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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accident sceneA 17 year old driver accidentally killed his grandmother in a car accident in New York City on Sunday.  The young man who lives in Queens with his parents and grandparents was about to take the family to church when the accident occurred.  As he backed up in the narrow driveway of their home, Jadesh struck his grandmother who had stepped into the path of the car. 75 year old Chandravti Lakhan was transported to the hospital in critical condition. She couldn’t be saved.  According to the neighbors, the whole family is very united. The parents  and the grandparents live together  with 5 children in a house located on 267th St. near 83rd Ave in Queens, NYC. It wasn’t uncommon for Jadesh to take his grandparents out.  The whole family was visibly distraught by the tragedy.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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A NYC cop was injured in a car accident involving a livery cab driver at a New York Airport. Tuesday afternoon around 1:00 pm, 30 year old Macias Rubio, a livery cab driver was looking for customers at Laguardia Aiport . As he was negotiating a fare with a potential customer, a police officer approached him. The officer put his head through the open window of Rubio’s car and started talking to him. Rubio sped off and dragged the police officer with him. After a short distance, the livery cab driver, stopped. He got out of his car and ran away. He was chased by other cops and arrested. The officer suffered several injuries in the accident. Read more in the NY Daily News

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methShaun Martin was high on PCP and Meth when he crashed his car into a New York grocery store and killed the florist standing outside. Two other workers were also injured in the crash. He was convicted of murder last July (see previous blog). On Friday, the 35 year old man appeared in front of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Melissa Jackson. He was sentenced to 20 years to life.

In 2013 Shaun Martin was drunk and high on Meth and PCP when he decided to drive his car in the East Village. He jumped the curb at more than 90 mph and crashed into the flower stand of a grocery store located on Second Ave and E. 4th Street. 62 year old Mohammed Akkas Ali died in the car accident. He was the florist at the grocery store. He was about to finish his shift when the accident occured.  Read more in the NY Daily News

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9 pedestrians were killed in NYC car accidents last year during the 8 days following the end of the Daylight Saving Time. All the victims were between 55 and 88 years old.  6 of the 9 accidents occurred after sunset. According to data collected between 2010 and 2014, the number of pedestrians dying or being severely injured in car accidents increased by 40% during the last 3 months of the year. Statistics also indicate that crashes involving turns are doubling during the colder and darker months of the year.

As Daylight Saving Time ends this week-end, a $1.5 million Vision Zero campaign will be launched this Friday by the mayor’s office to prevent pedestrian deaths during the most dangerous period of the year.

Yesterday Bill de Blasio was joined by Transportation Commissioner Trottenberg, Aging Commissioner Corrado, Commissioner and Chair of the Taxi and Limousine Commission Joshi and NYPD Chief Chan at One Police Plaza to present the new pedestrian safety campaign to the press.

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92-20 Astoria Boulevard view from Goggle mapAn infant died in a car accident last week in Queens. 8 month old Navraj Raju was in a stroller pushed by his mother last Thursday morning when he was struck by a van. The mother and the infant were on the sidewalk when the driver of the van backed out of a driveway and hit the stroller. The van driver was unlicensed. The car accident occurred at 92-20 Astoria Boulevard.  The picture above shows the location of the accident. It is an area particularly difficult to navigate for pedestrians, especially families. Cars parked in front of the building between the deli and the gas station have to back out onto the sidewalk when leaving their parking space. They have reduced visibility when backing out. Additionally vehicular traffic is constantly crossing the sidewalk to access the gas station.

Astoria Boulevard was identified in 2015 as a Vision Zero priority. The segment of Astoria Boulevard between 80th street and 110th street was identified as a pedestrian crash corridor. It is among the top 10% most dangerous corridors for pedestrians in this particular neighborhood.  It is supposed to be re-engineered in the future to make it safer for pedestrians. The proposal from the Department of Transportation to make some specifically dangerous segments of Astoria Boulevard safer can be downloaded here.  However despite fixes being identified for Astoria Boulevard in 2015, not enough is being done by the de Blasio administration to quickly implement these changes. Transportation Alternatives organized a stroller protest to ask the Mayor to fulfill his promise to reduce traffic deaths.

