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 Personal Injury

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A drunk driver hit a bicyclist yesterday afternoon in Queens, NYC, sending him to the hospital in critical condition. The bicycle accident happened yesterday afternoon around 3:15 pm. The bicyclist was riding down Queens Plaza North near 29th St. in Long Island City when he was hit by a 35 year old drunk driver. The driver is expected to be charged with driving under the influence. Read more in the NY Daily News

In New York State, 3,752 people died in crashes involving a drunk driver between 2003 and 2012.

Drunk driving in New York

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Since 1990, 185  New Yorkers died in traffic accidents on Queens Boulevard, mostly pedestrians but also many bicyclists.  Yesterday New York Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference in Queens to announce that the “Boulevard of Death” would now become the Boulevard of life and that a $100 million redesign will be implemented to make this dangerous road safer for Queens residents.  The project will include additional crosswalks and safer crossing for pedestrians, protected bike lanes, expanded medians with green plants and intersections redesigned to decrease speed and deter reckless driving. The first phase started yesterday and will target a dangerous 1.3 mile stretch of the boulevard located between Roosevelt Ave and 73rd Street in Woodside. 6 people died, 36 suffered severe personal injury and 591 others suffered minor injuries in crashes in this specific area between 2009 and 2013. Read more on ABC New York

Queens Blvd redesign

 

Queens Boulevard Redesign Project, Source: New York City Department of Transportation

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Two young brothers were injured by a falling tree branch in New York on Monday. Johstin and Edward Reyes were having fun at a children’s playground at the Bronx River Park when a 10 foot long tree limb fell on them. They were both transported to the hospital and while Edward was released from the Hospital with bunps and bruises, his brother was not as lucky. Johstin not only broke his leg and suffered a head injury but  he also will need a spinal surgery. Read more in the NY Daily News

New York personal injury cases alleging negligence in maintaining the tree in a safe condition are difficult to prove. It is usually necessary to retain an expert arborist who can testify based on the condition of the tree that it was apparent that the tree or the branch were in a dangerous condition and at risk of falling.

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Report a potholeA New York bicyclist suffered severe personal injury after he hit a pothole and impaled his neck on a nearby fence. The man in his forties was riding his bike near Stockholm Street and Woodward Ave in Ridgewood, Queens, NYC, when the bicycle accident happened. The man hit the pothole and fell off the bike, hitting his head on the ground. He then tried to stand up but stumbled on a metallic fence on which he impaled his neck. The fence went all the way through his neck. When the EMS arrived they had to cut part of the fence to be able to treat the bicyclist. He was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Several cyclists interviewed by the NY Daily News were aware of the pothole and said the bicycle accident could have been avoided if the city was more proactive in repairing the potholes.  We can only hope that these cyclists were proactive as well and had previously taken a picture of the pothole and reported it to the City so that this bicyclist stands a chance to be compensated by the City for his gruesome injuries.  In New York, most pothole cases can only be won if the City had “written notice of the defect” before the accident occurred. If you are a bicyclist or a pedestrian in New York City and you notice a pothole, snap a pic and report it! It doesn’t take long and it may cause repair and protect a bicyclist in the future.

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Two people were in critical condition and three others were seriously injured in an accident involving two cars in Brooklyn, NYC, early morning Sunday. The accident happened at the intersection of Quentin Road and E. Fifth Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, NYC around 12:50 am.  The impact was so violent that one of the cars was sent into a utility pole that tore through the hood and stopped at the dash board. According to the Gothamist two previous car accidents happened this year at the same location.

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A 17 year old driver crashed his car into a SUV last night in New York City. The front passenger of the car died while the back passenger suffered personal injury . Both drivers were also injured. The teen was driving north on 231 St with two other teen passengers when he crashed into a SUV driven by a 20 year old man at 119th Av in Cambria Heights, Queens, NYC. Read more in the NY Daily News

In New York State, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of unintentional deaths for teens. Every day an average of 12 people are killed or are hospitalized because of a collision caused by a teen driver. Newly licensed male teen drivers as well as their teen passengers are the most at risk of being killed or injured in a car accident with unsafe speed being the leading cause of teen crashes. See graph below of most recent New York State statistics.

NY car accidents stats

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4 women are dead and 4 others are still in the hospital after being injured in a collision during which a pick up truck collided with their limo. The 8 friends were having a bachelorette party and had hired a limo to visit distilleries and vineyards from the North Folk Region. The limo was leaving Vineyard 48 winery in Cutchogue, Long Island, NY and was making a U turn when a pick up truck crashed into it. The collision was so violent that that the limo was almost sliced in half. Brittney Schulman, 23, and Lauren Baruch, 24, both of Smithtown; Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park, and Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack all died in the accident. Joelle Dimonte, 25, of Elwood, L.I.; Melissa Angela Crai, 23, of Scarsdale, Westchester County; Alicia Arundel, 24, of Setauket, L.I., and Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn, were all treated at local hospitals and survived. Both drivers were also injured and hospitalized. Steve Romeo, the driver of the pick up truck was charged with misdemeanor DWI. He pleaded not guilty. Read more in the NY Daily News

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baby in hospitalTo precribe Proglycem (diazoxide) to a baby with risk factors for pulmonary hypertension can be medical malpractice leading to severe personal injury.  FDA MedWatch, the FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program recently released a drug safety communication to warn that 11 cases of pulmonary hypertension in infants and newborns treated with diazoxide, the active ingredient in Proglycem, have been indentified since the drug was launched in 1973. The drug is usually used in hospital setting after the birth of the baby.

Doctors should not prescribe this drug to babies suffering from meconium aspiration syndrome, respiratory distress syndrome, transient tachypnea of the newborn, pneumonia, sepsis, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and congenital heart disease.

Babies with no risk factor for pulmonary hypertension should be closely monitored as well. Parents and caregivers should look for signs of difficulty breathing such as flaring nostrils, grunting, unusual movement of their child’s chest, rapid breathing, difficulty feeding, or a bluish color of the lips. They should stop the medication and contact their doctor immediately if they see any of these signs.

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16 year old Lucas O’Connor was one of five people in a driving school car that was struck by a tractor-trailer in Warwick, NY, after the driver, 16 year old Claudia Krebs, pulled into an intersection with a flashing red light on rural road 41.  Two other students, Antonio Baglivo and Paul VanDoran died in the truck accident. The 4 students were all from Goshen High Schoool. They were participating in a summer driver’s ed program organized by Decat Driving School at the time of the crash. The police indicated that the truck driver who had the right of way couldn’t brake in time. They also mentioned that the intersection was dangerous and that it was not the first fatal accident at this location. There may very well be grounds for a lawsuit against the driving school. If the instructor was not properly trained and a rigorous hiring process not conducted and it can be established that the instructor was not properly qualified a negligent hiring case may be viable.   Read more in the NY Daily News 

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3 people were injured after a building collapsed at 1438 Fulton St. near Brooklyn Ave in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NYC yesterday afternoon. The building was set to be demolished and was vacant except for a beauty supply store at the bottom floor. Thankfully no one was inside at the time of the accident. 55 year old Terry Charles who was riding his bike near the building at the time of the collapse was injured after he fell off his bike. Two other pedestrians were also injured.  Read more and see Surveillance video obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York