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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child in carCar accidents are one of the leading causes of  injuries and deaths for children. In the US, 636 children under 12 year old died and 97,000 were injured in car crashes in 2018.

From researching child restraint performance to analyzing teenager behavior behind the wheel and testing safety of future autonomous vehicles, the Center for Child Injury Prevention Study  has been constantly researching and advocating for better ways to protect children on the road.

Among their most recent studies,  researchers at CChIPS  have been looking at the validity of  recommendations for rear-facing Child Restraint System (CRS) using newly available real car accident injury data.

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apartment building that got on fire in Queens NYC21 people were injured in a massive NYC apartment fire last week.  The fire started around 1:00 pm last Tuesday in an apartment  on the 6th floor of a large building located on 34th Avenue near 89th Street  in Jackson Heights, Queens. While escaping, the resident of the apartment left the door open, allowing the fire to spread through the hallways of the building that housed 150 apartments and 90 families.

No life threatening injuries but more than 200 people displaced

Up to 350 firefighters fought for 12 hours to get the blaze under control. 16 of them were injured. Two of them suffered burns and the 14 others suffered minor injuries such as strains and sprains. Among the 5 residents who suffered injuries, 4 declined to be treated and 1 was sent to the hospital. No one was reported missing. More than 200 people living in the building lost their homes and were displaced.

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view from inside the Brooklyn Hair salon where a car crashed car jumped the curb injuring 5 people in NYC last week. The accident took place in Brooklyn last Tuesday Morning around 8:00 am. A large SUV collided with a sedan at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Third Street in Gowanus sending both vehicles flying in separate directions. The sedan ended up in the front door of the Elements Hair Salon (see picture from Google map on the left) located right at the corner of the intersection while the SUV struck a bicyclist and a razor scooter rider. The bicyclist, the scooter rider and the 3 occupants of the SUV were all transported to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

The owner of the Hair Salon, Robert Santana, was just a few feet away from the Salon and saw the accident unfolding in front of him. He told the media that he was a few minutes behind his regular schedule that morning. He felt lucky he was not there at the time of the accident.

After crashing into the Hair Salon, the people in the sedan fled the scene of the accident on foot.

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distracted driver can cause crashesA NY State Trooper who sustained catastrophic injuries after being struck by a distracted driver in Long Island, NY  recently died. The accident occurred 3 years ago. Joseh Gallager who was 38 year old at the time, was helping a disabled motorist on the Long Island Expressway when he was struck by Jesse Cohen. Investigation found that at the time of the accident, Cohen was text messaging with 3 different people and had 3 social media apps open in the 20 minutes prior to the accident. Gallager suffered traumatic brain injury and lost the ability to talk, walk or eat without help. He passed away on March 26th, leaving behind his wife and two chidden as well as his parents, sisters and brothers. His funeral took place last week (see obituaries in NewsDay).

Gallager is one of many victims of distracted driving. According to CBS News, in the last 3 weeks, 3 other car accidents in Nassau County were caused by distracted driving.  In 2019, distracted driving killed 3,142 people in the US, 10% more than in 2018 according to the most recent statistics from the NHTSA.

The death  of State Trooper Joe Gallager, occurred just before the beginning of  “Distracted Driving Awareness Month” and as a reminder, the police in Nassau County have been launching a major campaign enforcing distracted driving laws on their roads.

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2 construction workers died  and 79 were injured on the job in New York City during the first two months of 2021. One fatality occurred in  Staten Island and the other one in Manhattan. In both cases the worker fell. Last year, only one worker died in NYC construction accidents over the first 2 months of the year and the year before, no fatalities were recorded during the same period. Since 2015, the number of construction worker fatalities during the first two months of the year varied between 0 and 2. Among the 79 workers injured, 41 of them were injured in fall accidents. (click on graphs for full size)

construction accident deaths by borough February 2021
Falls remain the most common cause of fatalities for construction workers in New York City. The two fatal accidents that occurred in February were falls. Both accidents could have been prevented if adequate safety measures had been in place. The first accident took place on a construction site located at 730 5th Avenue in Manhattan. The worker who died was cleaning an area where a permanent building trash chute was being installed. He stepped on a hole cover that snapped and gave way. The worker fell to the floor below. He was transported to the hospital where he died from his injuries. The second fatal accident occurred at 144 Dunham Street in Staten Island. A roofer fell from the roof and did not survive the injuries he sustained during the fall. The inspectors found that the working permit for the construction site had expired. Multiple safety infractions were found at the site and the DOB issued a full stop work order for failure to safeguard persons and property. Roofers have the highest rate of fatalities among all categories of construction workers.

