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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snow tubing can be dangerousA 16 year old died from her injuries in a sledding accident in Lewiston, New York. The teenager, identified as Renee Hill was riding a sliding tube with her 3 year old nephew in front of her on the tube when she realized that they were about to hit a tree. To prevent her nephew  to hit the tree first she put her foot down to flip the tube. She hit the tree while her nephew was saved.  She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but she died on the way. Renee was a sophomore at Niagara Wheatfield High School.

The sledding hill in Clyde L. Burmaster Park where the  fatal sledding accident occurred  was closed until further notice and the accident is being investigated.

While it is quite fun, sledding can be dangerous

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child-playingChildren and teenagers are prone to traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Over a million of them check in an emergency room in the US for a non fatal Traumatic Brain Injury every year. A recent study conducted by researchers under the lead of Bina Ali for the nonprofit Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation  looked at the causes of these injuries.  To do so the researchers used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. They  found that between 2010 and 2013 more than 4 million children were diagnosed by emergency room doctors for non fatal TBI.

Among the different categories of ages, those the most prone to suffer TBI were among the youngest and among the oldest. 1,085,680 children between the age of 1 and 4  and 1,107,463 teenagers between 15 and 19 year old were diagnosed with TBI during the period under review.

The causes of  TBI vary depending on the age of the child. Almost 3 quarters of TBIs suffered by  toddlers were related to home fixtures, furniture and structures.  Falling from chairs and beds were the most common furniture related accidents while tripping on the floor or falling down the stairs caused the most TBIs related to home fixtures and structures.

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Jim BakerSome Covid-19 scams can cause personal injury, others will just hurt your wallet.  According to a recent article in Fair Warning, the Department of Justice had received more than 76,000 tips reporting all types of scams related to Covid-19.

Now the limited number of vaccine doses on the market has again triggered the creativity of scammers and thousands of website promoting fake covid-19 vaccine have been shut down by Federal Authorities.  Other scammers are knocking on doors to offer quicker access to the vaccine for money. There is no such thing and you should not give anybody financial compensation to secure a vaccination.  Conmen have also pretended being contact tracers to get personal information such as Medicare card numbers.

Fraudulent unapproved medicine or supplements as well as fake rapid test kits have invaded the market with phony promotions.  At the beginning of the pandemic, evangelist Jim Baker received a cease and desist notification after selling a silver solution that he claimed cured the virus in 12 hours. Another company NameCheap Inc was sued by the US government after selling fake “World Health Organization Vaccine kits online.

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8 construction workers died and 502 were injured on the job in New York City in 2020 compared to respectively 11 and 596 in 2019. The slowdown in the construction industry  related to the COVID-19 pandemic in all market sectors, except for healthcare construction, is the main factor behind this decline. Additionally Local Law 196 which was signed in 2017 but took effect in 2019 might also have contributed to a decrease in construction accident deaths and injuries in New York City. Local Law 196 requires that construction workers take a 40 hour safety training course and supervisors 62 hours safety course to be able to work on a NYC construction site. Most construction accidents are preventable and often occurred when workers lack sufficient knowledge or training.

NYC Construction accident fatalities decreased in every boroughs except for Brooklyn.

Construction Accident Deaths NYC 2020
Manhattan is the borough that saw the most significant decrease in construction workers fatalities in 2020. Two construction workers died in accidents in Manhattan last year compared to respectively 6, 6, 7, 5 and 7 in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015. It is the fist time over the last 5 years that the number of construction accident fatalities in Manhattan is that low.

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the overpass where the bus fell from8 passengers and a driver were injured in a MTA bus accident last week. The driver lost control of the bus and  plunged from an overpass, leaving the articulated bus dangling over an expressway in the Bronx.

The accident occurred as the articulated bus was on the University Avenue overpass above the Cross Bronx Express Way. According to preliminary investigation speed was a factor in the accident. As he made the turn to get on the  overpass, the driver’s speed was between 17 and 26 mph while the safe speed for such a large bus should have been 3 to 4 mph.  He lost control of the bus, teared through a metal gate and plunged 50 feet over the overpass, leaving the accordion bus dangling from the overpass with its nose on the expressway below. The bus driver was able to extricate himself from the bus and help other passengers to get out of the bus. he suffered jaw, leg and knee injury. 8 other passengers were injured including two seriously. They were all transported to the hospital.

https://twitter.com/ADiLorenzoTV/status/1350026084398600194

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116 bicyclists, 504 pedestrians, 1,116 motor vehicle passengers and 1,795 motor vehicle drivers were injured in traffic accidents in New York City during the month of November for a total of 4,039 people injured. Another 28 people died in similar circumstances, among them were 6 cyclists, 13 pedestrians, 1 passenger and 8 drivers. (click on graphs for full size)

Traffic Accident Injuries NYC November 2020
New York Auto Accident Death November 20
While the total number of monthly deaths reached a record high for the month of November since Vision Zero was launched in 2013, the total number of monthly injuries was at its lowest since 2013 for the month of November.  Since the beginning of 2020 when the Covid pandemic started, the streets of New York City are less busy than usual which might explain why the monthly number of people injured in traffic accidents for the entire year stayed below the trendline. However less traffic has lead to speeding and other reckless activities  which resulted in more traffic fatalities.

