Florence Ngwu, a beloved mother and nurse who was critically injured in a truck accident in New York City on Sunday morning did not survive. She died on Monday afternoon from her injuries.
The horrific accident took place on Mother’s Day around 8:30 am on 167th Street and 120th Avenue in South Jamaica, Queens, NYC.
2 hard hats died during the first quarter of 2022 and 110 of them were injured while working on construction sites in New York City. Both fatalities were fall accidents, both occurred in Brooklyn and both were preventable.
The first fatality occurred on February 11. Angel Pilataxi, a father of 3 children and 3 step children fell to his death at a construction site located at 124 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn. According to the DOB investigation, the worker was taking measurements on the edge of the roof on the eighth floor when the accident happened. He was not using a safety harness and fell over the parapet. He was found unconscious lying on the second floor terrace. He did not survive. Investigators found that the worker and a co-worker who was working with him at the time of the accident not only did not have a site safety training card but also did not receive any site-specific safety training and did not participate in a pre-shit meeting in the morning. At the time of the accident a full stop order was issued and the DOB issued a violation failure to safeguard persons and property affected by the construction operations.
The second fatal accident occurred on a construction site located at 295 St John’s Place on March 21st. A rigging foreman who was installing a suspended scaffolding go caught between the fire stairs and the scaffold, lost his balance and fell fifteen feet onto a metal fence. He died from his injuries. A full stop work was issued and the DOB also issued a violation for failure to safeguard person and property affected by construction.
In its latest bulletin, the Center for Construction Research and Training looks at injuries and fatalities sustained by construction workers in the US over a 10 years period. Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) for the fatal injuries and on on employer logs obtained from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) for the non fatal injuries, this bulletin provides an overview of the trends of injuries and deaths in the construction industry.
In 2020 construction workers represented 7.3% of the total workforce in the US and 21.7% of the workforce fatal injuries. Globally, between 2011 and 2020, working on a construction site became more dangerous with both hard hat fatality and injury rates on the rise. 2020 was affected by the Covid 19 pandemic and while less fatalities and injuries were reported because the activity was limited, the fatality rate and the injury rate both reached a record high that year.
Falls are the main cause of injuries and deaths for construction workers in New York City and most of them can be prevented.
A large safety awareness campaign is going on this week in New York City to reduce accidents on construction sites, with a focus on fall accidents.
Construction Safety Week is a yearly safety campaign organized by the NYC Department of Buildings to remind workers and their employers and families that safety best practices on construction sites prevent accident injuries and deaths.
29 pedestrians, 17 passengers and 12 motor vehicle operators died in crashes in New York City during the first 3 months of the year for a total of 58 fatalities. There were no cyclist fatalities. Since Vision Zero started in 2014, the highest number of auto accident deaths reached 51 in 2014. The only positive news during the first quarter was that no cyclist deaths were reported during this period which never occurred before.
NYC Car accident injuries were higher during Q1 22 than during the same period of 2010 and almost reached the same level than in 2020. Among the injured were 4,632 drivers, 3,120 passengers, 649 bicyclists and 2,100 pedestrians. Compared to the same period a year before, all categories of road users sustained a higher number of injuries with the exceptions of the cyclists which might indicate that all the new measures to make cycling safer in the city have a positive impact.
12 motor vehicle operators died in crashes during Q1 compared to respectively, 10, 10, 9, 13, 8, 13, 8, 15 and 15 during the same period 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. While the trend line of motorist deaths is still declining, the numbers of this last quarter are significantly above this trend line.
Congratulations to Marijo Adimey, Jeffrey Bloom, Diana Carnemolla, Christopher Donadio, Anthony Gair, Howard Hershenhorn, Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Saghir for being selected for the 2022 LAWDRAGON 500 LEADING PLAINTIFF CONSUMER LAWYERS and to Anthony Gair for being inducted in the 2022 CLASS OF HALL OF FAME HONOREES.
Since 2007, LawDragon has been reviewing thousands of personal injury attorneys who are fighting for consumers to get justice in cases related to traffic accidents, child sexual abuse, defective products as well cases related to the actual opioid crises, toxic substances and more. Through peer assessment and independent research that include factors such as achieved verdicts and settlements, LawDragon selects what can be considered the top 500 plaintiff personal injury attorneys in the nation.
