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

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Hylan and Richard where the 3 teens died in a crash3 teenagers who were passengers in a Mustang driven by another teenager were killed in a car crash in New York City on Sunday night. The horrific accident occurred around 8:50 pm on Hylan Boulevard at the intersection of Richard Avenue in Pleasant Plain, Staten Island, NYC. The victims are Ashley Rodriguez who was planning to celebrate her sweet 16 next week, 15 year old Jessie Gil and 16 year old Fernanda Gil. All 3 were passengers in a red Ford Mustang driven by a 16 year old boy who only had a learners permit and was supposed to drive while accompanied by a licensed adult. The 3 passengers are dead and the driver remains in critical condition.

According to the SI Live the group of friends had just attended a birthday party in Tottenville and had decided to go grab snacks at a nearby store with another group of teens riding a Honda Civic. The Mustang departed the group at high speed according to witnesses.  The young driver was speeding east on Hylan Boulevard when a 47 year old diver behind the wheel of a Yukon attempting to make a left turn from Richard Avenue crashed into the side of the Mustang which then careened into a pole on the side of the road.

The driver of the Yukon was driving with a suspended license and was taken into custody while his four passengers, two women of 44 and 19 year old, a 23 year old man and an 11 year old girl were transported to the hospital. They suffered minor injuries.

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The New York block where a cyclist and two pedestrians were struckA reckless driver who tried to flee the police in Brooklyn, NYC, struck a bicyclist and two pedestrians, continued driving, struck three other pedestrians, crashed into a vehicle and then into a wall before running away with a passenger. One suspect is in custody while the other is still at large.

According to the police, two officers patrolling in Bedford-Stuyvesant saw a car with mismatched plates which is usually an indication that the car might have been stolen. They also noticed that the two people inside the car were smoking marijuana.   As they got out of the police car to talk to the driver after turning on their lights and pulling the car over, the driver of the vehicle took off.

As he was fleeing from the police, the reckless driver  first struck a cyclist and two pedestrians at the intersection of Macon Street and Ralph Avenue. He did not stop and continued speeding on Ralph Avenue. As he reached Hasley Street, the driver hit a grandmother and her grandson who were crossing the street. He then crashed into another car and careened into the wall of building. The driver and the passenger then got out of the car and ran away.

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11 pedestrians, 3 cyclists, 4 passengers and 8 motor vehicle operators died in crashes in New York City last May compared to respectively 6,2,0 and 2 in April and 15, 1, 3 and 11 in May 2021. This is the first time that the number of monthly fatalities is above 25 since October 21.

After a drop during the Covid19 crisis in 2020, monthly traffic accident fatalities have been above 25, 8 times during the last 2 years, Before the Covid19 crisis, since Vision Zero started in 2014, fatalities only went above 25 5 times over a period of 6 years. These numbers are very preoccupying.  At the very beginning of May, The Adams administration launched a $4 million campaign urging  motorists to slow down but so far this campaign doesn’t seem to have much effects on car accident fatalities.

New York motor vehicle accident fatalities May 2022
Car accident deaths have been exploding over the last two years in New York City. Last May, as mentioned above, 26 people died in traffic accidents compared to 10 a month earlier and 30 in May 2021. Since May 2015 when they reached 28, monthly car accidents deaths had remained below 20 during the months of April and May. While the trendline since Vison Zero started remains on the decline, the last 2 years have been more deadly than before.

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Ghost bike showing locations of previous NYC deadly bicycle accidentsWhen a cyclist is hit by a car, the injuries can be devastating and sometimes deadly. Some injured cyclists will recover others will required medical treatments for a lifetime. On the top of expensive medical bills,  injured bicyclists might also suffer emotional consequences and life changes that can have significant financial consequences. Depending on the case, the cyclist and his/her family might be able to obtain compensation for their damages and should consult with an experienced bicycle accident attorney.

What does recovering from a bicycle accident look like?

In a recent article, the New York  Post describes how David Jevotovsky,  a medical student who was riding a bike, suffered traumatic brain injury and almost died after being hit by a car in New York City in 2017. After the accident, he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with what is called an epidural hematoma which is a bleeding between the skull and the brain. This type of injury can sometimes be deadly or if the victim survives, it can have lifetime consequences.

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Florence NGWU critically injured in a truck accidentFlorence Ngwu, a beloved mother and nurse who was critically injured in a truck accident in New York City on Sunday morning did not survive. She died on Monday afternoon from her injuries.

The horrific accident took place on Mother’s Day around 8:30 am on 167th Street and 120th Avenue in South Jamaica, Queens, NYC.

The driver of a large Ford F-550 truck belonging to the construction company Pawar Builders crashed multiple times into a white BMW while trying to make a U-turn in the dead-end street.

