Personal Injury

Published on: April 23, 2014

Mc Guiness Boulevard in Brooklyn where many pedestrians and bicyclists have been injured or have died in auto accidents will be the third 25 MPH Arterial Slow Zone in NYC

Numerous bicyclists and pedestrians have been severely injured and several of them have lost their lives in traffic crashes along Mc Guiness Blvd in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The corridor nicknamed “Hipster Highway” is notorious for passenger vehicles and large trucks speeding. Two years ago a study by Transportation Alternatives showed that two thirds of cars and 62% of large trucks traveled over the 30 mph speed limit with a maximum speed reaching 50 mph for cars and 47 mph for big rigs.

Things should change and residents’ safety should improve by the end of this month as the 1.1 mile stretch of Mc Guiness Blvd between Bayard Street and Freeman Street will become the third arterial slow zone in New York City. New signage will be installed, traffic signals will be coordinated to reduce speeding and the NYPD will increase enforcement on the boulevard.

The creation of 25 arterial slow zones is part of the Zero Vision Action plan to reduce traffic fatalities in the city.

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Published on: April 19, 2014

NYC Zero Vision to reduce traffic fatality and personal injury: After Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn last week, the Grand Concourse in the Bronx will be the second Arterial Slow Zone in the city with speed limited to 25mph

By GGCRBHS&M

12 people including 7 pedestrians died in auto accidents and many others were injured in speed related crashes along the Bronx Grand Concourse in New York City between 2008 and 2012. Speeding is the main cause of accidents in this dangerous area but this is about to change extremely soon as as officials announced that the the 5.2 miles Bronx corridor will be the second of 25 planned NYC arterial slow zones. The first one was introduced last week on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn.

Starting this month, traffic signals will be synchronized to reduce dangerous speeding, new 25 mph signage will be installed and the NYPD will increase enforcement in this dangerous area of the Bronx.

The arterial slow zone program is one of the 63 measures included in New York Zero Vision Program launched by Mayor de Blasio at the beginning of the year. Throughout the city, arterial roads amount for 15% of the mileage but for 60% of pedestrian fatal accidents.

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Published on: April 17, 2014

Young man suffers severe personal injury in Brooklyn car accident

By GGCRBHS&M

A 32 year old man was critically injured in a bizarre car accident in Brooklyn, NYC, last night. The man was driving in the wrong direction on the road and while he attempted to make a left turn his car overturned.

Simple measures that could significantly reduce personal injury and wrongful death related to tractor-trailer truck accidents

By GGCRBHS&M

To reduce personal injury and deaths related to tractor-trailer truck accidents the National Transportation Safety Board sent a letter last week to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urging the agency to take the following actions:

Address Blind Spots

Blind spots are a major cause of accidents between large trucks and other motor vehicles as well as more vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. The rate of fatal accidents is particularly high among vulnerable road users. Research from the NTSB show that 16% of pedestrians and bicyclists involved in a truck accident will die. This ratio is of 12% for motorcyclists, 1% for passenger vehicle occupants and 0,2% for the tractor-trailer occupants.
Blind spots for large trucks are much bigger than blind spots for regular cars and exist in the front, in the back and on both sides of the truck. According to the study “Prioritizing Improvements to Truck Driver Vision” by Matthew P. Reed, Daniel Blower and Michael J. Flannagan from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute , the blind spot on the right of the cab of the truck is the most dangerous. During a lane change, most collisions with another motor vehicle happen in this spot. It is also the spot where most pedestrians and bicyclists are struck during start-up and right turn crashes.
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Countermeasures to mitigate blind spots include enhanced mirror systems as well as more advanced technologies such as sensors to detect vehicles and vulnerable road users in blind spots.
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Published on: April 8, 2014

The recent GM massive recall demonstrates how personal injury lawyers play an important role in protecting consumers from defective products and safety hazards

By GGCRBHS&M

When a Personal Injury Lawyer is representing a plaintiff in a Product Liability case he usually works with a team of experts including engineers who will have to demonstrate that the injuries or the death of the plaintiff were the result of a defective design in the product or a flaw in the manufacturing of the defective product.

