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 wrongful death NYC

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location of the deadly car crashTwo people died and 6 people were injured in car crashes in New York City in less than 24h. As New York is reopening, the number of car accidents which had significantly declined during the lock down are expected to rise again.

The first car accident occurred on Sunday night around 11:20 pm in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. The 35 year old driver of a 2010 Toyota Camry lost control of his car as he was driving in the westbound lane of City Island Road near the intersection of Shore Road.  He rear ended the car in front of him, a 2014 Infiniti Q50 driven by a 27 year-old driver. The driver of the Infinity crashed into the rear of another car in front of him, a 2008 Toyota Highlander driven by a 51 year old man. The Camry careened into the eastbound line and hit a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 44 year old man and a 2010 BMW X5 driven by a 41 year old man.

The driver of the Camry died at the scene of the accident. A 34 year old woman, who was sitting in the front seat next to him was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.  5 more people were taken to the hospital, they were occupants of the Infinity and the Jeep. The occupants of the BMW, which was the last car to be struck declined medical attention.

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Bronx bicycle accidents second week of June 20202 people were killed and 20 of them were injured in bicycle accidents in the Bronx, NYC, during the second week of June. Bicycle accident injuries in the Bronx increased by 81.8 % during the week of June 8 to June 14 according to NYPD statistics.  The Bronx is the only NYC borough where bicycle accident injuries increased during this week. In all other NYC boroughs, bicycle accident injuries declined. On average, injuries related to bike crashes were down 30.7% citywide. The largest decline, 59.1%, was observed in the North part of Queens, followed by a decline of 50% of bicycle accident injuries in the South part of Brooklyn, a 45% decline in the North part of Brooklyn, a decrease of 33.3% in the South part of Manhattan, a decrease of  29.4% in the North part of Manhattan, a 16.7% decline in the South of Queens and  a status quo in Staten Island.

The Bronx is the borough that has the less investment by the city in infrastructures to protect bicyclists despite a large part of the population using bikes on a daily basis, including many delivery cyclists

While the city has been creating protected bike lanes all over rich white neighborhoods, the poor  area of the Bronx didn’t get any of these. Even last month when de Blasio announced more streets closed to traffic and a extra 9.2 miles of protected bike lanes, none of them were in the Bronx.

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Location of the MTA bus accidentA 19 year old female bicyclist was killed in a MTA bus accident yesterday.  The young woman was struck by the BmX10 bus on Fifth Avenue at the corner of the 59th Street intersection.

It is still not exactly clear how the accident occurred. A hot dog vendor who witnessed the accident told the NY Daily News that it seemed that the young woman was trying to merge into traffic from 60th street and that she was struck by the bus and then dragged under the wheels for about half a block until the bus driver stopped.

The cyclist died at the scene of the accident from severe head trauma. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. Despite its proximity to Central Park, Fifth Avenue doesn’t have a bike lane in the Upper East Side area, therefore the many cyclists coming out of the Park at this location have to navigate between the buses and the car traffic which can be very dangerous on this busy avenue.

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twitter NYPD highwayIn a recent blog on NYC traffic accidents in April we highlighted the increase in car accident fatalities related to speed and recklessness.  Many of us who stayed in the city during the lock-down could hear the noises of cars speeding throughout the city and witness car drivers speeding on empty streets.  In a recent article, the Gothamist looked at the 311 caller data and found that since March 22nd, when the city went into pause, 420 New Yorkers called to complain about drag racing. That’s 4 times more complaints than during the same period of time a year ago.

Manhattan recorded the most complaints with 123 calls reporting incidents of drag racing, followed by 119 in Queens and 104 in Brooklyn. Staten Island had the less complaints with 20 calls to 311. 47 complaints were reported in the Bronx. There were also 35 complaints of racing on highways not linked to any borough.

Some areas were particularly targeted by drag racers

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location of the reckless crashA pregnant woman lost her baby and suffered serious injury in a car accident in Staten Island, NYC last Saturday. The accident occurred on Hylan Boulevard. A 26 year old male and his 28 year old pregnant female passenger were driving south on Hylan Boulevard.  As they were  in the left tuning line attempting to make a turn onto Cornelia Avenue, they were hit frontally by a Jeep Grand Cherokee travelling at high speed. The driver of the Jeep was identified as 21 year old Alexander Iacone. He was racing North on Hylan Boulevard and shifted into the left turning lane striking the Nissan. The impact was so strong that both vehicles careened into the woods. Iacone was driving without a license.

The 28 year old female passenger was rushed to the hospital where doctors performed an emergency C section but the baby didn’t survive the accident. The mother sustained serious injury but was in stable condition. The male driver was also hospitalized and treated for several injuries that include lacerations to his knees and to his hand.

The reckless 21 year old driver sustained an arm injury. He was also transported to the hospital and later arrested. He was arraigned in Criminal Court in St Georges on charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and second degree assault.  Iacone could face a homicide charge depending on the results of a pending autopsy of the baby. If the City medical examiner determines that the baby took his first breath at the hospital, Iacone could be charged with homicide according to the New York Law.

