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 new york pedestrian accident

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location of the fatal pedestrian and e-bike collisionA pedestrian died from his injuries after being struck by an e-bike in NYC. The accident took place on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. 71 year old Hing Chung, the manager of the Dim Sum restaurant Jing Fong, stepped on the bike lane between two cars and was hit by a 39 year old cyclist travelling North on the bike lane. The accident occurred a few steps away from his restaurant. The e-bike rider stayed at the scene of the accident and was not charged.

Hing Chung was hospitalized and later on died from his injuries at the hospital. The restaurant manager immigrated from Hong Kong more than 30 years ago and was a friendly and funny man who was loved by his clients and employees. (read more in the Gothamist)

3 fatal collisions between pedestrians and e-bikes in NYC since 2014

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view from inside the Brooklyn Hair salon where a car crashed car jumped the curb injuring 5 people in NYC last week. The accident took place in Brooklyn last Tuesday Morning around 8:00 am. A large SUV collided with a sedan at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Third Street in Gowanus sending both vehicles flying in separate directions. The sedan ended up in the front door of the Elements Hair Salon (see picture from Google map on the left) located right at the corner of the intersection while the SUV struck a bicyclist and a razor scooter rider. The bicyclist, the scooter rider and the 3 occupants of the SUV were all transported to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

The owner of the Hair Salon, Robert Santana, was just a few feet away from the Salon and saw the accident unfolding in front of him. He told the media that he was a few minutes behind his regular schedule that morning. He felt lucky he was not there at the time of the accident.

After crashing into the Hair Salon, the people in the sedan fled the scene of the accident on foot.

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location of the van accidentSeven pedestrians including two children were injured in a wild car accident in Manhattan last week. The accident took place on the Upper East Side, on March 5th, a little before 9:00 am. The 66 year old driver of a van lost control of his vehicle, striking a car on Second Avenue between 50th and 51st Street. The car went flying into the dining shed of Crave Fishbar, totally destroying it, while the van struck a food stand, a scaffolding structure and a traffic light post. Because it was early morning, the dining shed was empty however two young pedestrians, one 5 year old and one 7 year old, were injured by flying debris from the dining shack. The owner of the fruit stand as well 3 other pedestrians were also injured when the van crashed. The occupants of the car were the most seriously injured however none of the injuries were life threatening.

The driver of the van might have suffered a medical episode according to some media or might have been driving while intoxicated according to other media. The investigation is still ongoing. He was identified as 66 year old Noman Ahmed, a delivery driver for the Long Island based company Mega Elevator Parts. According to the Gothamist, the driver has been working with  the company for 20 years and never had any other incident.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W9jMmQxeOI

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accident sceneA pedestrian was fatally hit by a dump truck last week in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan. The accident occurred Saturday afternoon around 3:00 pm. The pedestrian, a 64 year old woman whose name was not released, was crossing 7th Avenue at the intersection of 45th Street when she was struck by a large dump truck. The driver did not stop immediately and the pedestrian got stuck under the vehicle and dragged by the truck while horrified witnesses started to scream at the driver who then stopped and remained at the scene of the accident.

A street vendor with a stand right at the corner of the intersection told the NY Daily News that there was a lot of blood and when EMS removed the victim from under the truck she was not moving. However she was still alive and rushed to the hospital with critical injuries including severe leg trauma. She later died from her injuries at the hospital.

Truck side guards might have prevented the victim to get dragged under the truck

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6 pedestrians were injured in Manhattan after a driver plowed into a group of protesters last week (see video below). 52 year old Kathleen Casillo, from Queens, was driving a 2019 BMW Sedan near the intersection of 39th Street and Third Ave when she crossed road with a group of a protesters marching to support a group of ICE detainees observing a hunger strike at a detention center in Bergen, New Jersey.

According to protesters, the woman got into the back of the protest with her car and some protesters got concerned that she was driving too fast. The car got surrounded by a a small group of protesters including one of them who leaned over the front of her car in an attempt to slow her down. Instead of slowing down, the woman who was in the car with her 29 year old daughter took off and charged the protesters, driving into the crowd at high speed. Several pedestrians got hit and went flying into the air while others were screaming and running away in panic. The woman was apprehended by the police shortly after and arrested.  She was charged with reckless endangerment and released and day after. She is due in Court on February 22nd. As the police arrested the woman, ambulances pulled in and EMS attended to the injured people.

Several incidents of cars charging protesters occurred in the city this year starting in May with two NYPD patrols who rammed into protesters in Brooklyn

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A 91 year old pedestrian died in a car accident in New York last Saturday morning. The elderly man was crossing Canal Street at the intersection of Elizabeth Street around 6:30 am when he was struck by a car belonging to the NYC Sanitation Department.

The man was rushed to the hospital in critical condition with trauma all over his body. He later on died from his injuries.

