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 Wrongful Death

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water injury preventionAs summer season is back, water related injuries and deaths are starting to increase. In New York, the underwater currents at Rockaway Beach are known to be dangerous and ever year people are seriously injured or died after drowning in the water at this location. This year on May 22nd, 24 year old Fidel Ramirez, went for a swim at Beach 91st street despite recommendations from Mayor de Blasio not to go in the water and drowned. He suffered critical drowning injuries and died at the hospital.

Backyard pools might seem safer than the Rockaway beach especially with the actual Covid-19 pandemic, however they can be dangerous as well.  Last Sunday 3 people died from drowning in a backyard pool in New Jersey.

Behind car accidents, drowning is the second cause of unintentional injury-related death for children from 1 to 14 year old

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location of the deadly car crashTwo people died and 6 people were injured in car crashes in New York City in less than 24h. As New York is reopening, the number of car accidents which had significantly declined during the lock down are expected to rise again.

The first car accident occurred on Sunday night around 11:20 pm in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. The 35 year old driver of a 2010 Toyota Camry lost control of his car as he was driving in the westbound lane of City Island Road near the intersection of Shore Road.  He rear ended the car in front of him, a 2014 Infiniti Q50 driven by a 27 year-old driver. The driver of the Infinity crashed into the rear of another car in front of him, a 2008 Toyota Highlander driven by a 51 year old man. The Camry careened into the eastbound line and hit a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by a 44 year old man and a 2010 BMW X5 driven by a 41 year old man.

The driver of the Camry died at the scene of the accident. A 34 year old woman, who was sitting in the front seat next to him was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.  5 more people were taken to the hospital, they were occupants of the Infinity and the Jeep. The occupants of the BMW, which was the last car to be struck declined medical attention.

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Bronx bicycle accidents second week of June 20202 people were killed and 20 of them were injured in bicycle accidents in the Bronx, NYC, during the second week of June. Bicycle accident injuries in the Bronx increased by 81.8 % during the week of June 8 to June 14 according to NYPD statistics.  The Bronx is the only NYC borough where bicycle accident injuries increased during this week. In all other NYC boroughs, bicycle accident injuries declined. On average, injuries related to bike crashes were down 30.7% citywide. The largest decline, 59.1%, was observed in the North part of Queens, followed by a decline of 50% of bicycle accident injuries in the South part of Brooklyn, a 45% decline in the North part of Brooklyn, a decrease of 33.3% in the South part of Manhattan, a decrease of  29.4% in the North part of Manhattan, a 16.7% decline in the South of Queens and  a status quo in Staten Island.

The Bronx is the borough that has the less investment by the city in infrastructures to protect bicyclists despite a large part of the population using bikes on a daily basis, including many delivery cyclists

While the city has been creating protected bike lanes all over rich white neighborhoods, the poor  area of the Bronx didn’t get any of these. Even last month when de Blasio announced more streets closed to traffic and a extra 9.2 miles of protected bike lanes, none of them were in the Bronx.

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Location of the MTA bus accidentA 19 year old female bicyclist was killed in a MTA bus accident yesterday.  The young woman was struck by the BmX10 bus on Fifth Avenue at the corner of the 59th Street intersection.

It is still not exactly clear how the accident occurred. A hot dog vendor who witnessed the accident told the NY Daily News that it seemed that the young woman was trying to merge into traffic from 60th street and that she was struck by the bus and then dragged under the wheels for about half a block until the bus driver stopped.

The cyclist died at the scene of the accident from severe head trauma. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. Despite its proximity to Central Park, Fifth Avenue doesn’t have a bike lane in the Upper East Side area, therefore the many cyclists coming out of the Park at this location have to navigate between the buses and the car traffic which can be very dangerous on this busy avenue.

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twitter NYPD highwayIn a recent blog on NYC traffic accidents in April we highlighted the increase in car accident fatalities related to speed and recklessness.  Many of us who stayed in the city during the lock-down could hear the noises of cars speeding throughout the city and witness car drivers speeding on empty streets.  In a recent article, the Gothamist looked at the 311 caller data and found that since March 22nd, when the city went into pause, 420 New Yorkers called to complain about drag racing. That’s 4 times more complaints than during the same period of time a year ago.

Manhattan recorded the most complaints with 123 calls reporting incidents of drag racing, followed by 119 in Queens and 104 in Brooklyn. Staten Island had the less complaints with 20 calls to 311. 47 complaints were reported in the Bronx. There were also 35 complaints of racing on highways not linked to any borough.

