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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Polly+Trottenberg+Bill+De+BlasioFour NYC streets that have a very high pedestrian fatality rate may be completely redesigned and reconstructed in a safer way over the next four years. According to mayor de Blasio’s preliminary budget, 100 million will be allocated to make Queens Boulevard safer and the other 150 million will be allocated to Fourth Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn as well as the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. These four streets have been identified as some of the most deadly streets in New York City and even though some safety upgrades such as lower speed limits and speed cameras have already been implemented, the city is planning to completely redesign them. According to officials, theses safety improvements should lead to a reduction of 30 to 40% of deaths and injuries on these streets. Read more in Transportation Nation
Picture: Mayor de Blasio and Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg

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Guler-Ugur-Yaacobi44 year old Guler Ugur-Yaacob, was struck and killed by 28 year old Prezibor Porbeni at the intersection of W. 113 Street and Amsterdam Ave on December 31st 2013 (see previous blog). The driver fled the scene of the accident leaving the woman dying on the street. He later surrendered to the DA’s office and  was charged with leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it and aggravated unlicensed driving.  Yesterday Porbeni appeared for a brief appearance at Manhattan Supreme Court where several friends of Guler Ugur-Yaacob were present to face him and to plead for harsher charges. Read more in the NY Daily News

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Dave Jones, a 21 year old pedestrian, was killed and several other people were injured in a car accident in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NYC  Sunday night. 18 year old Raymond Ramos was driving his Volkswagen Passat with two other occupants when he was pulled over by the police after they detected the smell of marijuana coming out of his car. Instead of pulling over the teenager sped off.  As he was fleeing from the police, Ramos hit another car and both vehicles careened onto the sidewalk where Ramos’s car hit a pedestrian. The two occupants of Ramos’car and the driver of the other car all sustained non life threatening personal injuries. The pedestrian, Dave Jones suffered a critical head injury and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Ramos was arrested and charged with Criminally Negligent Homicide, Vehicular Assault, First Degree Reckless Endangerment, Fleeing Officer in Motor Vehicle, Unauthorized Use of Vehicle, and Traffic Device Violation. Read more in the Gothamist

The death of David Jones and the arrest of Raymond Ramos reminds us of  4 year old Ariel Russo who was also killed on the New York City streets  by a teenager trying to flee the police (see previous blog)

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26 year old Jessica Labetti was driving on Four Corner Rd in Long Island New York when she crashed into a stone wall after being distracted by her 88 year old grandmother who suffers from dementia. As Labetti was driving, her grandmother, who was sitting in the back seat suddenly pulled her hair. Labetti jolted, lost control of her vehicle and crashed into a wall. The granddaughter  suffered minor injuries. Her grandmother was transported to the hospital in critical condition where she later died. Labetti was driving with a suspended licensed and was charged and arrested by the police. Read more in the NY Daily News

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Franklin Reyes admitted that he struck Ariel Russo, resulting in her death, because he was speeding while trying to avoid being arrested by the police without a license after he was caught making an illegal turn. He will spend up to nine years in jail. 4 year old Ariel Russo was walking to school with her grandmother when Reyes lost  control of his car and struck both of them at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 97th street in NYC. Ariel died in the accident and her grandmother, 46 year old Katia Gutierrez was seriously injured. Read more in the NY Daily News 

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Janet Hickey, a resident of City Island in the Bronx, NYC, was recovering from  brain surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital and was transferred by ambulance to Phelps Memorial Hospital, for  rehabilitation. During the trip between the two facilities, the ambulance that was transporting her crashed into a pole in Westchester County. During the accident, the 60 year old woman suffered serious head and neck injuries that left her brain dead. According to doctors who tried to save her after the accident, the woman wasn’t proprely strapped to her stretcher by the Senior Care Emergency Services ambulance staff. Read more in the New York Daily News

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Several people were taken to the hospital after being badly injured in a car pile-up. The accident happened Sunday around 5:00 am  in the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens section of Brooklyn, NYC. According to witnesses, a car tried to pass another car by using the left lane to allegedly beat a red light when the driver lost control of his vehicle and hit another car triggering a chain reaction between five vehicles. Some of the vehicles occupants who were injured were stuck in the crashed cars and had to wait for the NYC Fire Department to cut through the cars to extricate them and transport them to hospitals.

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A 42 year old woman was loading her luggage in the trunk of a cab when she was hit by another cab that crashed into her and pinned her between the two vehicles. A witness who saw the crash said that the taxi crushed the leg of the woman who fell on the ground in extreme pain. The witness also stated that she lost a lot of blood. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital in critical condition. Both taxi drivers remained at the scene and none of them was charged as the police were till investigating the cause of the accident. This morning’s icy and slushy weather may have played a role in the crash. According to the sister of the victim, the woman was on her way back to California after she came to New York for the wake of a friend who was sick and had just passed away. Read more in the NY Daily News 

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Since last August in New York, the new Right of Way Law makes it a criminal misdemeanor for drivers to strike pedestrians or cyclists who have the right of way. Multiple drivers including 6 bus drivers have been charged and arrested for violating this law. Queens Coucilman Rory Lancman who was a supporter of the Right of Way Law when it came into effect is now saying that cops may have been over applying the law and is considering an amendment. Read more in StreetBlog

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NSC35,400 people died and 4.3 million people suffered personal injury that required medical attention last year on American roads according to preliminary statistics from the National Safety Council (NSC). The number of crash fatalities is 0.5% higher than in 2013 however because 2014 was a year of economical expansion during which the estimated mileage on US roads increased 1.4%, the estimated annual mileage death rate was 1.18 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a decrease of 1% from the 2013 rate. It is also the lowest NSC preliminary estimate ever recorded. The number of personal injuries that occurred during a crash in 2014 was unchanged.  Read more in Automotive Fleeet