Personal Injury

Published on: August 4, 2014

The NYPD and Vision Zero: Transportation Alternatives new report shows that while some preccints excel at enforcing dangerous traffic violations others are lagging

Speeding and failure to yield to pedestrians are the leading causes of traffic fatalities and personal injuries to pedestrians in New York City. Therefore as part of the Vision Zero Initiative all NYPD precincts have been instructed at the beginning of this year to increase enforcement of the most dangerous traffic violations.

A new report card from Transportation Alternatives published last week looks at six months of Vision Zero Traffic Enforcement in New York City. Globally across the city, speeding tickets increased by 32% and tickets for failure to yield increased by 153% for the first 6 months of 2014 compared to the first 6 months of 2013. However while looking at the numbers precinct by precinct, Transportation Alternative discovered huge discrepancies. The most troubling was to find neighborhood precincts with similar traffic conditions and street design that had very different enforcement efforts. For example In Harlem,the 26th Precinct nearly doubled the number of speeding summonses issued from last year(294 to 533),

while the adjacent 30th Precinctin Washington Heights issued half as many summonses as they did the prior year.

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Published on: August 1, 2014

Congratulations to our Managing Partner Ben Rubinowitz for receiving the Robert Keeton Award for Outstanding Service as a NITA Faculty Member

By GGCRBHS&M

GGCSMB&R is proud to announce that our Managing Partner New York Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz was the 2013 recipient of the Robert Keeton Award for Outstanding Service as a National Institute for Trial Advocay (NITA) Faculty Member. This award recognizes Ben’s exceptional work as a NITA faculty member. Here is what NITA has to say about Ben: “In considering his nomination, it was recognized that “Ben is a ‘best’ teacher and deserves the best teacher award.” He began teaching early in his career, and has contributed to new and evolving methods, such as “drills” and the drill room. He lectures in the same persona that he presents to a jury-a consummate role model.”

The National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) is the nation’s leading provider of legal advocacy skills training. It is a deidcated team of professors, judges and practicing lawyers who believe that skilled and ethical advocacy is a critical component of legal professionalism and all systems of dispute resolution that seek justice

Below is a video demonstrating Ben’s skills as a NITA teacher

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Published on: July 31, 2014

13 people suffered personal injury and 3 houses were damaged in large Bronx fire

By GGCRBHS&M

11 firefighters and 2 residents suffered personal injury in a 4-alarm fire that burned two houses on Hill Avenue in the Bronx, NYC yesterday afternoon. The fire started at 4519 Hill Ave and spread to 4515 and 4523 Hill Ave. One of the firefighters was seriously inured, 8 of them were taken to the hospital for minor wounds treatment and 2 others were treated on site. Two residents also suffered personal injury. One of them was injured after he jumped from a second floor window to escape the flames.

One dead and one seriously injured in Long Island skydiving accident

By GGCRBHS&M

Gary%20Messina.jpg A skydiving student died and his instructor suffered critical personal injury in a skydiving accident in Calverton, Long Island, NY, yesterday. According to officials, the student, Garry Messina, a NYC correction officer who was celebrating his 25 year old birthday, died on impact after a parachute failure during a tandem jump.

In a statement, Rich Winstock, the director of the United States Parachute Association (USPA), said that the accident was under investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration and that wind may have been a factor.

According to statistics from the USPA, in 2013, there were 24 skydiving fatalities out of 3.2 million jumps, that’s a 0.0075 fatalities per 1000 jumps. For tandem skydiving the fatality rate is 0.003 student fatalities per 1000 tandem jumps. The rate of personal injury is approximately 3 per 10,000 skydives.

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Published on: July 30, 2014

Senior pedestrian dies from head injuries after being struck by a car in Queens

By GGCRBHS&M

An 87 year old woman who was trying to cross the street was hit by a car near Willets Point Blvd and 163rd St in Flushing, Queens, New York, yesterday night. She suffered severe head injuries and later died in the hospital.