Factors in NYC fatal construction accidents February 21
79 construction workers were injured in New York City during the first two months of the year. This is the lowest number of workers injured during the first two months of the year since 2017. 48 of these accidents took place in Manhattan, 14 in Brooklyn, 11 in Queens, 4 in the Bronx and 1 in Staten Island.

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Monthly ambulance crashes in NYCAn elderly woman died and 8 other people were injured after a car T-boned an ambulance in New York City.

The accident took place last Sunday afternoon around 3:00 pm in Flatlands, Brooklyn, NYC. An Hatzola ambulance was transporting a 95 year old woman who suffered a cardiac arrest  to the hospital. The emergency vehicle was  heading South on Schenectady Avenue with its lights and sirens on according to witnesses.  As it crossed Avenue N, the ambulance was T-boned by a car travelling west bound on Avenue N.

A witness told the NY Daily News that the light had just turned from orange to red when the ambulance crossed the intersection and that the driver of the black Nissan who was speeding might not have heard the ambulance sirens.

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NYC Bicycle accidents preventionDuring the pandemic, NYC bicycle accident injuries and deaths have reached record highs.

Many New Yorkers who switched their Metrocard for a bike lock learned that commuting in New York City by bike remains challenging especially in some areas of the city where bicycling infrastructures are still limited.

To help newbie cyclists and offer a refresher to more experienced ones, the NYC Department of Transportation recently released  “Bike Smart”, a guide to safely ride a bicycle in  New York City.

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breast-5472788_1280
The off-label use of Acellular Dermal Matrix (ADM) products in implant-based breast reconstruction can result in post surgical complications and problems for patients up to two years after the surgery according to a recent analysis by the FDA.

Off-label use not approved by FDA

Accellular Dermal Matrix is a type of surgical mesh that is developed from human or animal skin.  It has been approved by the FDA for specific use such as hernia surgery and more recently many surgeons specializing in breast reconstruction after a mastectomy have been using the product off-label.  The off-label use of ADM for breast reconstruction has never been approved by the FDA and a recent analysis found that some patients suffered complications up to two years after the surgery.

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accident sceneA 27 year old driver died and 3 passengers in their twenties were seriously injured in  a car accident in Long Island, NY, last Monday night around 8:30 pm.  Jeffrey Laroche from Springfield Gardens, Queens, was driving an Infiniti with 3 passengers on board: 21 year old Jayda Mouldrie from Hempstead was sitting in the front seat while 20 year old Nicole Walter and 18 year old Nathaly Walter, both from Laurelton, Queens, were sitting in the back seats. They were heading West on the Southern State Parkway when Jeffrey lost control of the car and hit the center median guide rail and trees between exits 18 and 19.  In their report the police mention that the vehicle was travelling at a high rate of speed.

The impact was so intense that Jeffrey was ejected from the car. He was rushed to the hospital where he died from his injuries. Jayda who was in the front seat got stuck in the mangled vehicle and had to be extricated. She was also rushed the hospital and survived.  The two girls in the back, Nicole and Nathalie, were both injured but also survived the accident. Nathaly broke her pelvis.

Speeding is one of the most common causes of car accident fatalities and serious injuries especially among young people

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location of the pedestrian accidentA pedestrian got his leg severed in a freak car accident in Brooklyn last Sunday night. The 33 year old victim was exiting a livery car at the intersection of Elton Street and Atlantic Avenue in East New York when a 58 year old woman driving a Lexus crashed into him and pined him between the two vehicles. The pedestrian’s leg was severed just below the knee. The front of the Lexus was destroyed suggesting that the driver was travelling at a high rate of speed. The pedestrian was rushed to the hospital. His injury was severe but he was  in stable condition. The driver of the Lexus was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The cab driver was ok.  Read more in the NY Daily News

6 other people injured in another Brooklyn car accident involving a livery car and a SUV

6 other people, including two pedestrians were also injured in a car accident a few days earlier after the driver of a SUV  jumped the curb. Friday afternoon around 1:00 pm a male driver with another young male passenger jumped the curb at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Flatland Avenue in Brooklyn and slammed into a pole, hitting two pedestrians.