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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3 pedestrians suffered personal injury after being hit by a car in New York. The pedestrians were walking on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when a car plowed into them. The driver identified as 27 year old Cameron Cohello fled the scene of the accident, striking another car. He continued to drive toward the Queensboro Bridge. He abandoned his car near the bridge. He then tried to force a cab driver out of his car to steel his vehicle. A traffic agent ran to the rescue of the taxi driver. As the traffic agent was trying to grab him, Cohello punched him in the chest. Cohello was finally arrested by the police and sent to the hospital for psychological evaluation. He was charged with felony, assault and attempted robbery.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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One man died and another one was critically injured in car accident in Queens, New York City. Monday early morning, 30 year old Jorge Bermudez was driving his car on Laurel Hill Blvd with a passenger at his side. As he was near 49th street just under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Maspeth, he lost control of the vehicle. The car slammed into a median and both the driver and the passenger got pinned inside. Witnesses reported that the crash was very loud. The victims were rushed to the hospital where Bermudez died. Read more in the NY Daily News

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NicodemusOne pedestrian died and two others where injured yesterday night in Brooklyn, NYC, after an unlicensed driver lost control of his vehicle and jumped the curb. Yesterday around 5:30 pm, 30 year old Victoria Nicodemus was walking with her boyfriend on a sidewalk of Fulton Street near South Portland Street in Fort Green when a SUV jumped the curb and hit the two of them as well as a 75 year old female pedestrian. Victoria died and the two others suffered personal injury.

Marlon Sewell, the driver, didn’t realize that there was a bus stop nearby and that the bus in front of him was about to stop. He swerved to avoid it and jumped the curb killing one and injuring two. He was arrested by the police and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and  operating a motor vehicle without insurance. Read more in the Gothamist

Later on, disturbing footage of a surveillance video was released showing a woman that happened to be steps away from the crash looking at the victim and then continuing to walk down the street eating her pizza, unfazed after the crash.

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The number of pedestrians injured or killed in a traffic accident in New York City over a period of 3 months reached a record low during the period of July, August and September 2015. 2186 pedestrians were injured during this period of time compared to 2270 during the same period of 2014 and 2710 during the same period of 2013. So far there were fewer pedestrians were injured in traffic accidents in 2015 than in 2014 or in 2013. 21 pedestrians died in a car accident this summer compared to 38 during the summer of 2014 and 39 during the summer of 2013.

Pedestrians injured and killed in New York City Traffic Accident over a trimester summer 2015
The number of people who suffered personal injury in a bicycle accident over a 3 month period reached a record high between July and September 2015 with a total of 1648 injuries compared to 1507 for the same period of 2014 and 1468 for the same period of 2013. More and more people are riding bicycles in New York City resulting in an increase in bicycle accident injuries. 8 people died in a bicycle accident this summer. This is the same as last summer. Over the year so far less people died in a bicycle accident in 2015 than in 2014.

Bicyclists injured and killed in New York City Bicycle Accident over a trimester summer 2015
The number of passengers injured in a car accident in NYC has been decreasing over the last 3 years and for every season. This summer, during the months of July, August and September 4121 passengers suffered personal injury in a car accident, compared to 5193 in 2014 and 5754 in 2014.  The number of passengers killed in a car accident during the warm season has been increasing every summer over the last 3 years in New York City. Between July and September 2015, 10 passengers died in a car accident in New York City compared to 9 for the same period of 2014 and 6 for the same period of 2013. So far more passengers died in a NYC car accident in 2015 than in 2014 or in 2013.

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776 pedestrians, 513 bicyclists, 1236 passengers and 1960 motorists suffered personal injury in motor vehicle accidents in New York City in September compared to respectively 714 pedestrians, 565 bicyclists, 1448 passengers and 2010 motorists in August and 751 pedestrians, 485 bicyclists, 1677 passengers and 1523 motorists in September 2014.

While the number of pedestrians injured in NYC traffic accidents  has been below 1000 since the beginning of 2014, the number of people injured in bicycle accidents stayed over 500 for the last 3 months. The number of motorists injured has also been unusually high and staying above 2000 for the last 3 months.

