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

Published on:

51 pedestrians, 13 cyclists 11 passengers and 28 motorists died in auto accidents in New York City during the first semester of 2019. After two consecutive years of decline, traffic fatalities in the city went back above 100 at 101 during the first six months of the year compared to respectively 84, 96, 107, 107, 97 and 121 in the same period of 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Fatalities increased for all categories of road users except for motorist deaths which stayed stable at 26 during the first semester of this year and the previous one. Auto-accident-fatalities-NYC-first-semester-2019

NYC Traffic injuries reached a record high at 29,081 during the first semester of the year compared to respectively 28,544, 27,923, 27,540, 23,530, 24,508 and 26,119 during the first semester of 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. All category of road users except pedestrians suffered more injuries during this semester than during the previous one.

Car Accident Injuries New York first semester 2019
While the total number of bicycle accidents reported to the NYPD during the first semester of 2019 was slightly lower than the number of accidents reported during the same period of 2018, cyclist fatalities more than doubled during the first six months of the year compared to the first semester of 2018 to reach a record high of 13.  Bicycle accident injuries jumped to 1,907, a record high as well. These numbers came as a bad surprise as 6 months earlier, the de Blasio administration which had been promoting using bicycles to commute around the city was proudly announcing that the number of cyclists killed in the city reached a record low of 9 for the entire year of 2018 and that Vision Zero Initiatives were working. A similar pattern occurring in 2015 and 2016 is an indication that despite all Vision Zero improvements, the city remains a dangerous and deadly place to ride a bicycle.

Published on:

Speed Camera flyer nycTo prevent young pedestrians from being injured in car accidents, the NYPD announced that as kids go back to school today, they will be cracking down on drivers speeding or driving recklessly in school zones.

Not only the NYPD will be reinforcing its presence in school zones but more than hundreds of new speed cameras installed all over the city during the summer will provide extra protection for children as they are going back to school.

A total of 750 speed cameras are being installed in New York City school zones

Published on:

More people than ever were injured in auto accidents in New York City and the number of cyclists deaths was back at its highest during the second trimester of 2019.  Despite a significant decline in the total number of accidents recorded by the NYPD during the period of April, May and June, more motorists, passengers and cyclists were injured in accidents during the second trimester of 2019 than during the same period of 2018. Pedestrians were the only NYC road users that recorded a decline in injuries compared to the same period of 2018.

auto accident nyc second trimester 2019
16,084 people were injured in NYC traffic accidents during the second trimester of 2019 compared to respectively 15,624, 15,315, 15,604, 13,461, 13,703 and 14,443 during the second trimester of 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. This is the first time that the number of accident injuries in New York goes over 16,0000 during the second trimester. Motorists are the ones who are the most frequently injured in car accidents. They account for almost half of the cases. Passengers injuries account for almost a third of the injuries.

Car Accident Injuries New York Second trimester 2019
After a steady decline from 2015 to 2018, auto accident fatalities increased again during the second trimester of 2019.  24 pedestrians, 17 motorists, 7 cyclists and 6 passengers died in traffic accidents in New York City last April, May and June.

Published on:

a woman was killed in this location after her husband pinned her between the car and the guard railA woman was killed after her husband mowed her down at a NYC car wash. 50 year old Marco Salas and his wife, 51 year old Isabel Cohetero were washing their car at a BP service station on Eliot Ave in Queens when the accident occurred. The couple had finished rinsed off their jeep when it started to slowly roll backward. The husband realized it was in reverse and jumped in the car to stop it. In the rush he hit the gas instead of the breaks and pinned her between the car and the guardrail. The husband realizing what he did, frantically ran to the station to ask for help. Isabel was rushed to the hospital but she didn’t survive.

The couple has been living for the last 24 year at the same address in Ridgewood. They have two sons and a daughter. According the the NY Daily News, the husband was struggling to keep it together after the terrible accident.

Bringing a claim against a family member is always difficult

Published on:

SUV involved in the fatal hit and run accidentA pedestrian was killed in a hit and run accident in NYC on father’s day. Christopher Nieves, a 37 year old dad was struck by a brown 2004 Chevy Tahoe with a New York plate reading CRR 5224 and a sticker that says “Salt Life” on the rear window.  The police are now looking for the person who was behind the wheel of this SUV. The accident occurred a little bit after 6:00 am on father’s day. Christopher Nieves was trying to hail a cab when he was struck by the SUV speeding down the street. The driver never stopped. At the time of the accident, Christopher was with two friends who tried to pull him back when they saw the SUV but it was too late.

Nieves was rushed to the hospital but he couldn’t be saved.

Anyone who has information about the driver can contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

Published on:

NYC Personal Injury Lawyers Howard Hershenhorn and Diana Carnemolla

Congratulations to our partners NY Personal Injury Lawyers Howard Hershenhorn and Diana Carnemolla as well as their legal assistant Richard Soldano, for obtaining the Highest Jury Verdict in New York State in 2018. This verdict is also the 25th highest jury verdict in the entire country for 2018.

NY #1 Verdict In Sipher v. Twin America LLC, the jury awarded $85 million to a pedestrian who was ran over by a red double decker sightseeing tour bus in New York. The verdict was delivered on December 4th 2018 after a week trial during which Howard Hershenhorn and Diana Carnemolla tried the case on behalf of the injured plaintiff before the Hon. Barbara Jaffe in New York Supreme Court. The jury awarded to the victim $45 million for past pain and suffering and $40 million for future pain and suffering.

The accident occurred on July 3rd 2015 in downtown Manhattan. The victim was crossing 6th Avenue in the crosswalk with  the light in his favor when he was struck by a sightseeing bus making a left turn from West 4th Street onto 6th Avenue.

Published on:

location of the Staten Island car crash3 people were injured in a car crash in Statent Island, NYC.  Wednesday night around 9:40 pm  when a 20 year-old female driver driving with a suspended license, tried to make a right turn from the center lane of Hylan Boulevard onto Bryant Avenue.

The accident occurred in front of the NYPD 122nd precinct. The young woman who was driving a Dodge Charger collided with a Honda Accord seriously injuring the driver and his two passengers. The driver, a 50 year old man and the two passengers an 8-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl were rushed to the hospital.

The driver was taken into custody and is expected to be charged with driving with a suspended license.

Published on:

New-York-School-Zone-Speed-CameraIn New York, speed cameras have proven to be one of the most efficient ways to prevent car accidents and save pedestrian lives especially children and seniors. After Governor Cuomo signed a new law allowing the expansion of the school zone speed camera program in New York City (see previous blog), mayor de Blasio recently announced that the number of speed cameras in New York City would gradually increase from 140 now to 750 in 2020.

The number of hours during which the speed cameras will be operating is expected to almost double

Additionally and starting July 11 speed cameras will operate weekdays from 6 AM to 10 PM. They will not only operate during school hours as it was the case before. The new law also expands the distance at which cameras can be installed from the school. As a result additional speed cameras will be installed in dangerous locations such as West End Ave, First Avenue in Manhattan, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island, Northern Boulevard in Queens and Grand Concourse in the Bronx.
Published on:

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.

Published on:

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