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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daLeft turn accidents in New York City kill or severely injure pedestrians and bicyclists 3 times more than right turns. These findings are part of a study focusing on left turn crashes that was recently released by the NYC DOT.  As part of Vision Zero, the DOT carefully analyzed 1,105 crash reports over a period of 5 years.

The most dangerous intersections for left turns are those when a vehicle is turning left from a one lane and one way street onto a two way and two lane street wider than 60 feet. When a driver makes a left turn in this type of intersection, his visibility of pedestrians is limited. Additionally, the driver often pressured by traffic behind him, has to find gaps between the incoming traffic and the pedestrians crossing.

The study also found that victims of left turn accidents are mostly pedestrians with a median age of 67. They are most commonly hit by cars, vans or pickup trucks.

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NYC Construction accident injuries and fatalitiesConstruction accident injuries in New York are on the rise as the city is experiencing a boom in this industry. The de Blasio administration just released the Mayor’s Management Report that covers the fiscal year that goes from July 2015 to the end of June 2016. The report indicates that 526 construction workers were injured and 11 died in construction accidents in New York City during the last fiscal year compared to respectively 324 and 10 during the previous fiscal year. During the same periods of time the average number of employees in the construction industry in NYC went from 38,600 to 42,200. While the workforce on construction sites only increased by 9%, the number of injuries increased by 62%.  The number of fatalities increased by 10%.

These statistics only reflect accidents injuries and deaths that occurred after a violations of the city’s construction code. The real number of deaths that occurred on New York City construction sites during that time is 18 according to OSHA statistics (see previous blog). Therefore the real number of injuries related to accidents on NYC construction sites may be much higher than 526, not only because the city’s manner of reporting injuries is biased but also because  many injuries are simply not reported. Construction workers  are often pressured not to report injuries by greedy contractors who don’t want to see their insurance increase or be investigated by OSHA or the DOT inspectors.

To try to make NYC construction sites safer, de Blasio announced new safety measures at the beginning of the year. Among the measures, new inspectors have been hired to increase the number of sites inspections. Penalties for violations of safety standards increased from $2,400 to $10,000 and penalties for not having a supervisor on site from $5,000 to $25,000. Additionally after a giant crane crashed on pedestrians in lower Manhattan, the city ordered a special study to update the city’s crane regulations.

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Gair Gair LawyersOur NY personal injury law firm is proud to announce that 11 of our attorneys have been named Super Lawyers. These top NYC personal injury attorneys are:  Ben B. Rubinowitz, Anthony H. Gair, Howard S. Hershenhorn, Jeffrey B. Bloom, Richard M. Steigman, Jerome I. Katz, Stephen H. Mackauf, Marijo C. Adimey, Diana M.A. Carnemolla, Peter J. Saghir and Seymour Boyers.  Additionally  one of our youngest attorneys, Christopher A. Donadio,  were selected to the Super Lawyer Rising Stars list.

7 of these talented lawyers have been selected for 11 consecutive years: Jeff, Seymour, Anthony, Howard, Jerome, Stephen and Ben are all senior partners at the firm and have accumulated invaluable  experience in the field of personal injury litigation. Richard has been  elected a Super Lawyer  five times.

Additionally Ben and Jeff were both listed in the Super Lawyers top 100  New York -Metro.

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NYPDAn NYPD officer riding his motor scooter fell and was injured after he was run over by an ATV rider. The man who ran over him was part of a band of a dozen motorcyclists. The cop and another colleague, on a scooter as well, were responding to 911 calls related to the bikers group riding near the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday around 5:30 pm.

According to the NY Daily News, the group of motorcyclists were riding dirt bikes and ATVs. As they passed the two cops on their bikes one of them fell. One of the ATV riders ran over him. The other cop fell off his bike as well while the whole band fled the scene of the accident.

Both cops were transported to the hospital to be treated for injuries.

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accident locationA 39 year old old man suffered critical injury after he was hit by car in the Bronx, NYC. The accident occurred Saturday night around 3:00 am on East Tremont Ave near Waterbury Ave. The driver of the car, a 28 year old man, remained at the scene of the accident. He was later taken into custody by the police after he was given a breathalyzer test.