Additionnally LawDragon also inducted 100 2022 class of Hall of Fame Honorees. Honorees inducted in the Hall of Fame are not only plaintiff powerhouses but also top corporate litigators and innovators who established new areas of law practice and individuals whose dedication to the legal system are unsurpassed. We are very proud that our partner Anthony Gair was included in this prestigious list of honorees that also includes Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer and US Attorney General Merrick Garland.
10 pedestrians, 8 passengers and 6 drivers died in crashes in New York City in February. No cyclists fatalities were reported to the NYPD during this month. 266 bus accidents, 577 truck accidents and 56 motorcycle accidents were reported among the total 7,261 motor vehicle collisions recorded in February.
Traffic accident fatalities in New York City reached a record high for the month of February with 24 people dying in traffic accidents compared to respectively 10, 17, 12, 16, 13, 18, 15, 12 and 20 in February 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Traffic accident fatalities in the city last February were even higher than what they were in February 2013 before Vision Zero started. The trendline which had been steadily declining during Vision Zero is now almost flat. Since last February ,monthly car accident fatalities have been at the level of the trendline or above which is quite unusual and quite worrisome.
The high number of car accident fatalities in New York City last February is mostly due to a record high number of car passengers fatalities (see category in red in the graph below, click on it for full size). 8 motor vehicle passengers died in crashes last February compared to 5 in January 2020 and 2 in February 2021. Since Vision Zero started and even a year before, the highest total monthly passengers fatalities were 6 in April 2014 and 6 in July 2015.
Our managing partner, New York Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz will be a speaker at the Master of Advocacy program that will take place during the Boardwalk Seminar 2022 organized by the New Jersey Association for Justice on Wednesday April 27, 2022 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Ben will be speaking about the Use of Case Framing at Pretrial and at Trial. This portion of the program will focus on the bridge between cross examination and final argument. These case framing techniques will show you new and innovative ways to:
• Build powerful arguments for summation during cross examination
Last year, 7 out of the 9 NYC construction worker deaths reported by the Department of Buildings were caused by falls. Additionnally the DOB also reported that 194 workers were injured in fall accidents on New York City construction sites during the same period. This was a record high compared to the previous years (see previous blog). Despite increased safety training requirements for workers, fall remains the number one cause of accident deaths and injuries in the New York construction industry and nationally as well. According to the most recent statistics from the BLS 351 out of the 1,008 construction fatalities recorded nationally in 2020 were fall fatalities. Most of these accidents were preventable.
Preventing fall accidents is the reason why, every year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in collaboration with multiple other partners involved in workplace safety such as the CPWR and NORA are organizing a National Stand Down during which employers are invited to voluntarily take a break from work and sit down with their workers to discuss or participate to activities related to fall hazards.
Anyone can participate and every year sees more and more participants from major corporate construction companies to small contractors, including the US Army and other governmental participants. All employers participating receive a certificate.
6 pedestrians were injured in a car accident in NYC yesterday morning. A driver jumped the curb at the intersection of St. Johns Place and Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, a little bit before 8:00 am. This is the time during which parents are bringing their children to school. A video below shows one of the victims crossing the street with his two children just before the driver looses control of his vehicle and jumps the curb at a high rate of speed. The 48 year old father and his two sons that are 9 year old and 11 year old were struck by the car. They sustained serious injuries but are in stable condition. Another woman got pinned between the car and a pole. A total of 5 people were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries and another person was treated at the scene for minor injuries. The police arrested the driver of the car but it is not clear if he will be charged. The accident occurred just one day after the police announced that the mother who was struck by a driver jumping the curb in Harlem a week earlier had died from her injuries, leaving behind her 6 year old son. (see previous blog) .
Earlier during the week, 7 people were injured in a car accident that occurred on the Brooklyn Bridge. The crash involved multiple cars and according to witnesses was “surreal”. A vehicle went airborne. A driver was critically injured after being ejected from his car. 6 other people were seriously injured and transported to the hospital. Tourists who were walking on the bridges aid they witnessed a horrific scene of wrecked cars and multiple bodies lying all over the ground. The police is still investigating the accident and said that previous to the crash the man who was ejected from his car was driving his white jeep at a high rate of speed but so far they could not confirm that he caused the accident. Read more in News Week
New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog