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 Posted in Auto Accidents

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The monthly number of traffic accidents in New York City in April was at its lowest since 2014 for the month of April. There were 16,632 motor vehicle accidents reported to the NYPD last April compared to respectively 17,893 17,585, 18,265, 16,671 16,265 16,412 in April 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.  NYC car accidents have been on a rising trend since 2013. However recent numbers show that over the last 12 months the number of accidents has been slightly decreasing compared to the record numbers of 2017.

Despite a decrease in the number of accidents, the number of people injured in these accidents continues to rise. 4,701 people were injured in motor vehicle accidents in New York last April compared to respectively 4,578, 4,444, 5,040, 3,878, 4,007 and 4,409 in April 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

16 people died in traffic accident in the city last April compared to 12 during the same month a year before and 11 in April 2017. Traffic fatalities are on a declining trend in New York since Mayor de Blasio implemented the Vision Zero Program. While the monthly traffic deaths were above 20 in April 204 and 2015 they stayed below 20 for the last 4 years, reaching their lowest for a month of April in 2017 with 11 deaths.

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Location of the fatal accident caused by drunk driver Upstate NY3 people died and 6 were injured in a car accident in Upstate New York on Sunday morning. The victims were all members of the same family and were on their way to Niagara Falls. They were all riding in a Kia Sedona minivan when they were T-boned by a drunk driver who blew a stop sign in Sheldon, a small town in Upstate New York.

Among those who died were 4 year old Kiara Hernandez, her mother, 32 year old Mayelin Broti-Castro and her grandmother, 47 year old Ondina Castro de la Cruz. 6 other family members all from Perth Amboy, NJ, were also injured in the crash and taken to the hospital. The driver was identified as 20 year old Richard Sawicki. He was also injured in the accident, transported to the hospital and later on taken into custody where he is being held in lieu of $200,000 bond. He is facing vehicular homicide, DWI and reckless driving charges. He is due in Court on June 10.

Drunk Driver blew the stop sign

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3 pedestrians were injured in a car accident in Long Island, NY, after a drunk driver jumped the curb and struck them. 66-year-old Mitchell  Messling was intoxicated and witnesses said he was driving erratically on West Merrick Road in Freeport when he jumped the curb and struck a family of 3 yesterday afternoon around 4:00 pm.  A 11-year-old boy was seriously injured and had to be evacuated by helicopter while his parents were rushed to the hospital by ambulance.

The driver was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, second-degree vehicular assault, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of driving while intoxicated, reckless endangerment, and reckless driving. He is due in Court Today in Hempstead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6QRlyQjnVs

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Location of the fatal pedestrian accident in HarlemA NYC pedestrian was among the several people who died in New York traffic accidents during this Memorial Day Holiday. 55 year old Leon Frazier was crossing the street when he was hit by a car making a left turn from W. 112 Street onto Malcom X Boulevard in Harlem. The pedestrian died at the scene of the accident. The 27 year old driver stayed at the scene of the accident. The accident occurred early Saturday morning around 4:00 am in an area which is known to be dangerous. According to statistics, 2 cyclists, 4 pedestrians and 13 motorists were injured in 25 accidents last year in this area.

Read more in Street Blog

Satellite view of the location of the accident courtesy of Google Map

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Location of the fatal pedestrian accident Little Italy New YorkA pedestrian was fatally struck by a taxi in New York on Saturday afternoon. The accident occurred on a busy and sunny Saturday afternoon in Little Italy, Downtown Manhattan. Around 4:00 pm a woman in her 80ies whose identity wasn’t revealed was crossing Broom Street in the crosswalk when a taxi making a left turn from Center onto Broom Street struck her. She was rushed to the hospital with severe personal injury. She was pronounced dead when she arrived there.

The cab driver, 44 Bouchouata Miloudi, stayed at the scene  of the accident. He was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oz_3NPX_DI

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A school bus driver who fatally hit a pedestrian back in February appeared in Bronx Criminal Court yesterday. On February 14th, 68 year old Agnes Egan was crossing the street at the intersection of Havemeyer Street and Story Avenue when she was struck by 66 year old Anton Goodhall who was driving a mini school bus south on Havemeyer. Video footage of the accident shows the minibus rolling over the pedestrian, stopping after the impact and then leaving the scene of the accident. Agnes Egan was critically injured and died 40 minutes later.

In Court the bus driver claimed he never saw the pedestrian. He said he stopped after the accident because he dropped a bottle of water. He also said that his visibility was reduced because two other cars were in  the intersection. He also mentioned a big pile of trash on a corner.

He is due to appear in Court again on July 11.

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toddler killed by van locationA toddler was fatally struck by a van in New York City. The pedestrian accident occured yesterday around 12:45 pm in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, NYC. The van which was delivering candies and had Kittles and Starbust logos on it, was making a turn from Bay 25th street onto Benson Avenue when he ran over the 3-year-old Emur Shavkator who was riding a small green scooter. The boy was with his mom and another child. His mother was frantically trying to pull him from underneath the van. When the EMS arrived the boy was unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The van driver wasn’t exercising due care and killed the young pedestrian

The driver of the van, 61 year old Johnny Gonzalez of Bensonhurst, stayed at the scene of the accident. He was arrested and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. There is a stop sign just before the sidewalk where the van struck the young boy. However according to a crossing guard working nearby who spoke with the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, many drivers in the area are behaving dangerously. “I see drivers do stupid things here all the time. They race by me, they run lights, stop signs and sometimes I try to get their license plates, but it happens so fast,” she said. “I hope we can find a way for people to just slow down.” Residents also confirmed that drivers were constantly blowing the stop sign on Bay 25th Street.

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bike lane proposalAfter Mathew von Ohlen was killed by a hit and run driver while biking on Grand Street, his family and the Brooklyn Community Board 1 called for a protected bike lane.  A total of four people have been fatally struck by cars on Grand Street since 2010.

A new design including two protected bike lanes and a bus lane was proposed by the DOT  as an L Train shutdown mitigation measure. In reality, the DOT hastily installed a bike lane that wasn’t fully implemented and that stayed in limbo after it was decided that the L train would not be fully shut-down. The actual bike lane is only protected by plastic delineators. Cars and delivery trucks are constantly passing the delineators and parking on the bike lane forcing cyclists to make dangerous maneuvers to ride around them. Residents and businesses have both been asking their community board to improve the actual situation which according to them is chaotic.

Bike lane plans kept and extended

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6 cyclists, 27 pedestrians, 5 passengers and 9 motorists died in NYC traffic accidents during the first 3 months of 2019 compared to 1 cyclist, 26 pedestrians, 2 passengers and 13 motorists for the same period of 2018.  A total of 47 people died in motor vehicle accidents in New York during this first trimester, 5 more than during last year’s first trimester. The number of traffic deaths significantly decreased between the first trimester of 2013 and the first trimester of 2014, reached its lowest in 2015 at 40 and then oscillated between 40 and 50 for the last 4 years with no further improvement.Fatal Auto Accident New York City First Trimester 2019

12,997 people were injured in auto accidents in New York City during the first 3 months of 2019 compared to respectively 12,920, 12,608, 11,936, 10,069, 10,805 and 11,676 during the first trimester of 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. This is a record number of motor vehicle accident injuries for the first trimester. Except for pedestrian injuries which were at their second lowest level since Vision Zero started all other road users recorded a significant increase of injuries during the first trimester of 2019 compared to the same period of 2018 with motorist injuries at a record high.

Total Motor Vehicle Accident Injuries NYC First Trimester 2019
The most alarming data this first trimester was the death of 6 cyclists. This number has never been so high in the past. After an uptick to 4 during the first trimester of 2016 the number of deaths related to bicycle accidents in NYC went down to 2 and 1 during the same period of 2017 and 2018. Last year during the entire year, 9 cyclists died in traffic accidents which was a record low. However the first trimester deaths are an indication that the city can’t relax its efforts to improve protection for the growing number of people commuting by bikes in the city.

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couple involved in the car crashA speeding driver lost control of her vehicle causing a huge crash, killing the passenger who was her husband and hurting another road user.

The accident occurred early Tuesday morning in New York. 25 year old Dhanairy Ramirez was driving her Honda at a speed estimated to be 80 to 100 mph Northbound on St. Nicholas Ave. Her husband, 28 year old Eduardo Liranzo was in the passenger seat.  She sideswiped two parked cars near 172nd Street. She didn’t stop and continued to speed on St Nicholas Ave and rear ended a parked MTA truck near 190th Street. The truck driver was inside the cabin at the time of the accident. He suffered back injury.

The couple in the Honda were pinned inside the crumbled car and  firefighters had to cut the vehicles to rescue them. Both of them were rushed to the hospital. The passenger didn’t survive and the driver was critically injured.  According to family members who spoke to the NY Daily News, she is still unconscious and in critical condition. The couple has a newborn son. The young dad also leaves behind another son that he had with another woman.