deaths in New York City.  One of the most successful ones has been the implementation of speed cameras and red light cameras in the city and the lowering of the speed limit to 25mph. The camera program as well as the speed limit control are in the hands of the state legislature and governor in Albany and as a result, not only the city of New York has to seek re-authorization for its automated enforcement program every 4 years as Albany still considers them “demonstrations” but also the city has to beg Albany any time it wants to make a change to this program.

As car accident fatalities in New York City are reaching highs never seen since the beginning of Vision Zero,  street safety advocate organization Transportation Alternatives is recommending Albany to:

  • Immediately authorizing home rule for the City of New York to have control over life-saving automated enforcement programs and speed limits.
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NY pileup due to icy conditionsFreezing rain caused dozens of car accidents around New York City and in the tri-state area on Wednesday morning. While accidents resulted mostly in pile ups and damages to cars at least one man died and multiple people were injured.

Driver who exited from his car fatally hit by other car sliding on ice

The fatal car accident occurred on a ramp connecting the eastbound Cross Country Parkway to the northbound Bronx River Parkway in Mount Vernon.  After multiple vehicles collided on the ramp due to icy conditions, a man whose vehicle was stopped, got out of his car and was fatally hit by another vehicle that slid on the ice. The passenger of the same vehicle attempted CPR on him and so did the emergency personnel at the scene but the man could not be saved.

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Sadly Thanksgiving Holidays are not only associated with good family time but also with a rise in car accident fatalities and injuries. National statistics show that car crashes increase by 17% during the day and the night before Thanksgiving as families travel across the United States to get together. Consumption of alcohol is also a contributor in many accidents that occur during the Holidays.

overpass where the deadly crash occurred NY19 year old loses control of vehicle packed with 5 passengers killing two of them and seriously injuring two others

In the New York area, two young people died in a car accident in Long Island on Thursday night. According to the police, the driver of a Honda Pilot who was carrying 5 other passengers sideswiped a Toyota Corolla on the Southern State Parkway near Hempstead and lost control of the vehicle. The car then crashed into an overpass located near exit 21.  The driver, identified as 19 year old Herson Gonzalez survived while two 23 year old passengers, Patricia Rakissoon from Bay Shore and Elliott Bryant from Brooklyn, died. Two other passengers were transported to the hospital with serious injuries while the driver and another occupant were also transported to the hospital to be examined. The occupants of the Toyota were not injured. The exact causes of the accident are still being investigated.  (read more in the Nassau Daily Voices) (Picture of the location of the deadly crash: courtesy of Google Map).

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car accident in NYC38,680 people died in auto accidents in the US in 2020 compared to 36,096 a year earlier according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The 7.2 % increase in crashes occurred as the total number of miles travelled by motor vehicles decreased by 13.2%, an indication that roads were much more dangerous during the pandemic. The rate of fatalities by 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) raised from 1.1 VMT in 2019 to 1.37 VMT in 2021. This is the highest rate of crash fatalities recorded in the US since 2007.

The region that includes NY, NJ, CT, and PA had  the highest increase of fatal auto accidents

When looking at the increase of fatal motor vehicle accidents by regions between 2019 and 2020, region 2 that includes NY, PA NJ and CT was the worst with a 10% increase in traffic accident deaths.

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road work signRoad construction accidents have been increasing during the pandemic. According to a recent article in Construction Dive, 60% of contractors reported an increase in crashes in their work zone last year.

During the lockdown as construction work was deemed essential in many States, Department of Transportation officials thought that significantly less cars on the road would provide a good opportunity for them to execute some road work without blocking and disturbing too much traffic.  However, with less traffic on the road, speeding and other reckless driving behavior increased and contractors reported  more crashes in highway work zones all over the country during the lockdown.  In a PEW study that was released last year, many States recorded an increased in work zone crashes despite a decline in traffic in the US by 40% in April and 26% in May.

444 reckless drivers ticketed during Operation Hard Hat in NY State

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accident sceneTwo teenagers recently died in two separate DWI car crashes in Rockland County NY (see previous blog). In an effort to prevent more drunk driving accidents among students, officials organized a simulation of what a deadly DWI or DUI car crash looks like in reality.

Community emotionally hurt by two previous teen drunk driving deaths

The demonstration took place in the town of Clarkson where 16 year old Vlad Mosyuk died at the beginning of the month after getting in a car with his friend, 18 year old Alan Mendoza and another 17 year old girl. Alan was drunk behind the wheel and got involved in a three-car crash. Vlad died, the girl was seriously injured and the young drunk driver was charged with vehicular homicide, reckless driving and driving while intoxicated. The accident took place less than two weeks after another teen, Jacqueline Zangrilli died in a similar DWI accident in the nearby town of Montebello.

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The road where the deadly NY crash occurred3 High School Students were injured and one died in a car accident in Rockland County, NY. All teenagers were students from Clarkstown North High School. 18 year old Allan Mendoza was driving a Mitsubishi Lancer with 3 other students from his high school on board last Thursday night around 11:00 pm when they got involved in a 3 vehicle crashes.

The accident occurred near 256 Congers Road in New City.  Among those who suffered the most serious injuries were a 16 year old boy and a 17 year old girl. The 16 year old boy died from his injuries on Friday. He was identified as Vladzslav Hvalyk.

The 18 year old driver was drunk behind the wheel and was charged with reckless driving, driving while intoxicated, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second degree manslaughter aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault. He was arraigned and sent to Rockland County Jail pending a future Court date.

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distracted driver can cause crashesA NY State Trooper who sustained catastrophic injuries after being struck by a distracted driver in Long Island, NY  recently died. The accident occurred 3 years ago. Joseh Gallager who was 38 year old at the time, was helping a disabled motorist on the Long Island Expressway when he was struck by Jesse Cohen. Investigation found that at the time of the accident, Cohen was text messaging with 3 different people and had 3 social media apps open in the 20 minutes prior to the accident. Gallager suffered traumatic brain injury and lost the ability to talk, walk or eat without help. He passed away on March 26th, leaving behind his wife and two chidden as well as his parents, sisters and brothers. His funeral took place last week (see obituaries in NewsDay).

Gallager is one of many victims of distracted driving. According to CBS News, in the last 3 weeks, 3 other car accidents in Nassau County were caused by distracted driving.  In 2019, distracted driving killed 3,142 people in the US, 10% more than in 2018 according to the most recent statistics from the NHTSA.

The death  of State Trooper Joe Gallager, occurred just before the beginning of  “Distracted Driving Awareness Month” and as a reminder, the police in Nassau County have been launching a major campaign enforcing distracted driving laws on their roads.