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 Bicycle Accidents

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location of the collision between the truck and the bicyclistA bicyclist died after being struck by a truck in Harlem, New York on Friday morning around 8:30 am

The driver of the truck was driving illegally on the bus-only lane on First Avenue near 118th Street when he  struck the 41 year old bicyclist. The police also mentioned that the bicyclist was riding the wrong way.  The truck driver stayed at the scene of the accident and was asked to submit himself to the breathalyzer which came out negative. He was not charged despite recklessly travelling on the bus lane while he was supposed to drive on the 3 other traffic lanes of First Ave.

While looking at past traffic violations, the truck has a a history of recklessness with 159 violations since 2014 including red lights and speeding.  The cyclist seemed to have been crushed between the truck and a car that was illegally parked in front of a “No Standing Anytime” sign. The victim is the 24th bicyclists to die in a traffic accident this year. He is also was one of two victims who died in a traffic accident in East Harlem this week-end. Read more in the Gothamist

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location of the bicycle accident on Second AvenueAround 20 people are injured in bicycle accidents in New York City every day. The majority of these accidents are cyclists struck by cars. When a cyclist is struck by a motor vehicle, the injuries are often serious because cyclists do not have any protection expect sometimes for their helmet which is not mandatory in New York City.

Most common injuries sustained by cyclists in a crash are head injuries

Head injuries account for around half of bicycle accident injuries. They can lead to long term disabilities especially for those cyclists who suffered traumatic injury such as skull fracture, cranial hemorrhage, concussion or contusion. Other frequent injuries sustained when a cyclist is hit by a car are fractures and dislocation  including facial, dental and ribs fractures. Internal organs are often injured as well and ruptured spleen, pancreatic trauma, bowel and renal contusions as well as hernia are frequent. Cyclists also frequently get impaled by their handle bar resulting in life-threatening injuries.

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location of the e-bike crash with Rolls RoyceA Man who was seriously injured in a e-bike accident near the Queens-Midtown tunnel on Saturday November 28th died from his injuries, the NYPD announced on Tuesday. 28 year old Jakir Hossain from the Bronx was riding an electrical bike on East 38th Street, Saturday November 28th around 8:45 pm when he was struck by the driver of a Rolls Royce convertible travelling North on Tunnel Exit Street. The cyclist was ejected from his bike and suffered multiple trauma to his head and his body. He was transported to the hospital where he died from his injuries after more than a week of pain and suffering.

The 30 year old driver of the Rolls Royce was not charged. The investigation is still ongoing. The report mentions that the driver had the green light . Tunnel Exit Street is notoriously dangerous. Drivers are speeding and visibility is bad. Last year 17 crashes were reported on this short street segment.

The death of Jakir Hossain once again demonstrates that while more and more people are riding bicycles in  New York City, many streets of the city are still extremely dangerous to ride and more should be done to protect cyclists. Read more in Street Blog

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After reaching a record high in September, NYC auto accident fatalities remained high with 12 pedestrians, 1 cyclist, 4 passengers and 7 drivers killed in auto accidents in October compared to respectively 13 pedestrians, 6 bicyclists, 2 passengers and 14 drivers last September and 9 pedestrians, 3 cyclists, 1 passengers and 5 drivers in October 2019 (click on graphs for full format)

After remaining below 20 for the last 4 years, motor vehicle accident fatalities for the month of October  are back to pre Vision Zero levels with a total of 24 people killed on NYC streets.

Auto accident deaths NYC October 2020
While the number of traffic deaths was higher, the number of people injured in car accidents in New York City was at the lowest level for for the 8 years under review in the graph below. A total of 4,235 people sustained injuries in traffic accidents in the city compared to respectively 5,204, 5,498, 5,450, 5,083, 4,851, 4,692 and 4,830 in October 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

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location of the bike collision
A New York cyclist who was struck by a car died from his injuries one week after the accident occurred. On Saturday November 7th around 1:00 am , Juan Tiu-Caxaj was riding his bicycle on Autumn Avenue. As he crossed Fulton Street he collided with a car heading westbound on Fulton Street. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. He was not charged. The young victim suffered head trauma and was transported to the hospital. His condition was stable but  it deteriorated and he died from his injuries a week later.

According to the police, the cyclist rode through a stop sign just before the collision.  The investigation is still ongoing to find out the exact cause of the accident.

According to Vision Zero studies, East New York is among the most dangerous areas in New York for bicyclists. However so far not much has been done in this neighborhood to promote bicyclists safety compared to other areas of New York City like Manhattan.

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segment-of-bike-lane-on-flatbush what-is-missingThe DOT recently inaugurated a new segment of protected bike lane  crossing Prospect Park in Brooklyn. While the new protected bike lane covers Flatbush Avenue from Grand Army Plaza to Empire Boulevard (see picture from the DOT ). The DOT indicates that the protected bike lane connects  to Downtown Brooklyn”. Unfortunately this is not the case (see map from the DOT with protected bike lanes in green). From Grand Army Plaza to Downtown Brooklyn cyclists still have to make their way through dangerous unprotected bike lanes which put them at a higher risk of getting injured or dying in a bicycle accident.  This is a concern, especially with the actual pandemic situation that has led many Brooklyn residents opting to start using a bike instated of using the subway.

