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 personal injury

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A man who was involved a  car accident on a New York highway was hit by another car going in the opposite direction. The accident happened yesterday night around 7:30 pm on the FDR near 41st Street. Two cars collided on the northbound side of the highway. One of the drivers exited his car and attempted to cross the highway on foot.  As he was crossing the FDR Drive he was struck by a car and critically injured.  Read more in the NY Daily News

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Two pedestrians were injured in a car accident in New York this afternoon. The accident happened around 2:30 pm near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and East 102nd Street in East Harlem, N.Y.C. The driver of a SUV who had just left the gas station located at one of the corners of the intersection drove the wrong way down a one way street. He then lost control of his vehicle rolling over an off-duty police officer’s foot before pining a woman against a laundromat. The woman was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Read more in the NY Daily News 

Car accident location

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Lionel-Hampton-HousesA fire at a New York High-rise left seven people badly injured last Monday night.  The fire started in a trash compactor located on the 9th floor of the Lionel Hampton Houses in Harlem, NYC (see picture).  A heavy smoke spread through the building forcing residents to break their own windows to be able to breath. Seven people had to be transported to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation injuries including a woman who is still in a coma. The fire may have been the result of a negligent tenant who threw something flammable such as a cigarette into a compactor.   Read more in the NY Daily News

Smoke inhalation can result in severe respiratory injuries and sometimes death. Respiratory injuries are the number one cause of deaths related to indoor fire accidents. When an indoor fire erupts, the combustion of multiple building materials releases a hot smoke that spreads toxic amounts of carbon monoxide and cyanide in the air. The heat of the smoke can cause internal burning to the respiratory system. The carbon monoxide and cyanide released during the combustion can lead to poisoning, pulmonary irritation and swelling.  If severe, these injuries combined together are often fatal.

The same night, a 53 year old woman suffered serious burn injuries in a Bronx apartment fire. The investigation determined that the fired was caused by a discarded cigarette. (Read more in the NY Daily News).

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3 pedestrians suffered personal injury after being hit by a car in New York. The pedestrians were walking on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when a car plowed into them. The driver identified as 27 year old Cameron Cohello fled the scene of the accident, striking another car. He continued to drive toward the Queensboro Bridge. He abandoned his car near the bridge. He then tried to force a cab driver out of his car to steel his vehicle. A traffic agent ran to the rescue of the taxi driver. As the traffic agent was trying to grab him, Cohello punched him in the chest. Cohello was finally arrested by the police and sent to the hospital for psychological evaluation. He was charged with felony, assault and attempted robbery.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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The number of pedestrians injured or killed in a traffic accident in New York City over a period of 3 months reached a record low during the period of July, August and September 2015. 2186 pedestrians were injured during this period of time compared to 2270 during the same period of 2014 and 2710 during the same period of 2013. So far there were fewer pedestrians were injured in traffic accidents in 2015 than in 2014 or in 2013. 21 pedestrians died in a car accident this summer compared to 38 during the summer of 2014 and 39 during the summer of 2013.

Pedestrians injured and killed in New York City Traffic Accident over a trimester summer 2015
The number of people who suffered personal injury in a bicycle accident over a 3 month period reached a record high between July and September 2015 with a total of 1648 injuries compared to 1507 for the same period of 2014 and 1468 for the same period of 2013. More and more people are riding bicycles in New York City resulting in an increase in bicycle accident injuries. 8 people died in a bicycle accident this summer. This is the same as last summer. Over the year so far less people died in a bicycle accident in 2015 than in 2014.

Bicyclists injured and killed in New York City Bicycle Accident over a trimester summer 2015
The number of passengers injured in a car accident in NYC has been decreasing over the last 3 years and for every season. This summer, during the months of July, August and September 4121 passengers suffered personal injury in a car accident, compared to 5193 in 2014 and 5754 in 2014.  The number of passengers killed in a car accident during the warm season has been increasing every summer over the last 3 years in New York City. Between July and September 2015, 10 passengers died in a car accident in New York City compared to 9 for the same period of 2014 and 6 for the same period of 2013. So far more passengers died in a NYC car accident in 2015 than in 2014 or in 2013.

