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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NYC Fatal Personal Injury ChildrenPersonal Injury is the leading cause of death among children 1 to 12 years old in New York City and in the U.S. as well. Between 2003 and 2012 438 NYC children died from injuries according to a new report just published by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  These injuries were primarily related to motor vehicle accidents followed by fire related injuries, suffocation and falls. Most of the children who died after being involved in a traffic accidents were pedestrians.

Most injuries leading to death (65%) were unintentional.  Infants between 1 and 2 years old are the most at risk as well as non Hispanic black children of all ages and kids from very poor neighborhoods. Boys have a much higher risk of death from an unintentional injury than girls.

Death related to intentional injuries are more prevalent among infants, in poor neighborhoods. Non Hispanic black kids are the most at risk of dying from an intentional injury.

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brNew York Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Rubinowitz has extensive experience representing the families of pedestrians and cyclists who have been killed or severely injured by negligent motorists in New York. Recently Ben tried a wrongful death case in The U.S. District Court for The Southern District  of New York, in which the Court held the Federal Government %100 liable and awarded monetary damages estimated to be approximately $5 million for lawyer Nat Dershowitz in a successful civil case against the driver of a U.S. Postal Service Truck that struck and killed his wife(see prior blog). Ben also represents Dana Lerner, the mother of 9 year old Cooper Stock who was hit by a taxi driver as he was in the crosswalk with his father resulting in his death.  In a recent article in NY Press Ben reflects on a recent decision by Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. to charge a  motorist who killed a pedestrian  in the Bowery with manslaughter.

Read the article here

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Heat map Cross Bay Blvd and Liberty AveAn 88 year old woman was killed in  a car accident in Queens, New York. The woman was driving North on Cross Bay Blvd at Liberty Ave when she hit a pillar of the elevated A line subway train tracks.  She suffered critical injuries and died 4 days later at the Hospital. The Police are still investigating the cause of the crash. The NYC Crash mapper heat map shows that the area is a dangerous spot where many accidents have occurred in the past. Between August 2011 and February 2014 44 collisions happened there and 5 pedestrians, 1 cyclist 4 passengers and 5 drivers suffered personal injury.

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A health condition problem is at the origin of  a fatal car accident in Long Island, NY.  92 year old Joseph Saccente was driving his taxi when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a house in Long Island. The elderly man died in the accident. Why was a 92 year old allowed to drive a taxi?  See video below

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A woman in a SUV was almost crushed after falling rocks came sliding down on her car while she was driving on the Saw Mill River Parkway in Chapaqua, NY.  The woman was terrified but didn’t suffer any personal injury. The car that was behind her was driven by a retired cop who came to the rescue and provided  much needed psychological support to the victim. See video below

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40 people died and  10,069 suffered personal injury in a traffic crash in New York City between January 1st and April 1st 2015 compared to respectively 51 and 10,805 in 2014 and 69 and 11,676 in 2013.  it is also interesting to note that there were more accidents during the three first months of this year compared to the same period of the 2 previous years. These numbers indicate that streets are getting a little safer for New Yorkers and that Vision Zero may be starting to show some results.

traffic accidents deaths and injuries NYC jan to march 2015
23 pedestrians died in traffic accidents in NYC during the first three months of the year compared to 31 for the first three months of 2014 and 44 for the same period of 2013. This number is still high but over the last two years it almost decreased by half which is a positive evolution.  The number of pedestrians injured in a crash in NYC during that same period was 2,423 in 2015 compared to 2,847 in 2014 and 3,080 in 2013.

pedestrian detahs and injuries in NYC jan to march 2015

1 person died in a bicycle accident in New York City during the first trimester of 2015 compared to 2 the previous year and 1 in 2013. 355 cyclists suffered personal injury during the same period compared to 399 in 2014 and 510 in 2013. It is difficult to look at bicycle accident statistics for the months of January, February and March as it is the end of the Winter season and not many people use their bikes.

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6 people were injured in a car accident during which a livery van collided with another car on Park Ave at E. 116th Street in Harlem, NYC. The collision was so powerful that the livery car flipped into the air. Two people were seriously injured and four others suffered only minor injuries. They were all rushed to the hospital.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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New York Truck accidentThankfully nobody was injured in a truck accident that happened Saturday at the site of  a new Memorial for Traffic Fatalities in Brooklyn, NYC. Activists for the group Right of Way were in the process of creating a huge mural depicting the silhouettes of the 264 people who died in traffic accidents in New York in 2014 when an 18-wheeler plowed into it.

Organizer Keegan Stephan was standing closest. The crash pulled parts of the plywood fence from its frame, and he said he and other volunteers who were wheat-pasting posters down the block had to jump back to avoid being struck. The driver could have done worse. “Fortunately he just hit a wall,” Stephan said. “If someone had been standing there that person would be dead.”

Read more in the NY Daily News and in the Gothamist and see video below for more info about the accident (at 1:40 min) and about the Memorial for people killed in traffic accidents in New York City in 20014

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A NYPD patrol car crashed into a 15-passenger van and caught fire in Brooklyn, NYC. The accident happened Sunday around 4:15 am. The patrol car was responding to a foot pursuit when the driver struck the van at the intersection of Fort Hamilton Parkway and 66th St. in Dyker Heights. Five people were injured in the crash and transported to the hospital. One person was in critical condition, two people were severely injured but in stable condition and the two other suffered minor injuries.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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Three people were severely injured after a sedan crashed into the rear of a tractor trailer in Brooklyn, New York Saturday around 4:15 am. Officials said the car was going down Flatbush Ave at 110 miles-per-hour when the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a Walgreens truck near Kings Highway in Flatlands. The crash was so violent that the BMW was completely destroyed. 3 people were rushed to the hospital in critical condition and another person suffered minor injury. Read more in the NY Daily News