Personal injuries in motor vehicle accidents in NYC September 2015
4 pedestrians, 2 bicyclists, 2 passengers and 6 motorists died in motor vehicle accidents in September compared to 11 pedestrians, 3 bicyclists, 2 passengers and 5 motorists in August and 13 pedestrians, 1 bicyclist, 4 passengers and 8 motorists in September 2014. The Vision Zero Initiative is having a positive impact. Since the beginning of the year, it is the fourth month that the total monthly traffic fatalities are below 15. In 2014 it happened only twice and in 2013 the monthly number of people dying on New York City Streets never went below 15.

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Another pedestrian died in a car accident in NYC on Monday night. Paul Omoregie, an unlicensed driver who was trying to stop another car from passing him lost control of his vehicle and slammed into a bus stop stand and a tree before fatally striking 50 year old Charles Kinyeti who was walking back home from work on Flatbush Ave near Abermarie Rd. in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The driver and 3 year old child who was sitting in the back of the car as well as another female pedestrian suffered minor injuries and were hospitalized.

The police arrested the man yesterday for driving without a license. Read more in the NY Daily News.

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Three pedestrians died in New York car accidents over the weekend after 8 others already died during the week. Two of the accidents happened on the Upper West Side (see previous blogs here and here) and the third one happened in Ozone Park, Queens where a 68 year old man was struck by a car (read more here).  Several people suffered serious personal injury in NYC this weekend as well. A bicyclist in his 60s was struck by a car Saturday morning around 10:30 am in Hollis Queens. A pedestrian suffered severe leg injury after being struck by a fire truck  at E. 15th St. and Irving Place in Manhattan on Saturday night.   (Read more in the NY Daily News)

These accidents happened shortly after Mayor de Blasio told journalists in a press conference that it had been a “very tough week” and that Vision Zero has “never been more necessary”. The mayor indicated that since zero vision was initiated the number of speeding tickets doubled  and the number of failure to yield tickets tripled.  (Read more in the Gothamist).

de Blasio

 

 

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An elderly pedestrian died after being struck by a taxi on The Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC early Sunday morning. 88 year old Luisa Rosario, a beloved neighborhood figure, was starting to cross 109 street with the light and had the right of way when a taxi which turned right onto 109th Street from Columbus Ave hit her. The taxi driver, 73 year old Salifu Abubkar,  said he didn’t see the victim. He also told the police that he had been working non-stop for 16 hours.  He was charged with failure to yield.

Taxi drivers are prohibited by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to drive more than 12 hours straight and if they do so they may be issued a summons by the Commission.

Salifu Abubkar has been driving a cab for 30 years and had never had any serious accidents. Taxi drivers don’t have retirement pensions therefore if they don’t have any other source of income they are forced to continue to work.  Read more in the NY Daily News

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An 86 year old woman died after being struck by a car in Manhattan last Friday around 5:00 pm. The woman was crossing West End Ave near 64th Street on the Upper West Side when she was struck by a car. The driver remained at the scene of the accident while the victim was transported to the Hospital. The police are still investigating the accident.

The elderly woman was the 9th pedestrian to be killed last week in a car accident. Read more in the Gothamist

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3 pedestrians died and 3 others suffered personal injury in a car accident in New York City last Saturday during Halloween celebrations. 10 year old Nyanna Aquil and her 65 year old grandfather Louis Perez  as well as 24 year old Christian Leka died after 52 year old Howard Hunger lost control of his vehicle, jumped the curb  and slammed into trick-or-treaters walking along Morris Park Ave near Bogart Ave. According to the preliminary police investigation, the car driver appeared to have suffered a seizure while he was driving. As he was driving west on Morris Park Ave he struck a car in front of him twice before driving into oncoming traffic and jumping the curb. He is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries.

Louis Perez was walking with her granddaughter Nyanna and her two young sisters and Christian Leka in the company of her fiancee was holding his 9 year old sister’s hand when the car crashed into the two groups of trick-or-treaters.  Leka shoved her fiancee to the ground and pushed his sister away saving their lives. One of Nyanna sisters as well as Christian Leka’s sister and his fiancee were injured and hospitalized.

So far this year  13 pedestrians were killed by a car jumping a curb in New York City.