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 Truck Accidents

Published on:

PlanAhead-letterposter-232x300835 sales workers and truck drivers died in traffic accidents last year  according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). To raise awareness about these accidents and to reduce the number of drivers dying on the job, the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) is running its annual Drive Safely Work Week. For this year’s campaign, NETS is asking employers to extend driving safety awareness beyond company drivers and to address it to all their employees and their families. Traffic fatalities and injuries are not only causing pain and sorrow to families but they are also causing an economic burden to employers. A recent study demonstrates that in crashes resulting in injury, there is a nearly 1:1 ratio of the cost of on-the-job crashes to the cost of off-the-job crashes i.e. those that take place outside of work hours that also include non-company vehicle driver-employees and their dependents.

The theme of this year’s campaign is “Plan Ahead”. Planning ahead for a road trip whether it takes place on the job or off seems like routine but simple tips such as those that follow can significantlty reduce the risk of an accident:

  • Plan your journey an allow sufficient time to get to your destination without stress
Published on:

A  19 year old was  seriously injured in a bicycle accident Monday early morning in Queens. The young man was riding on the eastbound bicycle lane along 34th street in Corona when he was struck by a truck turning right onto 105th street. The accident happened at night around 1:15 am. The truck driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. The teenager was transported to the hospital where he is being treated for a severe leg injury. Read more in the NY Post

image

The intersection where the collision between the bicyclist and the truck happened. Picture courtesy of Google Map

Published on:

There were 19,061 motor vehicle accidents in New York City in July 2015 compared to 19,428 the previous month. During the same month in 2014 and 2013 there were respectively 17,361 and 17,548 crashes.  For the last 3 months the number of  accidents was unusually high and stayed above 19,000. So far since the beginning of the year there were 123,697 traffic accidents in NYC compared to respectively 118,195 and 117,022 for the same period of 2014 and 2013.

Motor Vehicle Accidents NYC July 2015
4,776 people suffered personal injury in motor vehicle accidents in NYC in July compared to 4,795 the previous month and respectively 4,591 and 5,077 for July 2014 and July 2013. Even though the number of motor vehicle accidents was very high in the month of July the number of people injured in these accidents was lower in July 2015 than in July 2013 and almost the same as in July 2014.

The number of motorists injured in a vehicle accident in July 2015 was unusually high and above 2,000 for the first time over the last 3 years under review.

Published on:

A bicyclist was critically injured after being hit by a truck in Brooklyn, NYC yesterday. The accident happened at the intersection of Bath Ave and Bay 25th Street. The bicyclist who was delivering food for China Garden located half block away was trying to cross Bath Ave when he was hit by a truck traveling east on Bath Ave. The victim who is 65 years old was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Read more in the NY Daily News

Published on:

A 64 year old man died in a truck accident in New York City yesterday morning. The man apparently suffered a heart attack and lost control of the truck he was driving. The accident happened early Monday morning around 6:30 am. Frederick Harris of Westminster was driving north on Francis Lewis Boulevard when he lost  control of the box truck he was driving. The vehicle crossed the median veering into oncoming traffic before hitting three unoccupied parked cars. He died at the scene. Read more in the NY Daily News

Published on:

16 year old Lucas O’Connor was one of five people in a driving school car that was struck by a tractor-trailer in Warwick, NY, after the driver, 16 year old Claudia Krebs, pulled into an intersection with a flashing red light on rural road 41.  Two other students, Antonio Baglivo and Paul VanDoran died in the truck accident. The 4 students were all from Goshen High Schoool. They were participating in a summer driver’s ed program organized by Decat Driving School at the time of the crash. The police indicated that the truck driver who had the right of way couldn’t brake in time. They also mentioned that the intersection was dangerous and that it was not the first fatal accident at this location. There may very well be grounds for a lawsuit against the driving school. If the instructor was not properly trained and a rigorous hiring process not conducted and it can be established that the instructor was not properly qualified a negligent hiring case may be viable.   Read more in the NY Daily News 

Published on:

Two pedestrians were seriously injured in an accident between a car and a truck in Queens, NYC, on Tuesday.  Two women, ages 47 and 50, were walking on a sidewalk near the intersection of Northern Blvd and 162nd St. in Murray Hill when a SUV was struck by a Long Island Jewish Hospital truck while turning from Northern Blvd onto 162nd St. The SUV jumped the curb and hit the two women. One of them was pinned under the car and her head smashed on the ground. The two women were taken to the hospital. They were seriously injured but in stable condition. Read more in the NY Daily News

Published on:

The following video is a demonstration of an opening statement in a wrongful death case.  The plaintiff was represented at trial by our managing  partner New York Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Rubinowitz. The case involved the death of a little girl who was a passenger in a car being driven by her father. She was killed as a result of the combined negligence of a truck driver and the carelessness of the City of New York. The case was significant in that the little girl’s father was in the”zone of danger” when he witnessed the death of his daughter. The jury returned a substantial multi-million dollar verdict in the case finding both the truck driver and the City at fault.

Published on:

A 46 year old mother  suffering from multiple sclerosis was fatally struck by a  garbage truck in New York City as she was trying to cross the street with her walker. Last Thursday around 10:30 pm, Alberta Bagu who was using a walker was crossing Broadway mid block between Ditmars Street and Willoughby Avenue in Bushwick , Brooklyn, when a private garbage truck hit her. The truck driver continued on his way without stopping. Later on the police were able to identify the truck and talk to the driver. The driver told the police that he didn’t realize that he struck a pedestrian. Alberta Bagu was found dead at the scene of the accident.  Read more in New York CBS Local. NYC is becoming a dangerous place for pedestrians.

Another pedestrian died a day earlier in Brooklyn as well after she was struck by a driver who lost control of the car while she was making a turn (see NY Daily News).

Published on:

Right HookIn 20o9 fatal bicycle accidents represented 1.9% of all traffic deaths in the U.S. In 2013 this number was 2.3%.  Big trucks such as tractor trailers and box trucks as well as garbage and dump trucks represent a small fraction of the traffic but they are involved in a disproportionate amount of the fatal bicycle accidents. As cities are encouraging cycling and walking and create specific bike lanes and other infrastructures, e- commerce also brings more trucks into urban neighborhoods at the same time.

Trucks are extremely dangerous for cyclists and in many of the fatal crashes involving a bicyclist and a truck, the cyclist is first hit by the side of the truck, slides under it and gets crushed under the wheels.  Such crashes happen most of the time when the truck is making a right-hand turn in front of the bike. It is called the Right Hook. Because of the large dead angles, the truck driver often doesn’t see the cyclist riding on its side and the cyclist realized too late that the truck is turning right.

The installation of side guards on trucks is so far the best way to prevent bicyclists and pedestrians from falling under the wheels if they are hit by a truck. So far a few cities including New York have passed legislation to require the use of truck side guards but the approach is piecemeal and bicycle advocates are calling for federal action. Read more in Fair Warning