East Tremont Ave between Williamsbridge Road and Bruckner Boulevard is one the most dangerous corridors in New York City. According to the NYC Department of Transportation, hundreds of people were injured in car accidents on this specific segment between 2009 and 2013. Among them, 21 people were severely injured or died. Speeding is a major issue in this wide corridor  with undefined moving and parking lanes. Crosswalks are mostly very long diagonals or are simply lacking, making it difficult for pedestrians to cross safely.

In 2015, as part of  the Vision Zero Initiative, the DOT proposed to the Community Board to re-engineer East Tremont Ave to make it safer (see DOT proposal here). The proposal included a reduction from 4 to 2 traffic lines with a center turn lane as well as the construction of pedestrian islands.  The proposal which didn’t include any bike lanes was turned down by the community board. However after a bicyclist died on this segment last June, the DOT by-passed the community board decision and confirmed it would implement the safety measures. (see more in Streetsblog).

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child in strollerEvery year, thousands of infants and toddlers are diagnosed with traumatic brain injury or concussion after a stroller or carrier accident. A recent study by Erica Fowler, MPH, Christopher Kobe, MD, Kristin J. Roberts, MS, MPH, Christy L. Collins, PhD, Lara B. McKenzie, PhD, MA at the Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio analyzed strollers and carriers injuries from 1990 to 2010. The study was published in Academic Pediatrics.

The researchers found that over a period of 20 years, 360,937 children below 5 years old checked into the emergency room for an injury associated with a stroller or a carrier. The annual average of injuries was 17,187. However this average number didn’t mean much as the number of injuries significantly decreased over the years.

Most of the time, the injury was caused by a fall or a tip-over of the stroller or carrier.

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New York City has one of the highest rates of traffic fatalities and serious injury in America and in the World. When looking at deaths only, NYC has a lower rate of traffic fatalities than its American peer cities. However when compared to other international cities such as Hong Kong, London or Stockholm, New York is still lagging behind.

traffic fatalities and injuries rates for selected cities
It is time for New York to improve these numbers! The NYC Department of Transportation just released its Strategic Plan 2016. A lot of focus is being directed to traffic safety and protection of bicyclists and pedestrians but is it enough?

Vision Zero continues to be the main program in terms of safety. The goals of the strategic plan 2016 is to integrate the program across all agencies and to improve data and analytics  related to Vision Zero objectives.  Street engineering is planned to continue in every boroughs, on high crash arterial roads and on roads to schools or near senior centers. The campaigns of awareness and education will continue. Among the new initiatives, the DOT will focus on evaluating left turn safety plans and implement recommendations from a previous study on bicycle fatalities and injuries. The DOT will also try to expand the speed camera enforcement which has proven to be very successful. The DOT will also push for mandatory seatbelt use, tougher regulation for drugs while driving, better data sharing with The NYPD in regards to crashes and work on new technologies to reduce crashes.

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accident sceneA 63 year old pedestrian was fatally hit by a car in New York. Barney Pink, an army veteran was crossing Morningside Ave mid-street near 124th street in NYC around 7:40 pm when a car hit him. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. Barney Pink was rushed to the hospital but he could’t be saved.  Read more in the NY Daily News

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accident sceneA 12 year old bicyclist is in critical condition after he was hit by a car in New York City. This morning around 7:00 am the young man was on his way to yeshiva. As he was riding his bike near Dahill and Courtelyou roads in Borough Park, Brooklyn he was struck by a car. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition. He immediately underwent surgery. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. The cause of the accident is still being investigated by the police. Read more in DNA

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accident sceneA 15 year old boy was critically injured in a motorcycle accident in New York City. The accident occurred in Flatbush, Brooklyn, yesterday around 4:30 pm. The 15 year old boy was crossing East 43rd Street near Church Ave with a group of friends when he was hit by a motorcycle. According to witnesses the motorcyclist struck the boy at a high speed. The teenager was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The biker suffered minor injuries and was also transported to the hospital.

Read more in the New York Post