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 nyc

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drunk drivingAs personal injury attorneys who have represented victims in drunk driving accidents, it is disheartening to read about the fatal crash on the Belt Parkway caused by a wrong-way driver who had two prior DWI convictions. Winston Ramdeen, a 52-year-old, drove the wrong way on the Belt Parkway, resulting in the deaths of both himself and the 79-year-old man he collided with. Ramdeen had previously been arrested for drunk driving in 2014 and was scheduled to appear in court in a few days for sentencing related to a another prior DWI accident that occurred in 2021.

While it is understandable that a judge may not have seen fit to lock up the defendant on a misdemeanor conviction, it is the responsibility of prosecutors to ensure that the defendant does not pose a danger to others while awaiting sentencing. One possible solution that could have been explored was setting conditions for the defendant’s release that would have prevented him from getting behind the wheel. For instance, the court could have ordered the defendant to install an ignition interlock device in his car, which would have required him to blow into a breathalyzer before starting the engine. This would have ensured that he was not driving while under the influence of alcohol.

It is essential that we hold accountable those responsible for drunk driving accidents, whether they result in injury or death

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accident sceneSpeeding and reckless driving are major causes of car accidents in New York, and unfortunately, young drivers are often overrepresented in these statistics. The recent news of a 20-year-old driver who died in a car accident on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens is a tragic reminder of the dangers of speeding.

According to the police, the young driver tried to swerve around a previous crash on the parkway when he lost control of his SUV, which flipped over multiple times and crashed into a tree. The victim was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved.

While we do not know the full details of this particular case, it is clear that speeding and reckless driving are often factors in car accidents involving young drivers.

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Crown Street and Nostrand Avenue where the accident occurred
Two people suffered serious personal injuries in a multi-vehicle car accident in New York City last Monday night. The accident occurred around 6:30 pm in Crown Heights, Brooklyn at the intersection of Crown Street and Nostrand Avenue.

An exclusive and jarring surveillance video from a nearby building was obtained by CBS2. The video shows a white car running a red light at high speed and T-boning an SUV that had the green light and was driving through the intersection. The impact was so intense that the SUV went airborne and crashed into another car further down the street, while the white car jumped the curb and nearly hit pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Only a few seconds later, an NYPD patrol SUV arrived in the same direction as the white car. An officer got out and ran towards the cars. CBS2 asked the police if the cruiser was chasing the white car. The police initially declined to answer but later said that the cruiser was not involved in an active vehicle pursuit at the time of the accident. In a busy city like New York, there is a policy for when a police car is allowed or not allowed to engage in a vehicle pursuit. This policy states that police should “terminate a vehicle pursuit if the risk to the public or fellow officers outweighs the risk posed if the suspect gets away.” However, too often police officers do not respect this policy and engage in reckless police pursuits that result in dangerous accidents, seriously injuring or killing civilians.

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2022 NYC car accident fatalities by categoryLast year traffic fatalities in New York City reached their second highest level since Vision Zero started in 2014.  Last year was also the first year in office for the Adams Administration and the new DOT Commissioner, Ydanis Rodriguez.

Yesterday in an oversight hearing with the City Council, Rodriguez admitted that his department has been unable to reach specific street safety benchmarks required by the Council’s landmark 2019 Streets Plan. Last year the DOT only upgraded 14 bus stops out of the 500 planned and installed 4.4 miles of the 20 miles of protected bus lanes as well as 26.3 miles of the 30 protected bike lanes required.

The bills proposed by the City Council are not going far enough according to street activists

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traffic fatalities map NYC16 children were killed in crashes in New York City last year according to a report recently published by Transportation Alternatives.  This is the highest number of child road fatalities in the city since Vison Zero started in 2014. 

Globally a total of 255 people were killed in traffic accidents in the city in 2022 compared to 275 in 2021. After last year this is the second highest number of road deaths in the city since Vision Zero started.

While Vision Zero studies clearly identified areas were safety improvements were needed, the city has left many of them unaddressed and as a result people continue to die. The numbers speak for themselves with 33% of all fatalities and 44% of pedestrian fatalities occurring in what Vision Zero calls “priority corridors”. These dangerous areas which have now been a priority for the last 10 years represent only 7% of all city streets. Fixing them proprely could lead to a significant reduction of traffic fatalities in the city.

