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

Published on:

ProfessorDanielPollackWhen a caregiver fails to protect a child from being injured he or she may be charged with “child endangerment”.

Common cases of endangering the welfare of a child include for example drunk driving with a child in the car, leaving dangerous weapons nearby a child, leaving a child unattended in a car or domestic violence in front of a child.

In a recent article, “The Legal Contours of Child Endangerment,” published in Policy and Practice, the journal of the American Public Human Services Association, Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social in New York City, and a frequent expert witness in child welfare cases explores the legal contours of child endangerment.

Published on:

location of the bike accidentA motorcyclist was seriously injured and his passenger died after they collided with a car in New York City on Sunday night.

The accident occurred in Howard Beach, Queens, around 9:00 pm. The 28 old driver and a 33 year old passenger were riding their motorcycle on 162nd Street. As they were crossing the intersection of 162nd Street and Cross Bay Boulevard they collided with a car making a left turn from Cross Bay Boulevard onto 162nd Street.

The car was driven by a 19 year old woman who was transporting two passengers.

Published on:

Motorized scooter can cause injuryOver the last months, personal injury lawyers have been receiving an increasing amount of calls regarding motorized scooter accidents. Scooter accidents involving pedestrians as well as single scooter crashes are on the rise in the US with new scooter rental companies setting up shop all over America.

In various cities, especially on the West Coast, companies like Bird and LimeBike are proposing dock-less motorized scooters that can be unlocked with a phone app for an initial fee of one dollar and a rate of 15 cents an hour. Motorized scooters can reach up to 15 miles an hour and are now a common feature in Santa Monica and Washington DC. Motorized scooters are growing in popularity and in many cities in the US they can be seen weaving through vehicular traffic or through pedestrian areas.  Over the last months, in cities where motorized scoooters are legal, personal injury lawyers have also been receiving an increased number of calls from pedestrians who have been hit by motorized scooters and from riders who injured themselves in single scooter crashes caused by a malfunctioning tires or brakes or by road hazards.

Emergency rooms doctors confirm that motorized scooters are leaving behind them a trail of injured riders and pedestrians. Doctors have seen an increased number of patients who suffered head, wrist, elbow and hip injuries after they got involved in a scooter accident. Riders are supposed to wear a helmet but most of them don’t. They are also often wearing earbuds which isolate them further from their surroundings.

Published on:

A driver was injured by another driver in a road rage incident that occurred Wednesday afternoon in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The victim was driving down McGuiness Boulevard near the intersection of Norman Avenue when a driver tried to cut in front of him. As they both stopped at the red light the aggressive driver got out of his car and started to insult the other driver and tried to hit him. As the other driver got out of his car and defended himself, the man went back in his car, picked up a knife and tried to hit the victim again. He then stole the victim’s key, got in his car and almost killed him while speeding away. So far the victim’s car hasn’t been found and the car of the man who attacked him had to be towed away from the intersection by the police.

Published on:

Injuries are the leading cause of death among New York children. A recent report published by the New York Health Department looks at the trend in injury deaths for children ages 1 to 12 in New York City from 2006 to 2015.

The study shows that in the majority of cases, injuries that resulted in the death of a child in New York City were unintentional. In 2015, for example, among the 22 children who died from injury, 18 were unintentional deaths and 4 were homicides. No suicides were recorded that year. Suicides represent the smallest part of children injury deaths in New York City.

The number of children injury deaths was at its highest in 2006 and at its lowest in 2011 and 2015. Over the last 10 years it has been on a declining trend.

Published on:

firearm injuries and childrenFirearm injuries are one of the leading causes of hospitalization for children and teenagers in the United States. A recent study by Bradley R. Herrin, Julie R. Gaither, John M. Leventhal and James Dodington compares hospitalization rates by age in urban settings (metropolitan counties of <50,000),  micropolitan settings (population 10,000-49,999) and rural settings (nonmetropolican nonmicropolitan counties of <10,000) . The searchers used the Kid’s Inpatient Database data from 2006, 2009 and 2012 to analyze 21,581 hospitalizations for firearm injuries. They excluded the children who died in the emergency room.