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2 hard hats died during the first quarter of 2022 and 110 of them were injured while working on construction sites in New York City. Both fatalities were fall accidents, both occurred in Brooklyn and both were preventable.

The first fatality occurred on February 11. Angel Pilataxi, a father of 3 children and 3 step children fell to his death at a construction site located at 124 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn. According to the DOB investigation,  the worker was taking measurements on the edge of the roof on the eighth floor when the accident happened. He was not using a safety harness and fell over the parapet. He was found unconscious lying on the second floor terrace. He did not survive. Investigators found that the worker and a co-worker who was working with him at the time of the accident not only did not have a site safety training card but also did not receive any site-specific safety training and did not participate in a pre-shit meeting in the morning. At the time of the accident a full stop order was issued and the DOB issued a violation failure to safeguard persons and property affected by the construction operations.

The second fatal accident occurred on a construction site located at 295 St John’s Place on March 21st. A rigging foreman who was installing a suspended scaffolding go caught between the fire stairs and the scaffold, lost his balance and fell fifteen feet onto a metal fence. He died from his injuries. A full stop work was issued and the DOB also issued a violation for failure to safeguard person and property affected by construction.

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NYC Construction Safety WeekFalls are the main cause of  injuries and deaths for construction workers in New York City and most of them can be prevented.

A large safety awareness campaign is going on this week in New York City to reduce accidents on construction sites, with a focus on fall accidents.

Construction Safety Week is a yearly safety campaign organized by the NYC Department of Buildings to remind workers and their employers and families that safety best practices on construction sites prevent accident injuries and deaths.

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29 pedestrians, 17 passengers and 12 motor vehicle operators died in crashes in New York City during the first 3 months of the year for a total of 58 fatalities. There were no cyclist fatalities. Since Vision Zero started in 2014, the highest number of auto accident deaths reached 51 in 2014. The only positive news during the first quarter was that no cyclist deaths were reported during this period which never occurred before.

car accident fatalities NYC Q1 2022
NYC Car accident injuries were higher during Q1 22 than during the same period of 2010 and almost reached the same level than in 2020. Among the injured were 4,632 drivers, 3,120 passengers, 649 bicyclists and 2,100 pedestrians. Compared to the same period a year before, all categories of road users sustained a higher number of injuries with the exceptions of the cyclists which might indicate that all the new measures to make cycling safer in  the city have a positive impact.

auto accident injuries New York City Q1 22
12 motor vehicle operators died in crashes during Q1 compared to respectively, 10, 10, 9, 13, 8, 13, 8, 15 and 15 during the same period 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. While the trend line of motorist deaths is still declining, the numbers of this last quarter are significantly above this trend line.

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10 pedestrians, 8 passengers and 6 drivers died in crashes in New York City in February. No cyclists fatalities were reported to the NYPD during this month. 266 bus accidents, 577 truck accidents and 56 motorcycle accidents were reported among the total 7,261 motor vehicle collisions recorded in February.

Traffic accident fatalities in New York City reached a record high for the month of February with 24 people dying in traffic accidents compared to respectively 10, 17, 12, 16, 13, 18, 15, 12 and 20 in February 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.  Traffic accident fatalities in the city last February were even higher than what they were in February 2013 before Vision Zero started.  The  trendline which had been steadily declining during Vision Zero is now almost flat. Since last February ,monthly car accident fatalities have been at the level of the trendline or above which is quite unusual and quite worrisome.

Car accident fatalities February 22
The high number of car accident fatalities in New York City last February is mostly due to a record high number of car passengers fatalities (see category in red in the graph below, click on it for full size). 8 motor vehicle passengers died in crashes last February compared to 5 in January 2020 and 2 in February 2021. Since Vision Zero started and even a year before, the highest total monthly passengers fatalities were 6 in April 2014 and 6 in July 2015.

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fall prevention posterLast year, 7 out of the 9 NYC construction worker deaths reported by the Department of Buildings were caused by falls. Additionnally the DOB also reported that 194 workers were injured in fall accidents on New York City construction sites during the same period. This was a record high compared to the previous years (see previous blog). Despite increased safety training requirements for workers, fall remains the number one cause of accident deaths and injuries in the New York construction industry and nationally as well. According to the most recent statistics from the BLS 351 out of the 1,008 construction fatalities recorded nationally in 2020 were fall fatalities. Most of these accidents were preventable.

Preventing fall accidents is the reason why, every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in collaboration with multiple other partners involved in workplace safety such as the CPWR and NORA are organizing a National Stand Down during which employers are invited to voluntarily take a break from work and sit down with their workers to discuss or participate to activities  related to fall hazards.

Anyone can participate and every year sees more and more participants from major corporate construction companies to small contractors, including the US Army and other governmental participants. All employers  participating receive a certificate.