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 Bus Accidents

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MTA_New_York_City_Bus_Orion_VII_Next_Generation_2009-thumb1A man suffered critical injury in a bus accident in New York City yesterday. The 31 year old man was delivering Indian food on his moped when he was struck by a MTA bus. Both the moped and the bus were riding on Shea Road in Queens.  When they arrived at the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue, the bus driver made a right turn onto Roosevelt. The moped collided with the right rear of the bus and was crushed under the undercarriage of the bus. The delivery man suffered critical injury including head and body trauma. He was rushed to the hospital. He is expected to survive.  The bus was empty at the time of the accident. The driver had finished his service and was on his way to the bus depot. Read more in the NY Daily News

Another MTA bus accident occurred in Queens less than two weeks ago. A  bus driver was crushed by his own bus as it rolled backward. Kaleb Oliver, the driver needed a bathroom break at the end of a shuttle service. He stopped his bus on Metropolitan Ave near the All Saints Cemetery in Ridgewood. After he stepped out of the bus, the vehicle started to roll backwards. The bus driver started to run after the bus and attempted to get into it from the passenger side. He got crushed between the bus and a pole. He suffered critical injury.  Another bus driver,  Anibal Rivera, who was standing at the scene of the accident after his own shift also ran after the bus. He was able to get in by the drivers side and to pull the emergency break an action that probably saved the life of his colleague. Oliver was rushed to the hospital with a punctured lung and serious face injuries. He had 9 years of service as a MTA bus driver. It is the second time this summer that a MTA Bus rolled backwards causing injury. Read more in the New York Post

Picture source: wikipedia

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96 people died and 27,923 suffered personal injuries in 110,992 motor vehicle accidents in New York City during the first 6 months of 2017 based on the most recent statistics released by the NYPD.

This is the first time that the number of people dying in NYC traffic accidents during the first six months of the year is below 100.  In 2013, before Mayor de Blasio launched Vision Zero, 121 people died in auto accidents in the city during the same period. Vision Zero was launched at the beginning of 2014 and since then the total number of people dying in NYC crashes slowly decreased from 110 during the first semester of 2014 to 107 during the first semester of 2015 and the first semester of 2016. It dropped to 96 for the same period of 2017. Multiple Vision Zero measures such as the reduction of the city speed limit to 25 mph as well as the installation of cameras may have contributed to this decline in fatal crashes.

traffic accident deaths in NYC for the first semester of 2013 to 2017
The decrease in traffic deaths in New York City occurred despite a significant increase in crashes over the last 4 years. In 2013, 99,474 crashes were reported to the NYPD during the first semester. This number increased steadily to 100,834 in 2014 and 104,636 in 2015. It then jumped to 111,588 in 2016. It decreased slightly during the first six months of this year to stabilize at 110,992. Distracted driving is the most common factor in these accidents.

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skateboardA skateboarder died after being struck by a bus in New York City last Friday around 6:30 pm. 25-year-old Kevin Zeng was on the sidewalk of the Union Turnpike near Grand Central Parkway in Forrest Hills, Queens, when his skate board rolled into traffic. The young man ran after it. The skate board rolled into the path of a oncoming MTA bus and Kevin ran behind it. According to the NY Daily News, the bus driver saw him and tried to swerve to avoid him but it was too late.  Kevin was struck by the passenger side of the bus. The victim was rush to the hospital where he later died from his injuries, The bus driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t expected to be charged.

Another skateboarder died this week-end in New York. 18-year-old Alejandro Tello died yesterday at the hospital after he was hit by a hit and run driver. The accident occurred at the intersection of Avenue T and West 10th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The driver was making a right turn when he hit the skateboarder. He drove over his body and didn’t stop. He just sped away leaving behind the teen dying on the street. Witnesses to the accident ran to Alejandro to try to help him. Another car pulled into the middle of the road to protect him from being hit by traffic. He was rushed to the hospital with severe head trauma. He didn’t survive his injuries. The police found the white BMW SUV two miles away from the scene of the accident but so far no suspect was arrested. Alejandro Tello lived in the neighborhood. Residents interviewed by CBS couldn’t believe that the driver never stopped to try help the skateboarder after he hit him. Others said that they previously saw the white BMW driving around the neighborhood during the day.

Picture: Courtesy of Pixabay

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11 people died in auto accidents in New York City last May compared to 20 in April and 18 for the same month a year ago. This is a the lowest number of traffic deaths recorded since March 2016 where the number was also 11. This record low number of auto accident deaths occurred despite traffic accidents reaching 20,689 during the same month. This is the highest number of monthly motor vehicle accidents ever recorded in the city. The month before there were 17,585 motor vehicle accidents and 19,911 in May last year.

Traffic accidents in the city have been on a rising trend.  However it is only the second time that this number is above 20,000. Before that, the monthly number of accidents only went above 20,000 once in October 2015. (Click on graphs for full size)

Auto Accidents NYC Monthly Graph
While the number of traffic accidents has been increasing steadily, the number of deaths related to theses accidents have been declining over the last 4 years. This decline may be explained by the various street safety initiatives that have been launched under the umbrella of the Vision Zero Program to reduce traffic deaths in the city.