Read more about the accident on Streetblog

 

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view of car accident location by Goggle mapA woman suffered critical personal injury in a car accident in New York on Sunday morning around 10:30. The 60 year old pedestrian was crossing East 38th Street at the Queens Midtown Tunnel entrance when the accident happened. She was hit by a black SUV and dragged by the car for a block before being dislodged. The SUV driver fled the scene of the accident. The woman was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The police are still looking for the driver.

Picture: accident location courtesy of Google Map

 

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Almost 200 people died in car accidents on Queens Boulevard in NYC over the last 15 years. Queens Boulevard is also commonly nicknamed by New York City residents “the boulevard of deaths”. As part of the Vision Zero initiative some parts of this very long corridor are due to be redesigned by the New York City DOT. Another part of Queens Boulevard located in the Biarwoood and Kew Gardens area is also being redesigned as part of  the Kew Gardens Interchange Projects undertaken by the New York State Department of Transportation. According to DNA info, 3 pedestrian plazas are being built along Queens Boulevard as part of the project. The enormous project that started in 2010 is supposed to improve pedestrian and motor vehicle mobility on Queens Boulevard. Constructions over the last 6 years greatly inconvenienced he residents. Local community groups such as the Briarwood Action Network hope that the project that will be finished by next spring will finally benefit the community.

According to the Vision Zero map below, since the beginning of the year 13 people were injured in car accidents in the area that is being redesigned by the New York Sate DOT.

car accident injuries on Queens Boulevard NYC

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Northern Boulevard and Prince aerial viewA pedestrian was fatally struck by a car in New York City last night. The 79 year old man was crossing the street at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Prince Street in Flushing, Queens, when he was struck by a SUV.  The driver was a 56 year old woman. She stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. The pedestrian was transported to the hospital in critical condition. He later died from his injuries according to the NY Daily News.

Northern Boulevard is considered one of the most dangerous arterial roads in New York City. When mayor de Blasio signed 11 Vision Zero bills into law he held his press conference on Northern Boulevard and 61st Street.  This is where 8 year old Nashat Nahian (whose family is represented by our firm) was killed by a  truck driver on his way to school.

Northern Boulevard is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor. To reduce pedestrian deaths on the Northern Boulevard, the DOT recently presented several safety projects to local community boards such as Northern Blvd – Honeywell St to Broadway Corridor Safety Improvements and the Northern Boulevard – 105 St to 114 St Corridor Safety Improvements.

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Car accidents are the number one cause of fatalities among teens. 2,679 teens died and 123,000 were injured in car accidents in 2014 in the US according to the most recent statistics. Distracted driving including distraction from other passengers, speeding, alcohol use and lack of seat belts are among the main factors contributing to these accidents. To raise awareness about these dangers and in an attempt to prevent teens from dying or being injured in car crashes the Congress created the National Teen Driver Safety Week in 2007. National Teen Drivers Safety Week 2016 starts Today for the ninth consecutive year. During this week, schools and communities will conduct campaigns related to this issue.  If you want to get involved in your community or learn more about National Teen Driver Safety Week you can find campaign material here.

 

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Rear End CollisionThe Traffic Injury Prevention Journal  recently released a study comparing traffic accidents involving novice teen drivers and experienced adults. The study uses data from the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study. Naturalistic driving is a new approach of analyzing driving behavior. In the SHRP2 naturalistic driving study, 2,360 drivers of all ages and genders across the US agreed to have their driving behavior electronically monitored. For a specific period of time, each participant’s car was equipped with high tech data-collecting devices that analyzed their day to day driving activities and behavior.

A team led by researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia used the naturalistic driving data to compare crash rates and rear-end striking crashes among novice teens and experienced adults.  Researchers found 539 crashes involving novice teen drivers (16 to 19 years old) or experienced adult drivers (35 to 54 years old). They looked at data from onboard instrumentation such as scene cameras, accelerometers and GPS to  identify rear-end crashes. Each of these rear-end collisions were then analyzed to obtain information about impact velocity and severity of the crash.

The study found that rear-end crashes represented 43% of all significant at-fault crashes. Novice teen drivers had a crash rate of 30 per million miles driven and a rear-end striking crash rate of 13.5 compared to respectively 5.3 and 1.8 per million miles driven for experienced adult drivers. The median impact velocity for rear-end crashes was 18.9 mph for novice drivers and 2.8 mph for experienced drivers. Rear-end crash severity was also higher for teens than for adults.