Car accident injuries in New York in November with trendline
car accident death in NYC in November with trendline
Because of the pandemic, the city saw an increase of people using bicycles to commute. However riding a bike in New York City remains dangerous despite new bike lanes that are being implemented all over the city. While cyclists infrastructure are decently developed in Manhattan it is not the case in the other boroughs especially in the Bronx where Citi Bike has implemented new bike shares but protected bike lanes are still rare. As a result the number of NYC bicycle accident injuries and deaths are exploding. Last November 6 people died in bicycle accidents compared to respectively 1,0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 2 and 2 in November 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. This is the second time in the last 3 months that the monthly number of bike accident deaths reached a record high. The number of injuries also jumped to 504 last November compared to respectively 246, 285, 366, 346, 276, and 280 in November 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. The number of bicycle accident injuries more than doubled from November 2019 to November 2020. The total number of bicycle accidents was also on the rise with 537 accidents in November compared to respectively 367, 375, 400, 465, 454, 383 and 368 in November 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. While  the graphs below clearly show that the total number of bicycle accidents and the resulting injuries are seasonal and reach their peaks during the summer all trendlines are on the rise and over the recent months bicycle accidents injuries and deaths have all reached record highs.

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There is always an uptick in fire accident injuries in New York during the coldest days of the year.  Last night a fire that erupted in an apartment building under renovation  located at 283 Monroe in Bed-Stuy and spread to adjacent buildings is the last of multiple fire accidents that occurred last week in New York. One firefighter was injured after the floor collapsed under him.

In Queens, 6 people were injured in a fire that erupted Monday early morning on 108th Street in Corona.

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location of the Queens pedestrian accidentA pedestrian was transported to the hospital with critical injury after being struck by a car in New Yok City.  The pedestrian, a young woman in her twenties was struck by a Mustang around 11:30 pm last Friday at the intersection of Cross Bay Boulevard and 163rd Avenue, in Queens (see Google map picture on the left) . The  31 year old driver stayed at the scene of the accident and was not charged. The pedestrian was found by EMS unconscious with critical injuries to her legs and head. She was rushed to the hospital to be treated. Read more in the Post

The day before also in Queens, a 16 year old Mustang driver died in a car accident after he lost control of his vehicle. Thursday afternoon around 2:50 pm, 16 year old Dylan Moreno was found dead a few blocks away from his home after he lost control of his black Mustang. The teenager was speeding down 80th Avenue near 265th Street in Glen Oaks when he lost control of his sport car and hit a tree on the side of the road.  The young man had a passion for fast cars. Before he hit the tree, the teen driver blew two stop signs and almost hit a pedestrian. Read more in the Daily News 

Another young driver lost control of his car, flipping it over and crashing into a house in Long Island. The 19 year old man has been arrested by the police and is facing DWI charges. Thankfully the person inside the house at the time of the accident was not injured.

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New York Child sexual abuse lawyer Ben RubinowitzThe COVID crisis has dramatically altered the way courts conduct business, but any judge will tell you, with a sense of pride, that the courts never closed. How have courts – an institution notoriously slow to change – adapted to provide access to justice throughout a pandemic?

Our managing partner Ben Rubinowitz will be speaking at a conference hosted by The Center on Civil Justice at NYU Law School that will address these issues. The conference will take place online Monday January 11, 2021, from 12pm to 5pm.

The conference will examine the nature of the way courts change and adapt in general, what specific trial and pre-trial rules and procedures have changed (and how), and which of these changes can be used to improve efficiency and access to justice after the COVID crisis passes.

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location of the pedestrian accidenta 4 year old pedestrian died and a 6 year old suffered serious injury in a dramatic accident that occurred on their way to school. The accident occurred yesterday morning around 9:15. The two children had just been dropped in front of Yeshiva Ketana of Bensonhurst on 67th Street near 20th Ave (see Google map picture on the left)  by a 76 year old van driver who then ran over them. The investigation is still ongoing to find out exactly how the accident occurred.  The driver of the van apparently did not realize he hit the children and left the scene of the accident.  The two boys were transported to the hospital where one of them was pronounced dead. The other one survived with serious injuries. The driver of the van returned later to the scene of the accident and was questioned by the police. According to preliminary investigation, the children found themselves in the street in front of the van instead of being on the sidewalk. The driver told the police he didn’t know that he hit the children and he was not charged. City records however show that since 2016, the driver accumulated two red-light camera and two school zone speeding tickets.

Another 4 year old child was injured in a car accident in Brooklyn on Saturday evening…

According to the Gothamist, the young pedestrian was in the crosswalk on Ocean Avenue when a driver heading westbound on Parkside Ave hit him.   The accident occurred around 9:00 pm. The boy was transported to the hospital in serious condition. The 50 year old driver stayed at the scene of the accident and so far has not been not charged.