New York Bicycle Accident

Published on: April 10, 2015

Southern District Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled Wednesday that the federal government is “100 percent liable” for a Postal Service trailer crash that killed Marilyn Dershowitz while she was riding her bicycle in New York. Our partners Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Sagir represented the Dershowitz estate

Our partners, New York personal injury lawyers Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Sagir represented the family of Marilyn Dershowitz, a retired Manhattan Supreme Court special referee who died in a bicycle accident during which she was hit by a postal tractor trailer truck. Following a two-week bench trial in February U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn found the federal government 100% liable for the fatal accident in a 72 page Opinion.

The accident happened on Saturday July 2, 2011. Marylin and her husband Nathan Dershowitz of Dershowitz, Eiger & Adelson, and the brother of Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, were riding their bikes on West 29th street between Ninth and Tenth Ave in Manhattan, New York. Both were wearing a helmet. As they rode under an overpass connecting two US postal mail facilities, the road was narrowed by a protruding Postal Trailer that was perpendicularly parked at a dock. As Mrs Dershowitz was about to ride her bike in the narrower side way, just behind her another postal trailer, driven by Ian Clement, was competing with a silver minivan to get in first in the narrower roadway as due to the parallel parked trailers to the south and the protruding perpendicular Postal Trailer to the north, cars were not able to travel side-by-side. The postal trailer got in before the minivan but he didn’t see the cyclist and hit her as he was veering to the right to be able to fit into the roadway.

Southern District Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ruled Wednesday that the federal government was 100 percent liable for the accident. Netburn said “a preponderance of the credible evidence” showed that Clement’s driving and the placement of a postal trailer protruding into the street were the “sole, proximate cause of the decedent’s injuries. Mrs. Dershowitz was not contributorily negligent.”

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Published on: March 24, 2015

The number of people who suffered personal injury or who were killed in a traffic accident in New York City is at its lowest in January compared to the same month in the 3 previous years

By GGCRBHS&M

3449 people were injured and 13 people died in traffic accidents in New York City in January 2015 compared to respectively 3899 and 21 in January 2014 , 3993 and 28 in January 2013 and 4179 and 21 in January 2012. These numbers are encouraging and may indicate that the Vision Zero Program started approximately a year ago may be effective in making New York City streets safer. Data from December 2014 and January 2015 also show, for the first time, two consecutive months during which the total monthly number of traffic fatalities was below 14. The total number of motor vehicle accidents was stable. Below are graphs depicting traffic accident rates from January, 2013 to January 2015 for various types of accidents for each month for this time period in NYC.

6 pedestrians died in traffic accidents in January 2015 compared to 12 in January 2014, 20 in January 2013 and 12 in January 2012. This is the lowest number since May 2013. This is also half the number recorded the same month a year before. In January 2015, 902 pedestrians suffered personal injury after being struck by a car compared to respectively 1075, 1107 and 1045 in 2014, 2013 and 2012. Its the first time that this number is below 1000 for the month of January.

115 people were injured and 1 person died in bicycle accidents in January. Bike accidents are usually at their lowest in New York City during the months of January and February because less people use their bikes because of the bad weather and the snow.

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Published on: March 1, 2015

The number of pedestrians dying after being struck by a vehicle in New York City decreased by 23% in 2014 compared to 2013 while the number of cyclists killed in bicycle accidents increased by 73% for the same period according to recent NYPD statistics

By GGCRBHS&M

10 pedestrians died and 1220 suffered personal injury in traffic accidents last December bringing the total number of pedestrian deaths to 135 in 2014 compared to 168 in 2013 and 130 in 2014 according to car crashes data recently released by the NYPD. The total number of pedestrians injured in vehicle accidents for 2014 was 11,000 compared to 11,978 the previous year, a decline of 8%. While pedestrian deaths are back around the level of 2012, deaths as a result of a bicycle accident increased by 73% with 19 fatal bicycle accidents in 2014 compared to 11 in 2013. The number of people injured in a bicycle accident decreased by 2% with 3960 cyclists injured in 2014 compared to 4043 in 2014.

Globally New York City roads were less dangerous in 2014 than in 2013 with a total of 250 people dying in crashes in 2014 compared to 286 in 2013 – a decline of 12% – and 50,896 road users suffering personal injury in 2014 compared to 54,818 in 2013 – a decline of 7%.

Even though pedestrian deaths and injuries decreased in 2014, the number of pedestrians suffering personal injury in a vehicle accident was above 1200 in December, the highest monthly number for the last two years. Monthly pedestrian deaths never went over 15 in 2014, an improvement compared to 2013, a year during which the monthly number of deaths jumped to 25 in November and 20 in January.

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Published on: November 7, 2014

Is the “safe distance” Law effective in reducing bicycle accidents in New York State?

By GGCRBHS&M

The Merrill’s Law or “safe distance” Law was created after Merrill Cassell, a devoted cyclist, died in a bicycle accident during which he was struck by a bus that sideswiped him as he rode his bike along Route 119 in Greenburg (see video below).

The Law was enacted 5 years ago but very few tickets have been written under the Law.

In a recent article in the Lohud, Theresa Juva-Brown explains why this law offers little protection to cyclists.Read the article here.

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