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 personal injury nyc

Published on:

After 13 people died and 4 were critically injured in a fire accident in New York City, the FDNY  reminds New Yorkers that a simple move can save lives. If you are fleeing a room on fire, shut the door behind you! In apartment buildings this simple action can prevent the fire from spreading to hallways and stairs. In houses, closing a door can save the whole structure. Above all all it can prevent others from being injured or from dying.

Last month, a fire started in the kitchen of an apartment located at 2363 Prospect Ave in Belmont. A young mother was in the kitchen and ran away leaving the kitchen door opened behind her. This allowed the fire to spread upstairs and then throughout the entire building. 12 people died in the fire including four children. 4 other people were critically injured. Among them was a man who died from his injuries a few days later. The FDNY believes that if the kitchen door had been closed, the deaths and injuries may have been prevented.

If you find yourself in a situation were you have to flee from a fire just remember one thing: Close the Door!

Published on:

schoolbusA reckless school bus driver hit an 11 year old boy as he was on his way to school early Tuesday morning. The accident occurred on Sutphin Boulevard near Liberty Avenue in Jamaica, Queens at 6:50 pm. 60 year old Marc Saget struck the boy and continued to drive without noticing what just happened. He was stopped not far away from the accident and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.  The 11 year old boy was transported to the hospital with a bump on his head as well as scratches and bruises

A few minutes later in Manhattan another school bus hit a 56 year old pedestrian. The woman was crossing West 124th Street at the intersection of Lenox Ave when the accident occurred. She suffered serious injury and was rushed to the hospital. The police are still investigating what caused the bus driver to hit the pedestrian

Read more in the NY Daily News

Published on:

NYC construction workers safetyIn an effort to reduce the number of construction workers injured or killed in New York City, Mayor de Blasio introduced at the end of last year “Intro. 1447-C”, a bill requiring each construction worker to attend 40 hours minimum of safety training to be able to work at a New York construction site (see previous blog).

Therefore by March 1 2018, hard hats working on a NYC construction site will have to show that they attended at least 10 hours of safety training within the previous five years if they want to continue working. Workers can do so by attending an OSHA 10 class.  Workers can Google” OSHA 10 training NYC” to find many options available during the week as well as during the week-end.  During an OSHA 10 hours training course, workers will learn basic work place safety and how to reduce the risk of accidents. They will participate in interactive exercises and study real life cases. Subjects will include fall protection, personal protective equipment, electrocution and more.

By December 1st 2018, construction workers are required to complete OSHA 10 and 20 additional training hours specified by DOB or OSHA 30. Workers also have the option to attend a DOB-approved 100-hour training program.

Published on:

accident sceneA 26 year old pedestrian suffered critical injury after being struck by a car in Long Island City, NYC,  on Tuesday night.  The man was hit by a dark-colored SUV at the corner of 35th Street and 46th Avenue. The SUV driver didn’t stop, leaving behind him a man critically injured. A woman who was working in a nearby warehouse heard the accident and ran out in the street. She told the Daily News that the victim was trying to get up but he couldn’t. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The police are still looking for the driver. Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.

A little earlier in the afternoon, a 15 year old boy was struck by a car at the intersection of Hylan Boulevard and New Dorp Lane in Staten Island. the pedestrian was transported to the hospital with shoulder pain. The driver, a 68 year old man, stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. According to the police the teen was walking outside of a crosswalk at the time of the accident. Read more in the SILive

Published on:

15 people died and 5,450 were injured in 19,983 auto accidents in New York City in October. October is usually a bad month for car accidents in the city. As shown in the graphs below the total number of accidents was above the trend line in October.  The monthly number of traffic injuries was also the second highest number ever recorded in the city. The highest number of crash injuries was 5,557 last May. While the total number of crashes and related injuries have been steadily growing over the years, the number of people dying in crashes declined since 2013 when Vision Zero was launched. The number of people dying in car accidents went from 35 in October 2013 to 25 in October 2014, 26 in October 2015, 14 in October 2016 and 15 this last October. In 4 years fatal crashes declined by more than 50%. Additionally for the last two years the number of traffic deaths was below the trend line for the month of October while in the past it was always above it during this specific month.