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bicycle accidents severe injuries and deaths rate NYCAs New York City is gradually re-opening, many New Yorkers may opt to commute by bike rather than by subway to mitigate the risk of getting infected by Covid-19. Many of them find it more convenient to use a bike share program rather than owning their own bike.

While some might worry that less experienced bike riders using bike share programs might result in an increase in bicycle accidents, a recent study found that bike share programs might indeed lead to a decrease in bicycle accidents

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that bike share programs lead to an increase of cyclists on the road but a decrease in the rate of bicycle accidents. The study took place in Philadelphia and analysed the number of people using a bike since the city introduced its bike share program in 2015. While the rate of bicycle accidents doubled between January 2010 and May 2015 in Philadelphia, it decreased by an average 13% yearly between May 2015 the end of 2018.

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truck back up accident locationA charity worker was crushed to death by a truck backing up  yesterday. Morales Cruseno Florentino was delivering milk to a school for a charity with his co-worker. As they arrived at the Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens on Metropolitan Ave near 125th St. in Kew Gardens, Morales stepped out of the truck and went to the back of the truck to direct the truck driver while he backed up to park. As the driver was backing up, Morales got pinned between the truck and another vehicle. Video surveillance of the scene depicts the truck moving back with the back up alarm on and Morales not moving out of the way. Maybe he thought the truck would not back all the way?

When EMS arrived, Morales was still alive but was critically injured. He was transported to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Morales and his coworkers had been delivering milk for people in need for the last two months.

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NYC traffic deaths and injuries declined for all categories of road users except for cyclists between February 2020 and March 2020. As businesses gradually shut down around mid March and the city was officially locked down on March 22nd,  traffic in the city drastically declined and so did the number of traffic accidents.  The only two categories of road  users that recorded an increase in accidents between February and March were motorcyclists and bicyclists. The fear of catching the corona virus in public transportation or taxis has lead to an increased amount of people using bicycles and motorcycles in the city in March. Another factor was the increased amount of speeding recorded in the city as streets were getting emptier and emptier.

Drop in accidents not only due to Covid-19 but also to new NYPD report policy

The number of traffic accidents reported by the NYPD dropped to 10,877 in March compared to 13,586 in February and 14,183 in January. The drop seen in traffic accidents over the last few months is not only related to the coronavius crisis but also to the new NYPD “No Report” crash policy.

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1 worker died and 158 others were injured on construction sites in New York City during the first quarter of 2020  compared to respectively 0 and 137 for the same period of 2019.  When looking at a 5 year period, the first trimester of 2018  was the worst for New York City construction workers with  170 of them sustaining injuries and 3 of them dying in accidents.

Most accidents resulting in injuries occurred in Manhattan  with 96 workers injured, followed by Brooklyn, 35, Queens, 14 and the Bronx, 13. No injuries were reported in Staten Island during the first trimester. With the exception of Staten Island all other boroughs recorded an increase in construction accident injuries during the the first 3 months of this year compared to the same period a year earlier.

NYC Construction Accident Injuries 2020 Q1
Working on construction sites is one of the most dangerous activities in New York and in the US.  The Department of Buildings classify injuries in 6 different categories. The largest category is “Other”. Injuries in this category are usually not life threatening or not critical. Many of them are small cuts and lacerations that do not require ambulance transportation or hospitalization. Most of the time a visit to an emergency call center is sufficient to treat the injury. It is also rare that a safety violation is issued after these types of injuries.  The second largest category of NYC construction accident injuries are  injuries related to falls. Falls often result in serious injuries. An ambulance is often called and workers end up most of the time at the hospital after a fall. Most fall injuries could be prevented if workers were fully protected. During the first quarter of 2020, 45 hart hats were injured in falls in New York. This is the highest number of fall injuries recorded during the first quarter over the last 5 years. Another very common cause of injuries is when material fell onto workers. 12 workers were injured in that manner during the first three months of the year compared to  respectively 22, 21, 23 and 10 during the same period of 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. 6 people were also injured in scaffolds accidents and 2 sustained injuries related to mechanical construction equipment.

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location of the deadly Mercedes crashSpeeding cars caused 3 fatal car accidents in New York City this weekend.  A speeding driver lost control of his vehicle in the Bronx and killed himself and his passenger. A thief who stole a car ran a red light in Staten Island and crashed into another car killing one of the occupants and seriously injuring the other. Drag racing cars killed a NYPD cop on his bike (see previous blog).

Speeding Mercedes Driver crashes into a pillar on Bruckner Boulevard

32 year old Gasper Vallejo who was visiting New York from Miami was speeding on Brucker Boulveard in his 2016 Mercedez Benz around 3.35 am on Sunday. 2 other passengers were in the car: a 22 year old woman and a 25 year old woman.   As the car was speeding on Bruckner Boulevard by the elevated Bruckener Expressway, Vallejo lost control of his vehicle and hit a pillar.  The impact was so intense that the car broke apart and all 3 passengers were ejected from the vehicle onto the pavement. Vallejo died at the scene of the accident. Both passengers were still alive when the EMS arrived. They were rushed to the hospital. The 22 year old died at the hospital and the 25 year old is in critical condition. (read more in the Daily News)