Some areas were particularly targeted by drag racers

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location of the reckless crashA pregnant woman lost her baby and suffered serious injury in a car accident in Staten Island, NYC last Saturday. The accident occurred on Hylan Boulevard. A 26 year old male and his 28 year old pregnant female passenger were driving south on Hylan Boulevard.  As they were  in the left tuning line attempting to make a turn onto Cornelia Avenue, they were hit frontally by a Jeep Grand Cherokee travelling at high speed. The driver of the Jeep was identified as 21 year old Alexander Iacone. He was racing North on Hylan Boulevard and shifted into the left turning lane striking the Nissan. The impact was so strong that both vehicles careened into the woods. Iacone was driving without a license.

The 28 year old female passenger was rushed to the hospital where doctors performed an emergency C section but the baby didn’t survive the accident. The mother sustained serious injury but was in stable condition. The male driver was also hospitalized and treated for several injuries that include lacerations to his knees and to his hand.

The reckless 21 year old driver sustained an arm injury. He was also transported to the hospital and later arrested. He was arraigned in Criminal Court in St Georges on charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and second degree assault.  Iacone could face a homicide charge depending on the results of a pending autopsy of the baby. If the City medical examiner determines that the baby took his first breath at the hospital, Iacone could be charged with homicide according to the New York Law.

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9 motorists and one passenger died in traffic accidents and one cyclist was fatally sideswiped by a speeding bus. No pedestrian deaths were reported during the entire month. NYC car accident fatalities caused by speed and recklessness increased significantly in April during the lock-down. motorist deaths April 2020 NYC

Globally, the number of traffic accidents recorded by the NYPD in April dropped to 4,037 in April 2020 compared to 10,877 in March and 16,6332 in April 2019 as New York Streets stayed mostly empty because of the Covid-19 lock-down order. The number of reported accidents was approximately 4 times lower than what it was during the same month a year earlier when the city was not affected by the pandemic.

Traffic Accidents NYC April 2020
NYC Auto Accident injuries were also at their lowest with 1,287 people injured in April compared to 3,099 in March and 4,701 in April 2019. Drivers and passengers were the categories with most people injured.

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MTD_Lawn_MowerAn estimated 9,400 children sustain lawnmower injuries  every year in the US. Injuries are often catastrophic, sometimes deadly. They often require multiple treatments and hospital stays and can have life long consequences. 4 year old boys in rural areas are the most at risk of getting injured in a lawnmower accident.

A study by the Department of Orthopaedics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA (Mr. Shah, Dr. Talwar, Mr. Aoyama, and Dr. Ganley), the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City, Kansas City, MO (Dr. Schwend), and the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore, MD (Dr. Sponseller) and recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons studied lawnmower injuries in the US over 13 years.

The researchers used the Pediatric Health Information System database to identify 1,302 Americans between 1 and 18 years old who checked into the ER to be treated for a lawnmower injury. While, the Pediatric Health Information System database does not record all children injuries in the country,  it is nationally representative as it contains a varied selection of 49 participating children’s hospitals located around the regions and locales.

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truck back up accident locationA charity worker was crushed to death by a truck backing up  yesterday. Morales Cruseno Florentino was delivering milk to a school for a charity with his co-worker. As they arrived at the Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens on Metropolitan Ave near 125th St. in Kew Gardens, Morales stepped out of the truck and went to the back of the truck to direct the truck driver while he backed up to park. As the driver was backing up, Morales got pinned between the truck and another vehicle. Video surveillance of the scene depicts the truck moving back with the back up alarm on and Morales not moving out of the way. Maybe he thought the truck would not back all the way?

When EMS arrived, Morales was still alive but was critically injured. He was transported to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Morales and his coworkers had been delivering milk for people in need for the last two months.

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NYC traffic deaths and injuries declined for all categories of road users except for cyclists between February 2020 and March 2020. As businesses gradually shut down around mid March and the city was officially locked down on March 22nd,  traffic in the city drastically declined and so did the number of traffic accidents.  The only two categories of road  users that recorded an increase in accidents between February and March were motorcyclists and bicyclists. The fear of catching the corona virus in public transportation or taxis has lead to an increased amount of people using bicycles and motorcycles in the city in March. Another factor was the increased amount of speeding recorded in the city as streets were getting emptier and emptier.

Drop in accidents not only due to Covid-19 but also to new NYPD report policy

The number of traffic accidents reported by the NYPD dropped to 10,877 in March compared to 13,586 in February and 14,183 in January. The drop seen in traffic accidents over the last few months is not only related to the coronavius crisis but also to the new NYPD “No Report” crash policy.