In a perfect world manufacturers supervised by regulatory agencies would be making sure that the products they sell are not in any way defective or dangerous to consumers. In reality manufacturers tend to put profits before safety and underfunded regulatory agencies are often too weak to assume their mandate of protecting the consumer.

29 year old Brooke Melton was driving a 2005 General Motors Chevrolet Cobalt when the engine suddenly shut off causing an accident that resulted in her death.

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Published on: April 4, 2014

Several Pedestrians suffer Personal Injury in an accident between a Van and a MTA bus in Manhattan

By GGCRBHS&M

Several pedestrians were injured in an accident during which a van crashed into an MTA bus sending both vehicles into a group of a dozen pedestrians at a bus stop and ending their course in a pizza parlor. The bus accident happened in NYC in Washington Heights, on Broadway and 155th Street.

Both the bus – which had no passengers – and the van were heading north when the van side-swiped the bus causing it to lose control and plowing through about a dozen people waiting at an M4 stop, city officials said.

A man suffered serious injury after trying to escape from a building on fire and plunging to the ground from several stories up, the fall was caught by a cell phone video

By GGCRBHS&M

A total of 13 people suffered personal injury in a fire in Brooklyn, NYC. Among the victims a man who was trying to escape the blaze by using a bed sheet out of his window and plunged several stories. He was critically injured. His wife who was also in the apartment was saved by the firefighters.

A cellphone video posted to Instagram captured the man falling from his apartment window as firefighters rushed to save him. See below

Published on: March 31, 2014

Taxi and Limousine Officer suffers personal injury after being struck and dragged on the street by hit and run limo driver

By GGCRBHS&M

A TLC officer suffered cuts and lacerations after a limo driver who struck her and dragged her down the street before fleeing the scene near the Jamaica Station Long Island Rail Road. The lieutenant and a co-worker were hunting for limo drivers who illegally pick up passengers in this busy area. As the lieutenant approached a black limousine to question the driver, he just backed up with the passenger door open, striking the female lieutenant and dragging her on the ground before speeding from the scene. The police are still looking for the negligent driver.

Published on: March 27, 2014

According to the 2014 annual National Safety Coumcil “Injury Facts” report, Today as many people die from prescription drug overdoses as from motor vehicle accidents. Among motor vehicle accidents deaths, 1 out of 4 is related to cell phone use

By GGCRBHS&M

The “Injury Facts” report is an annual review of the latest injury and fatality statistics and trends. It has been published for 90 years by the National Safety Council. Most recent data include 2010, 2011 am 2012 data depending on subjects.

There were 180,811 injury related deaths in the US in 2010 and most of them (120,859) were accidental. Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for people 1 to 42 years old and the fifth cause of death for all ages behind heart disease, cancer, chronic low respiratory disease and stroke.

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The 2010 data are the latest official data but according to projections from the National Safety Council , the number of unintentional injury related deaths in 2012 was 127,200 with 36,300 of them related to motor vehicle accidents. 63,000 of them happened at home, 26,000 in public places and 3,695 at work. The National Safety Council data shows an increase of deaths due to motor vehicle crashes, poisoning, falls, drowning and choking.

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the leading causes of injury related deaths, but recent trends show a significant increase in falls related to the aging population and a dramatic increase in poisoning related to unintentional prescription drug overdoses especially opioid prescription overdoses.

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Published on: March 26, 2014

Several people injured after Brooklyn police officer who lost control of his vehicle in a car chase crashed into a van transporting other police officers

By GGCRBHS&M

Several people suffered personal injury in a Brooklyn car accident during which a police officer who was chasing another car lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a van. According to the New York Daily News, the van was transporting other police officers. The collision was so violent that both vehicles burst into flames. People living nearby who ran to the rescue were able to pull the officers out of the vehicles.

Police chases in a busy urban area such as NYC are very dangerous. At the beginning of the months 7 people were injured a car accident related to a police chase (see previous blog)

Photo: New York Daily News