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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rear-car-seatSince November 1st, all children under the age of 2 instead of 1 previously, must use a rear-facing car seat when riding in a car in New York State. This requirement is coming on top of the actual New York State Child Passenger Restraint Law that was enacted in 1982 and requires that:

  • all children under the age of 4 ride in child safety seats
  • all children ride in child restraint systems until their 8th birthday
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Location of the fatal accident caused by drunk driver Upstate NY3 people died and 6 were injured in a car accident in Upstate New York on Sunday morning. The victims were all members of the same family and were on their way to Niagara Falls. They were all riding in a Kia Sedona minivan when they were T-boned by a drunk driver who blew a stop sign in Sheldon, a small town in Upstate New York.

Among those who died were 4 year old Kiara Hernandez, her mother, 32 year old Mayelin Broti-Castro and her grandmother, 47 year old Ondina Castro de la Cruz. 6 other family members all from Perth Amboy, NJ, were also injured in the crash and taken to the hospital. The driver was identified as 20 year old Richard Sawicki. He was also injured in the accident, transported to the hospital and later on taken into custody where he is being held in lieu of $200,000 bond. He is facing vehicular homicide, DWI and reckless driving charges. He is due in Court on June 10.

Drunk Driver blew the stop sign

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3 pedestrians were injured in a car accident in Long Island, NY, after a drunk driver jumped the curb and struck them. 66-year-old Mitchell  Messling was intoxicated and witnesses said he was driving erratically on West Merrick Road in Freeport when he jumped the curb and struck a family of 3 yesterday afternoon around 4:00 pm.  A 11-year-old boy was seriously injured and had to be evacuated by helicopter while his parents were rushed to the hospital by ambulance.

The driver was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, second-degree vehicular assault, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of driving while intoxicated, reckless endangerment, and reckless driving. He is due in Court Today in Hempstead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6QRlyQjnVs

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Location of the deadly limo accident3 months after 20 people were killed in a limousine accident in Schoaries, NY (see previous blog), the National Transportation Safety Board has still not been able to inspect the vehicle. The NTSB has not been able to get closer than 15 feet from the vehicle because the local district attorney is blocking them from doing so. The accident was the deadliest of all traffic accidents in the US since 2009.  The vehicle was a modified 2001 Ford excursion that had failed a state inspection and was driven by a driver that didn’t have the credentials to drive such vehicle.

In certain area such as aviation or train transportation, the NTSB has the legal authority to control the investigation but in highway crashes, local authorities are in charge and in this case the local district attorney has been keeping the federal agency from completing their investigation.

Loss of critical evidence

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hit and run location
3 pedestrians died in car accidents in New York this week-end.

Staten Island Pedestrian killed in Brooklyn

65 year old Losif Morgenshteyn was fatally struck by a hit and run driver as he was changing a flat tire on the driver side of his car. The accident occurred on Saturday night around 6:30 pm. on Shore Parkway near East 28th Street in Sheepshead Bay. According to CBS News, the man was hit by a white Toyota minivan with Pennsylvania plates. 3 people came out of the van and checked on the condition of the pedestrian before speeding away. The van was found empty about a mile away and the police are still looking for the driver. When the EMS arrived they gave the man CPR and then rushed him to the hospital. Unfortunately he couldn’t be saved and he was pronounced dead upon his arrival.

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Location of the deadly limo accident
After 20 people died in a limousine accident in Schoharies, NY, the first result of the investigation indicate that the limousine wasn’t supposed to be on the road because it had failed inspection and that the driver who blew the stop sign didn’t have the proper license to drive a stretch limo. Additionally he was also recently busted twice on drug charges.  The limousine belonged to Prestige Limousine, a shoddy company operating  out of a low budget hotel that has a history of failed inspections. Its shady owner, Shaheb Hussain,  became a federal informant after he was caught in a scheme to illegally obtain driver’s licenses in the Albany area. Yesterday, officials suspended Prestige Limousine operations and seized 3 vehicles.

Worried limo occupants sent texts of concern to relatives before the accident

The limousine was transporting 17 friends –  four sisters, two brothers and several young couples – on their way to a birthday party. They were supposed to be picked up by a party bus to go to a brewery in Cooperstown  but they were informed that the  bus broke down on its way to pick them up. Instead they were picked up by the shoddy stretch limousine.  Some of the people on  board texted relatives that they were worried about the vehicle conditions.

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5 young pedestrians from Long Island, NY, were injured in a car accident involving a drunk driver. On Sunday afternoon, 59 year old, Thomas Murphy was drunk behind the wheel of his Mercedes when he struck a group of 5 boy scouts walking on the shoulder of David Terry Road in Shoreham. The boys aged from 12 to 16 year old were all injured in the accident, one of them so badly that he had to be transported to the hospital by helicopter. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated and was held overnight at the police station. The 5 boys, including the one who was critically injured, are expected to survive. They were on their way to a hike onto the Greenbelt Trail in Manorville organized by Troop 161 in Shoreham when the accident occurred.  Read more in NewsDay

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Speeding and maybe alcohol may have caused the death of two off-duty police officers who went for a joy ride in a rental Maserati after a wedding celebration. Last Sunday afternoon, NYPD Officer Michael Colangelo  married Katherine Berger at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, Ulster County. After the celebration was over, a little bit after 11:00 pm, detective John Martinez who had worked in NYPD’s special operations with Colangelo in the past and another unidentified passenger went for a joy ride in a Maserati rented for the wedding. Sadly they never came back, the car hit a tree killing both the driver and the front-seat passenger . The unidentified back-seat passenger was rushed to the hospital and is expected to survive.

The 31 year old groom was behind the wheel when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed in into a tree. He was speeding and neither he and his friend Martinez were wearing a seatbelt. The backseat passenger who only suffered injuries was wearing a seat belt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpmzEtZZo34

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DWIAn intoxicated driver lost control of her vehicle and crashed into a busy Weschester restaurant injuring multiple people including 4 critically. The tragedy occurred at Enzo, a popular Italian restaurant in Mamaroneck on Sunday night around 8:00 pm.

79 year old Roseanne Cassano of Yonkers just had diner at Enzo with a friend and both women left the restaurant and got into Roseanne’s car that was parked in a handicap parking space. According to witnesses, the women stayed in the car for almost 10 minutes before Roseanne started to back up. The video below shows the driver trying to exit the parking space, first clipping a car before crossing the street in reverse and crashing into the restaurant.  The intoxicated driver injured 9 people including 4 critically.

When the police arrived, the woman refused the voluntary alcohol test and the police had to get a court order. She is due back in Court on Thursday after being released on bail.

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LIRR_TrainA woman died after her car that crashed onto the Long Island Rails Road tracks was hit by a train. The high winds may have pushed the car onto the tracks according to the preliminary investigation.

29 year old Elizabeth Gallager lost control of her car near the Port Jefferson branch of the Long Island Rail Road in East Northport. She crashed down an embankment onto the tracks. A train plowed into the car around 2:10 am. The service was suspended for 5 hours. Investigators are not sure if the young woman died when the car hit the tracks or after the train hit the car.

Gallager who is a teacher had a second job at a restaurant. She was driving home in a powerful storm that pummeled Tri-State Area when the accident occured. She’s among the 9 victims who died in the NorthEast Winter storm.