In New York City, senior pedestrians have a higher risk to die in a car accident than adult pedestrians. Recent statistics from the DOT show that seniors represent 12% of the NYC population but account for 36% of NYC pedestrian traffic fatalities.
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Source: DOT Safe Street for Seniors New York City

Published on: July 30, 2014

3 young children, one seriously injured, were saved by New York firefighters from a fire in a Brooklyn appartment

By GGCRBHS&M

3 children who were trapped in an apartment fire in Brooklyn were rescued by courageous New York firefighters. The firefighters who arrived at the scene 2 minutes after a call was made first spotted two young boys at the window of the apartment, They were trapped and crying. The firefighters used a bucket ladder to rescue the 5 and 8 year old brothers. The children told the firefighters that their 4 year old brother was still inside the apartment. Justin Tallett a 27 year old rookie firefighter and a former army medic who was in Afghanistan in 2012 was able to get in the apartment. He fought the smoke and the flames and was able to rescue the third brother. The boy who was seriously injured was resuscitated on his way to the hospital and is expected to survive. The grandfather who was supposed to supervise the children bolted out of the department leaving the children behind.

A New York cyclist suffered serious personal injury after being struck by a bus this morning on the Hudson River Greenway in Hells’ Kitchen

By GGCRBHS&M

A cyclist was seriously inured after he collided with a NY Waterway Bus that was crossing the Hudson River Greenway to go to the 39th Street ferry terminal this morning. The Hudson River Greenway is an 11 mile bike and pedestrian path along the Hudson River that stretches from Battery Park at the South of Manhattan to the Georges Washington Bridge at the North. Many New Yorkers use it to commute to work every day. Several busy driveways leading to various piers, parking and commercial operations cross the Greenway around 40th street making this area one of the most dangerous on the Greenway.

A few years ago, our firm represented the widow of a doctor who died two streets below Today’s accident after being struck by a NYPD tow truck driver who failed to yield.

Another cyclist died after being struck by a drunk driver who drove onto the Greenway from a Chelsea Piers parking lot.

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Published on: July 21, 2014

A teenager suffered serious head trauma in a bicycle accident in which he was struck by a taxi on the Upper West Side of Manhattan yesterday afternoon

By GGCRBHS&M

A 13 year old cyclist was seriously injured yesterday after being hit by a taxi on 108th street near Manhattan Ave on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in NYC. The driver stayed at the scene and wasn’t charged. The teenager was brought to the hospital where he is now in critical but stable condition. He suffers severe head trauma as well as lacerations to his legs and arms. Read more in the NY Daily News.
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Between 300 and 500 people suffer bicycle accident injury every month during the summer in New York City.

Published on: July 16, 2014

Phony New York doctor who committed serious medical error by giving a patient a botched butt lift and injecting Krazy Glue in her buttocks in a follow up visit was sentenced to two years in jail

By GGCRBHS&M

Liliana Coello a phony doctor from Queens, NYC, pleaded guilty of unlawfully practicing medicine and seriously injuring a patient. She was sentenced to two years in jail. Coello gave a botched butt lift to a patient and injected her buttocks with Krazy Glue in a follow up visit. The patient suffered a very bad infection and had to be hospitalized 3 times.

This is not the first time Coello is being sent to jail for a botched butt lift. In 2012 the phony doctor got paid $3200 for surgery on the derriere of a Brooklyn night club worker during which she injected the woman with clear gel.

After a Wal-Mart truck crashed into Tracy Morgan’s van injuring 3 people and killing one, Lawrence O’Donnell covered the issue of “fatigued truck drivers” on his show last night

By GGCRBHS&M

Around 4000 people die and more than 100,000 people are injured every year in truck accidents.

Fatigue is one of the most common reasons why truck accidents happen.

Before crashing into Tracy Morgan’s van, the Wal-Mart truck driver didn’t sleep for 24 hours. The National Transportation Safety Board said that the driver was 13 hours into his shift at the time of the accident and the limit is 14 hours. However prior to the start of his shift, the truck driver commuted from his home in Georgia to the Wal-Mart facility in Delaware.

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