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776 pedestrians, 513 bicyclists, 1236 passengers and 1960 motorists suffered personal injury in motor vehicle accidents in New York City in September compared to respectively 714 pedestrians, 565 bicyclists, 1448 passengers and 2010 motorists in August and 751 pedestrians, 485 bicyclists, 1677 passengers and 1523 motorists in September 2014.

While the number of pedestrians injured in NYC traffic accidents  has been below 1000 since the beginning of 2014, the number of people injured in bicycle accidents stayed over 500 for the last 3 months. The number of motorists injured has also been unusually high and staying above 2000 for the last 3 months.

Personal injuries in motor vehicle accidents in NYC September 2015
4 pedestrians, 2 bicyclists, 2 passengers and 6 motorists died in motor vehicle accidents in September compared to 11 pedestrians, 3 bicyclists, 2 passengers and 5 motorists in August and 13 pedestrians, 1 bicyclist, 4 passengers and 8 motorists in September 2014. The Vision Zero Initiative is having a positive impact. Since the beginning of the year, it is the fourth month that the total monthly traffic fatalities are below 15. In 2014 it happened only twice and in 2013 the monthly number of people dying on New York City Streets never went below 15.

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Every 3 to 4 weeks one person will suffer personal injury in a bicycle accident on Amsterdam Avenue between West 72nd Street ans West 110th Street according to recent statistics. The actual design that includes 4 car lanes with one parking lane on each side is not adapted to the neighborhood and encourages bad driver behavior such as speeding. Manhattan Community Board 7  has been requesting action from the NYC Department of Transportation for the last 6 years. Finally, last night, the DOT unveiled a plan to redesign this specific part of Amsterdam Ave. According to the DOT, the new design will be implemented next spring. The DOT proposes to create a protected bike lane as well as pedestrian islands and several left turn treatments.

According to the DOT, in October 2007, an average of 217 people per 12 hours were recorded riding a bicycle on Amsterdam Ave between West 85th Street and West 86th Street. in October 2011 there were 515 and in October 2015 there were 609. This number is expected to grow even more with the expansion of Citi Bike to West 86th Street this fall and the plan to expand Citi Bike to 130th street by 2018.

Read more about the new design in Streetblog or look at the presentation from the DOT

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Three pedestrians died in New York car accidents over the weekend after 8 others already died during the week. Two of the accidents happened on the Upper West Side (see previous blogs here and here) and the third one happened in Ozone Park, Queens where a 68 year old man was struck by a car (read more here).  Several people suffered serious personal injury in NYC this weekend as well. A bicyclist in his 60s was struck by a car Saturday morning around 10:30 am in Hollis Queens. A pedestrian suffered severe leg injury after being struck by a fire truck  at E. 15th St. and Irving Place in Manhattan on Saturday night.   (Read more in the NY Daily News)

These accidents happened shortly after Mayor de Blasio told journalists in a press conference that it had been a “very tough week” and that Vision Zero has “never been more necessary”. The mayor indicated that since zero vision was initiated the number of speeding tickets doubled  and the number of failure to yield tickets tripled.  (Read more in the Gothamist).

de Blasio

 

 

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Qualified and competent OSHA inspector OSHA construction site safety inspectors play a very important role in preventing  workers from being injured or dying on construction sites. Unfortunately with the recent boom in the construction business in New York City, these inspectors are very hard to find and their rates have been increasing significantly.

Certified Site safety inspectors have taken a safety course with OSHA and must meet specific criteria before receiving a OSHA certification. However these last years many  unscrupulous workers just blew off the classes and presented falsified OSHA cards to contractors in order to become site safety inspectors.

Since the beginning of the year the City has been cracking down on these workers.

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Three people suffered personal injury in New York after a pane of glass fell from the 17th floor of a building.  A 33 year old woman, a 23 year old woman and a 25 year old man were walking on the street near a building on Fifth Ave and East 28th Street when a pane of glass fell next to them and shattered. Construction work at the building dislodged the glass from the window. Read more in the NY Daily News

This is not the first time that non construction workers were injured or died near construction sites this year. Last June 8 people were injured after a crane dropped a giant AC unit in the street. In April  two tenants died in a suspicious explosion in an apartment building where plumbers were working on gas lines. In March a pedestrian died after being hit by flying debris from a construction site in Manhattan.

Fifth Ave and 28th Street

The intersection of Fifth Ave and East 28th Street where the accident happened, picture: courtesy of Google