car accidents injuries and deaths NYC October 2017
Despite all the Vision Zero efforts, crash injuries are on a rising trend.  Since last May their monthly number stayed above 5,000. Motorist injuries are the main cause of this rising trend. While in October 2013 motorist injuries accounted for less than a third of the total number of injuries, four years later they account for almost half of them. On the other hand, passenger injuries have been declining over the last four years. Distracted driving is suspected to be a factor. When drivers are alone in their cars they maybe more tempted to use their electronic equipment than when they travel with passengers.

crash injuries New York City October 2017
The number of monthly deadly crashes in New York City stayed below 25 for more than a year. It is the first time that the number of monthly fatal accidents stayed below 25 for that long. The highest number was 24 in June followed by 22 in September. The last time this number was above 25 was in June, 2016 when 29 people died in car accidents in the city. The city speed reduction from 30 mph to 25 mph may have been a factor in the recent decrease in fatal crashes.

Published on:

A 12 year old boy died in a fire accident in Queens, NYC. Thomas Curly was sleeping in his bedroom Sunday around 3:00 am when a fire erupted in the apartment he was living in with his family on Ocean Promenade near Beach 123rd Street in Rockaway Park. Thomas was living on the sixth floor of a five story building with his grandfather, his mother and his mother’s boyfriend. All of them were able to escape except for Thomas who got stuck in his bedroom. According to investigators, the fire was accidentally set by someone smoking in the apartment. Additionally there were no smoke alarms in the apartment. Smoke alarms are required by law in New York City. They may have saved the life of the young boy.

A few hours later another fire erupted in Harlem on First Ave near Tito Puente Way.  The fire ravaged an apartment on the seventh floor of a 32 story building. A 64 year old woman was found dead by the firefighters. Another victim was transported to the hospital. Read more in the NY Daily News

 

Published on:

accident scene3 pedestrians died and 6 were injured including 2 critically in 4 different motor vehicle accidents in New York City that all occurred early Sunday morning during the supermoon.

The first accident occurred on the Upper East Side at 2:00 am. A 29 year old pedestrian suffered severe head trauma after being hit by a car. According to the NY Daily News, the pedestrian was crossing First Avenue at the intersection of 82nd Street against the red light. He was hit by a vehicle that was crossing the intersection with the green light. The pedestrian was rushed to the hospital to be treated.

Two hours later, around 4:00 am a pedestrian was killed in a Queens crash. The 71 year old victim was attempting to cross the Belt Parkway near Farmers Blvd in Springfield Gardens when he was hit by a car. The man was rushed to the hospital where he died from his injuries.

Published on:

A cyclist died from his injury after he was struck by a car in New York City. The accident occurred on November 17 around 2:40 pm. 84 year old Yau-Teg Fung, of Queens was riding his bike on Albertson Street near Fleet Street when he collided with a car driven by an 80 year old woman. He suffered a massive head injury after being thrown off his bike. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. He died from his injuries after 10 days of hospitalization. The police told the NY Daily News that the driver had stopped at a stop sign and she was in the intersection when the cyclist hit her rear door. No criminal charges were filed.

 

Published on:

lab experiment with fireFour NYC students suffered personal injury during a science experiment that went wrong at St. Catherine Academy, an all girls catholic high school in the Bronx, NYC. Two of the students were seriously injured, two others suffered minor injuries.

The accident occurred  last Wednesday morning around 8:30 am. Students were participating in an experiment during which they clustered around their teacher who was demonstrating with fire how an atom goes from ground state to excited state. At one point, instead of going up, the flame spread and expanded, reaching students. Four of them were singed on their hands and their faces. They were transported to the hospital to be treated.

The teacher had been teaching chemistry for 3 years at the Bronx high school and never had any accident in the past. Read more in the New York Times.

Published on:

The hit and run driver who critically injured a pedestrian in Queens, NYC on Thanksgiving Day was arrested by the police. 52 year old Carmine Minichino of Queens was charged with driving while intoxicated with a suspended licence and leaving the scene of an accident. Last Thursday Minichino struck 71 year old Paul Sim who was crossing the road at the intersection of Murray Street and 17th Road in Flushing Queens. Sim was coming out of a Thanksgiving dinner with other relatives and friends when the accident happened. Minichino hit him and continued to drive, dragging him as far as 40 feet according to the police. Sim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. He is expected to survive. The police spotted Minichino’s car abandoned down the block from the accident. He soon appeared with the keys in his hands and was arrested.  Read more on New York CBS website