The study found that:

  • More than 77% of hospitalizations for pediatric firearm injuries were teenagers from 15 to 19 year old living in urban settings
Published on:

construction workers with back injuryIn the construction industry, manual lifting and moving heavy materials are the leading causes of disabling injuries. Strains, sprains and related soft tissues injuries affect a majority of construction workers and cost billions of dollars to businesses.  Back injuries are the most common disabling injuries for construction workers and approximately 3 out of 4 back injuries that require time off  to recover are due to over exertion. Other common disabling injuries suffered by construction workers are hand and wrist injuries as well as shoulder injuries. Many of these injuries can be prevented by reducing manual material handling.

PLANNING AND COMMUNICATION ARE KEY TO PREVENT INJURIES

The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) is working on creating a new program for contractors to help them with practical tools and information to plan  for safe manual materials handling while staying productive and profitable. The CPWR works with contractors to define the best way to store and move heavy material on construction sites. So far they found that careful planning and communication were key factors in protecting workers from manual lifting injuries.

Published on:

Last week a pedestrian was critically injured in a truck accident in New York. The 37 year old man was run over by a tractor trailer at the intersection of Amsterdam Avenue and 81st Street last Thursday evening a little bit before 7:00 pm. He was rushed to the hospital with severe trauma and was likely to die according to media.

BIG RIGS HAVE NOTHING TO DO IN A NEW YORK RESIDENTIAL AREA AT DINNER TIME

It was a busy summer night in a residential neighborhood and people were having dinner in the various restaurants and terraces located in the area. Witnesses eating at a nearby restaurant said they heard a big thump and then they saw the man laying face down in the street and not moving.  Witnesses rushed to the victim to try to help while the truck continued on its way. He stopped one block away from the accident after a crowd gathered at the rear end of his truck. The driver then cooperated with the the police He told them that he he didn’t realize he had hit someone.

Published on:

5 people suffered personal injury in a steam pipe explosion in Manhattan last Thursday. The injuries were minor but nearby tenants were worried about the effect of possible asbestos exposure as the explosion produced a thick geyser of white smoke and debris that contained asbestos.  The pipe that exploded was installed in 1932 at a time when asbestos was used as a component for the thermal insulation around the pipe. It was banned in the 1970 after studies demonstrated that exposure to the substance could lead to serious health problems including lung cancer.

In the afternoon following the explosion Mayor de Blasio confirmed that the steam line pipe was contaminated with asbestos and that authorities were concerned about  whether any debris entered into buildings or into air conditioning systems. Streets were closed to the public around the explosion area on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Flatiron district and 49 buildings were evacuated so that the area could be fully decontaminated.

According to Dr. Norman Edelman, a pulmonologist interviewed by the New York Times, the health risk associated with a one time exposure to asbestos are minimal. Its chronic exposure, over years or decade that is the real danger.

Published on:

5,569 people suffered personal injury in 20,551 traffic accidents in New York City last May. Among them were 2,534 motorists, 1,755 passengers, 430 cyclists and 850 pedestrians.

While looking at past statistics,  we notice a seasonal factor that causes the number of crash injuries to always increase during the month of May compared to the previous months of  February, March and April. Last May the auto accident injuries in New York City increased to a record number.

In May 2013, before Vision Zero, 4,988 people suffered injuries in NYC crashes.  Then the Vision Zero program started and the number of crash injuries declined to 4,621 in May 2014. It increased again slightly to 4,788 in May 2015 but stayed below the Pre-Vision Zero number of injuries recorded in May 2013. In May 2016, it peaked above 5000 and never went back below that level for the last 3 years. 5,415 crash injuries were recorded in May 2016 and 5,314 in May 2017.