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children car accident prevention programCar accidents are the number one cause of death for young children in New York and in the US. According to a recent study, the likelihood of children getting injured or killed by cars in New York City is much higher in school areas than in other areas of the city. Statistics show that there are 57% more auto accidents and 25% more injuries per mile in streets near schools than in other streets in the city.

Not only to reduce these types of accidents but also to provide children with safe outdoor spaces for activities, less polluted air and a safer area for arrival and dismissal, schools can apply with the DOT to get a street adjacent to the school closed to traffic during school days. However, so far the program has not been really popular with schools. Streets safety advocate say that the difficult application process is the main cause of this low popularity.

Free webinar to launch the new School Street Toolkit

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The intersection where Fruchter was struck by the car

Norman Fruchter died from his injuries after being struck by a car near his home earlier this month. Street safety activists as well as grieving family members and friends gathered yesterday night in Bay Ridge’s Owls Head Park to honor the life of  the legendary education reformer and civil right activist. The vigil was also attended by Senator Andrew Gounardes, Comptroller Brad Lander and Council Member Justin Brannan.

The driver who killed Fruchter was backing up the wrong way

Norman Fruchter died on January 4th after two weeks of pain and suffering. The accident occurred on December 22nd. Fruchter was crossing 68th Street from Owls Head Park to get to Bliss Terrace where he lives, when he was struck by a careless driver who was speeding in reverse the wrong way on 68th street. The driver backed up over him and then allowed the car to roll forward, striking the pedestrian again.

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location of the fatal pedestrian accident in ManhattanA 20 year old pedestrian died after she was struck by a racing hit and run  driver sending her barreling toward a MTA Bus that also struck her. The accident occurred last Thursday around 6:30 pm at the intersection of Third Avenue and 96th Street (see Google Map picture on the left). A witness who was working near by said the impact was so loud that she could heard it. The bus driver stayed at the scene of the accident but the driver of the car that hit her, a black sedan, never stopped. The police are still looking for the driver. The victim was rushed to the hospital but the injuries were so bad that she could not be saved. (read more in the NY Daily News)

Two more pedestrians killed earlier during the week

A senior pedestrian was killed as she was crossing the street in Lower Manhattan, last Monday morning. The accident occurred around 9:30 am. An 83 year old woman was crossing Lafayette Street when the driver of a pick up truck who was making a left from White Street onto Lafayette struck her. The 35 year old driver remained at the scene of the accident and so far has not been charged. A certified nurse assistant who happened to drive by the scene of the accident told the NY Daily news that the victim was too injured for emergency care. Other witnesses mentioned blood everywhere on the sidewalk.  Paramedics still rushed the victim to the hospital but she could not be saved.

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accident scene3 people died in 3  separate traffic accidents in New York City on Tuesday.

The first accident occurred early morning in Queens. Around 6:00 am, a pedestrian was fatally struck by a car driver on 84th St near 153rd Ave in Howard Beach. The pedestrian who was found lying unconscious on the ground by EMS was identified as 53 year old Cristina Ana Acosta. She was rushed to the hospital but did not survive. The victim was killed a block away from her home.

The 45 year old driver of the Nissan Rogue who struck her remained at the scene of the accident and was not charged. A picture of the car that struck her in the NY Post shows that the car that struck her had plates reading “JOVILOCO”. It appears that the car driver is a repeated speeding offender and has accumulated  almost 30 school zone camera violations in 3 years according to howsmydriving. 

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location of the deadly crash on the Cross Bronx expresswayA car driver died in a fiery NYC crash that occurred in the Mount Even section of the Cross Bronx Expressway, underneath University Avenue, around 12:30 am on Monday night.

According to media, 49 year old Shelly Vilsaint from Bayonne, New Jersey, was driving her 2019 Range Rover west bound of the Cross Bronx Expressway in the middle lane when she rear-ended a tractor trailer contracted by the U.S. Postal Service.  Both drivers got out of their vehicles to talk.

The accident was a minor fender-bender for which usually the NYPD does not respond anymore but the woman insisted on waiting for the police. The driver of the truck suggested they pull over but she refused. Both got back in their vehicles and shortly after another tractor trailer rear-ended the Range Rover. The car was crushed between the two trucks and Shelly Vilsaint died at the scene of the accident.