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Mamoukakis was a bicyclist fatally struck by a bus in NYC A few days after Citi Bike rider Dan Hanegby was fatally struck by a bus, another cyclist died after being hit by a charter bus just a few blocks away. 80 year old Michael Mamoukakis was riding his bicycle on 7th Ave near 29th Street when he was hit by a charter bus who was making a right turn on 29th Street. The accident occurred Saturday around 1:30 pm.  The bus driver stayed at the scene of the accident. The bus driver told the Post that she didn’t see the bicyclist. She heard a a dull heavy sound and immediately after people in the street started to scream to stop the bus, which she did. The bus is registered to Buckeye Limousine and Charters Corporation of Ohio. Witnesses said they saw the bus driving over the man. He screamed and then became unconscious. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. New York City Council Member Corey Johnson expressed his anger in a statement and asked for an emergency meeting of the NYC DOT, the NYPD, Members of the government, the Community Board 4 and representatives of the charter buses operating in Chelsea.

Read more in the New York Times,
Picture: Facebook

 

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Dan Hanegby died in a NYC bicycle accicdentA bicyclists died after colliding with a bus in New York Monday morning. 36 year old Dan Hanegby, a financial executive at Credit Suisse was riding a Citi Bike on West 26th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. He was riding between the parked cars and a charter bus when the collision occurred. The man fell to the ground and was run over by the rear wheels of the bus.

The accident happened around 8:15 am on Monday. Hanegby was wearing a suit and was most probably on his way to work. The young man was transported to the hospital in critical condition. He died shortly after his arrival to the hospital.  The bus driver stayed at the scene of the accident. He wasn’t charged.

Hanegby grew up in Israel and served in the Israel Defense force. He was also an avid tennis player according to his social media profile.

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A woman suffered critical personal injury after being hit by a MTA bus in New York City. The accident occurred around 9 pm last Monday. 61 year old Aurora Beauchamp was crossing E. Houston Street at Avenue D in the crosswalk  and at the green light when the bus struck her. She was transported to the hospital. Her sternum, ribs hip and pelvis were broken and she suffered internal bleeding. The bus driver was also transported to the hospital for trauma. He was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian.

It is not the first time that a pedestrian has been hit by an MTA bus at this location.  Just a few months ago, in October 2016, 73 year old Anna Colon was fatally hit by a MTA bus that was turning left from Avenue D onto East Houston.

While looking at the Twitter picture below, one can see that Monday’s accident occurred exactly in the same way: the bus was making a left turn onto East Houston as well.

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New York Personal Injury lawyer Anthony Gair photo__2573607_christopher_donadioOur NY personal injury law firm is proud to announce that our attorneys Anthony H. Gair and Christopher J. Donadio obtained a $1.4 million settlement in a bus accident that occurred in Manhattan.

The case involved a bus collision that occurred on May 15, 2015 on the West Side Highway (11th Avenue). On that date, the plaintiff, who was on a bicycle attempting to cross the roadway, was struck by a large tour bus. At the time of the collision, the plaintiff was riding within the bicycle crossing lane and had the right of way per the light. Following the collision, a police officer arrived on the scene and spoke to a number of witnesses. Based on the witnesses, the police officer determined that the tour bus had traveled through a red light and struck the plaintiff.

An action was brought against the tour bus company that owned and operated the bus, as well as against the bus driver. The defendants initially denied that they were responsible for the collision, and argued that even if they were, the plaintiff was also responsible for failing to see the bus before attempting to cross the roadway.

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NYC transit servicesSubway accidents and bus accidents in NYC are difficult to avoid.  As millions of people are using the subways and buses in NYC every year, accidents happen. People are getting hurt, sometimes badly. Sometimes they die. Some accidents are caused by the negligence of the MTA New York City Transit. Over the last 5 years, the agency settled or adjudicated 4,592 negligence cases for a total of $431 million.  88 cases were settled for more than $1 million. A case was settled last year for $9 million. The victim was 19 year old Ali Muir, a pre-med student. Muir tripped in a hole on a subway platform. He fell on the tracks and was hit by a subway.Both of Muir’s  legs were amputated from the knees.  It took 6 years for his case to settle. Many NYC subway platforms have unfixed hazards that can cause dangerous slip and falls.

Any personal injury lawyer in the city knows that NYC transit cases are not easy cases. 49 tort attorneys are working full time for the agency, aggressively fighting every case. The agency is taking the time it needs to fight cases  because it only has to pay a 3% post judgment interest rate. Other agencies and litigants have to pay a   9% post  judgment interest rate on the money awarded at trial to victims. The 3% interest rate is an incentive for the NYC transit to take the time it needs post judgment to take lengthy Appeals of adverse judgments in cases.

Cases take so long to be settled that sometimes victims have to borrow money to pay for their medical bills or for their living. This  happened to 36 year old Pilar Ortiz. She suffered serious leg injuries after being struck by a MTA Bus while riding her bicycle. Ortiz had to undergo 20- surgeries to save her legs.  She was represented by two of our attorneys: Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Saghir. Rubinowitz and Saghir successfully fought the NYC transit agency who was blaming the victim for the accident. The case went to trial. Rubinowitz and Saghir were able to prove to the jury that MTA investigators were lying. Ortiz won the case after a 6 year battle.

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18 people suffered personal injury in a bus accident in New York. Yesterday afternoon a collision between 3 vehicles including a bus occurred on the FDR near the Brooklyn Bridge. According to the NY Daily News, the bus was transporting several disabled people. The 18 people injured in the crash were dispatched to various hospitals.