The 61 year old sanitation worker who was driving the car stayed at the scene of the accident and was not charged.

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Despite an increase in bicycle accident fatalities and in motorist injuries the total number of NYC motor vehicle accidents and the total number of resulting injuries and deaths decreased during the third trimester of 2019 compared to the third trimester of 2018. The total number of accidents declined from 57,642 during the third trimester of 2018 to 52,567 during the third trimester of 2019. This is the lowest number of crashes since the same period of 2014.

auto accident NYC third trimester 2019
While a high number of fatal bicycle accidents painted a very negative picture of New York street safety, not all numbers are bad. For example pedestrians fatalities were at their lowest during the period of July, August and September 2019. Motorists fatalities were lower than the two previous years during this same period and passengers fatalities were stable.

traffic fatalities in NYC third trimester
The total number of auto accident related injuries were slightly lower than the previous year. A total of 167,083 people were injured in traffic accidents during over the summer 2019 compared to respectively 16,300, 15,860, 16,048, 13,998, 13,472, and 14,900 during the same 3 months of 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Motorists injuries account for almost half of the injuries and continue to increase. While efforts to protect pedestrians has led to a substantial decrease in pedestrian injuries and deaths, distracted driving remains the number one cause of  motor vehicle accidents in New York City and needs to be addressed.

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Donna Strum was fatally struck by a cyclistOn April 24th, 41 year old Dameon Doward was riding his bike on 57th Street.  He ran a red light at the mid-block traffic signal between Fifth and Sixth Ave and struck Donna Sturm who was crossing the street in the crosswalk after the light turned green for pedestrians. Sturm died two week later from her injuries. Daemon Doward  was initially issued a summons for running the red light. However, he was arrested yesterday by the police and charged with second degree reckless endangerment, a top level misdemeanor that could send him in jail for a year.

Doward was delivering food at the time of the accident. Those who hire bicyclists for deliveries of their products need to provide safety instructions, appropriate supervision and insurance coverage in the event of negligence leading to injuries and deaths.

Our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz is representing the family of Dona Sturm and the following statement was issued after her death on behalf of the family:  “Donna Sturm was a vibrant, energetic and wonderful woman who died as a result of carelessness and negligence. She died because a bicyclist completely disregarded the law. She was crossing a street, in the crosswalk, with the light in her favor when she was struck. Unfortunately, she suffered horrific head injuries and, although the doctors tried their best over the last week, they were unable to save her life,”

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location-of-the-deadly-pick-up-truck-accidentA 67 year old pedestrian died from injuries sustained in a pick-up truck accident in New York.  On Saturday August 10th around 9.00 pm, Melissa McClure was in the crosswalk next to her sister at the corner of 15th Street and 6th Ave in Manhattan when a Chevrolet Silverado making a left turn slammed into them. Both women were transported to the hospital. The sister, 59 year old Dorry Chitwood who was visiting from Georgia, suffered a cut in the back of the head. She was treated at the hospital and released shortly after. Melissa sustained major head trauma during the accident.  After she arrived at the hospital, she was put on life support. She never woke up and died from her injuries almost a week later. Melissa who’s nickname was Missy, lived in Chelsea with her two cats. Her sister was visiting from Georgia. After her return flight was cancelled she decided to stay with her sister for an extra night. Both women were on their way for a dinner in Chinatown when the accident occured. The driver of the pick up truck stayed at the scene of the accident.

Dangerous Avenue

Busy 6th Avenue is dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists alike. In June Robyn Hightman was riding her bike when she was fatally stuck by a truck near the intersection of 6th Ave and 23rd Street.  Then at the beginning of August another Chelsea resident, Michael Collopy, died after he was hit by a bicycle. Since January 2016, 18 pedestrians and 15 drivers were injured at this specific intersection.

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NYC Personal Injury Lawyers Howard Hershenhorn and Diana Carnemolla

Congratulations to our partners NY Personal Injury Lawyers Howard Hershenhorn and Diana Carnemolla as well as their legal assistant Richard Soldano, for obtaining the Highest Jury Verdict in New York State in 2018. This verdict is also the 25th highest jury verdict in the entire country for 2018.

NY #1 Verdict In Sipher v. Twin America LLC, the jury awarded $85 million to a pedestrian who was ran over by a red double decker sightseeing tour bus in New York. The verdict was delivered on December 4th 2018 after a week trial during which Howard Hershenhorn and Diana Carnemolla tried the case on behalf of the injured plaintiff before the Hon. Barbara Jaffe in New York Supreme Court. The jury awarded to the victim $45 million for past pain and suffering and $40 million for future pain and suffering.

The accident occurred on July 3rd 2015 in downtown Manhattan. The victim was crossing 6th Avenue in the crosswalk with  the light in his favor when he was struck by a sightseeing bus making a left turn from West 4th Street onto 6th Avenue.