At the recent inauguration of the bike lane, street safety advocates confronted New York Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg about the problem. Trottenberg who is herself commuting by bike between Grand Army Plaza and Downtown Brooklyn puzzled activists when she replied that she felt comfortable with the actual situation. “It’s a pretty good ride between here and Jay Street — you’ve got Vanderbilt to Bergen, so it’s pretty good she said.  She also added “Not everybody has the same opinion” and that’s true:  a day after the inauguration, a very upset dad who uses the bike lane to bring his son to school tweeted the following answer :

https://twitter.com/JarekFA/status/1324129158553915393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1324129158553915393%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.brooklynpaper.com%2Fflatbush-fourth-avenue-protected-bike-lanes%2F

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e-scooter-4496668_640While e-scooters can be a very convenient way to commute in big cities, e-scooter accidents can result in very bad injuries including head trauma. In New York, it is now legal to ride a E-scooters but by-the minute rental which are already popular in many cities around the world are still not available in the Big Apple. However things are about to change and the city has been recently receiving offers from rental companies to  start providing services to New Yorkers next March.

NO RENTAL IN MANHATTAN

Manhattan will still be off-limits for e-scooter rental companies. The city will favor areas that are not well served by other transportation options. While the idea to favor areas with less transportation options might sounds like a good idea, it would be interesting to know how the city is planning to protect e-scooter users in these areas.  As a reminder, Citi Bike started to implement their program in the Bronx recently while the DOT has been too slow at installing protected bike lanes in the borough.  The result is an increase of 40% of bicycle accident injuries in the Bronx since the beginning of the year.

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location of the deadly crash between a cyclist and a tractor trailer truckA 34 year old man died in a bicycle accident in the Bronx, NYC, yesterday. The cyclist collided with a tractor-trailer truck on Bruckner Boulevard around 1:45 pm.  It is still not clear how the accident occurred. An initial police report indicates that the cyclist was riding westbound on Bruckner Boulevard and that the Tractor Trailer Truck driver was heading South on Brown Place. No information was provided about who had the light. The report just concludes that the cyclist ran into the back of the truck. The area is often congested as road users use this part of the Bruckner Boulevard to access the Willis Avenue Bridge.

Why would a cyclist run into the back of a truck?

This seems  to be a very strange conclusion and hopefully further investigation will reveal what exactly led to the death of this cyclist. Unfortunately the NYPD has a long history of blaming cyclists for crashes and giving slack to faulty drivers. Last year, Mario Venezuela, a Queens teenager, was fatally hit by a negligent truck driver. The police blamed the teenager for his own death however surveillance footage of the crash shows that the truck driver was reckless and cause the death of the teenager. A video of the crash shows the truck driver veering to his left before cutting hard into a right turn without using his turn signal and crashing into Venezuela.

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location of the e-bike colision with SUVA driver fatally struck an e-bike rider in New York and then fled the scene of the accident. 42 year old Ernesto Guzman of East Harlem was delivering a pizza on his e-bike yesterday around 4:30 pm when a black Chevrolet Tahoe SUV with TLC plates crashed into him. The driver then left, leaving the man dying on the street. The accident occurred in East Harlem at the intersection of E. 97th Street and Second Avenue. The Police found the vehicle abandoned by the driver on E. 96th Street. They are still looking for the runaway driver. The victim had delivery bags with him and a witness at a nearby Deli told the NY Daily News that they flew 3 feet away during the collision.  The witness also mentioned that the victim was badly injured with a lot of blood coming out of his head.

When EMS and the police arrived, they transported the victim to a hospital emergency room which was just yards away from the scene of the accident but it was too late. Ernesto Guzman was so badly injured that he passed away.

The police are still investigating the accident. According to preliminary investigation, the e-bike rider was driving south on Second Ave when he was hit by the SUV driving  West on 97th Street.

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Brookklyn bridge bike lane and pedestrian lane are too narrowA recent collision between a wedding photographer and a cyclist on the iconic Brooklyn Bridge (see video below) is probably a perfect example as to why the Brooklyn Bridge is the only bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan that saw a decrease in bicycle traffic since the beginning of the pandemic.  Thankfully both the photographer and the cyclist were ok but it could have been much worse.

Cyclists who are commuting on a regular basis between the two boroughs don’t want to have to fight their way among pedestrians enjoying the space and risk getting injured in a bicycle accident. Therefore they are opting for roads that are less touristy such as the Manhattan bridge or the Williamsburg bridge for those who are commuting between downtown Manhattan and Dumbo or Williamsburg.

The Brooklyn Bridge is the only bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn that recorded a decrease in bike traffic in September

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