Wrongful Death

Published on: May 21, 2015

The NYC DOT and NYPD recently released the Vision Zero Borough Pedestrian Safety Action Plans as part of the Zero Vision Program to reduce deaths and severe personal injury related to traffic accidents in New York City

The Borough Pedestrian Safety Action Plans are one of 63 Vision Zero initiatives designed to eliminate deaths and personal injuries from traffic accidents in New York City. This set of five plans have been developed by the New York Department of Transportation and the NYPD. Each safety action plan addresses specific borough related challenges to pedestrian safety. The action plans are based on the input of the borough inhabitants gathered during multiple community workshops and also from numerous data and comments collected on the interactive Zero Vision map.

Bronx Pedestrian Safety Action Plan

The Bronx pedestrian fatality rate is higher than the NYC average. Most traffic fatalities and personal injuries happen in the high-density neighborhoods in the north- and south-westerly portions of the Bronx. Arterial streets such as The Grand Concourse, 3rd Avenue, and Fordham Road are the most dangerous. A lot of pedestrians are killed when crossing the street mid- block because of the lack of an adequate number of crossroads. The Bronx has a lot of overnight pedestrian fatalities. Seniors represent 36% of the Bronx pedestrian fatalities and young adults 18%. Dangerous driving such as speeding, failing to yield, turning on red distracted driving and DUI are the cause of 85% of the pedestrian fatalities in the Bronx and hit and run occurs in 30 % of cases.

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Published on: May 20, 2015

Takata admited that its airbags were defective and agreed to double the number of cars recalled in the US, making it the largest auto recall in American history

By GGCRBHS&M

One in seven vehicles on American roads may have defective airbags that can potentially severely injured or even killed passengers as they violently deployed and send shrapnel flying into the car passenger’s compartment. Yesterday after more than 10 years of denial, Takata admitted that his products were defective and agreed to double the number of vehicles recalled in the Unites States to nearly 34 millions.

When a crash happens, pellets of a propellant based on ammonia nitrate are ignited and generate the nitrogen gas that inflates the airbag in a fraction of a second. Takata said manufacturing problems, together with exposure to moisture in cars in humid regions, can cause the propellant to degrade. This can make the propellant burn too strongly when the airbag is deployed, rupturing the inflater and sending metal fragments into the car’s interior and injuring the driver or passengers.

Read more in the New York Times

Published on: May 18, 2015

Premises Liability: a two year old girl died from her injuries after being struck by fallen debris in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

A 2 year old girl who suffered severe personal injury yesterday after being hit by falling debris, died Today at the hospital. Greta Greene (facebook picture on the left) was sitting outside with her grand mother when they were both struck by terra-cotta bricks from a window ledge that fell from the 8th floor of the Esplanade Manhattan nursing home at 305 West End Ave in Manhattan.

The toddler lost consciousness and nurses from the nursing home tried to resuscitate her. Her grandmother, 60 year old Susan Frierson, suffered severe leg injuries. They were both transported to the hospital where Greta passed away Today.

A protective scaffolding was erected last night on orders on the Department Of Buildings. The DOB is investigating what caused the ledge to fall. It also issued a violation to the Esplanade Manhattan nursing home for failure to maintain a property in a safe and compliant manner.

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Published on: May 15, 2015

An elderly pedestrian died after he was hit by a car that dragged him on the street for half a block in Queens, New York

By GGCRBHS&M

An 83 year old New Yorker was crossing the street in the middle of the block after parking his car when he was fatally struck by a car. The accident happened in front of his house on 103rd Ave in Queens, NYC. A little after 10;30 pm,m, 83 year old Nfn Locknauth had just parked his car and was crossing the street to go to his house when he was struck by a car. The elderly man was trapped under the car’s front right tires and dragged down the street for half a block. He was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital. Read more in the NY Daily News.

Published on: May 14, 2015

Construction worker dies from head trauma after falling from scaffolding in the Bronx, NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

Domikick Deluca, a 25 year old construction worker, died after falling from scaffolding yesterday. The young worker was doing facade work at the Butler Houses on Webster Ave in Claremont in the Bronx when he lost his footing and fell 15 feet . He landed on his head and was transported to the hospital unresponsive and with severe trauma. He was declared dead when he arrived at the hospital. This construction worker is the 8th person to die in a construction accident in New York City since the beginning of the year (see previous blog) .

Read more in the NY Daily News

Published on: May 13, 2015

6 people dead and more than 100 injured in an Amtrak train accident

By GGCRBHS&M

An Amtrak train heading from New York to Washington DC derailed yesterday night in Philadelphia. 6 people died and many the 243 passengers of suffered personal injury and were taken to the hospital. Among the people injured 6 of them were in critical condition. The Amtrak accident happened yesterday night around 9:30 close to Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane near a bend in the track. One of the nation’s deadliest railroad accidents happened in the same spot on Labor Day 1943. A train carrying military service members on leave derailed killing 79 of them and injuring 117. The cause of yesterday’s train accident is still unknown. Speed as well deteriorating infrastructure and aging equipment are among the potential factors to be investigated. Former Congressman Patrick J. Murphy was on board when the accident happened and tweeted the pictures on the left.
Read more about this train accident in the New York Times

Published on: May 12, 2015

Two contractors died in a fuel-tank explosion in Hasting-On-Hudson, NY

By GGCRBHS&M

Two workers who were trying to remove an underground oil-tank from a backyard died after the tank exploded. One of the workers was sitting on the tank and was cutting into it with a saw when the explosion happened. The blast was so violent that his body was thrown 25 yards away into the woods. The other man who was standing nearby was also killed. The accident happened last Thursday in the backyard of a home on Hillside Avenue in Hasting-On-Hudson. The two men killed were Mora Segundo, 50, and Luis Jacho, 52 from Ossining. Investigators discovered that the tank contained gasoline instead of oil. Gasoline vapors that built up pressure over time are suspected to be the cause of the explosion. Read more here

Published on: May 9, 2015

Our partners Ben Rubinowitz and Peter Saghir obtained a $4.6 million verdict for the family of Marylin Dershowitz who was killed by a postal truck while riding her bike

By GGCRBHS&M

New York Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Rubinowitz told the NY Daily News yesterday that the family of Marilyn Dershowitz, was “very pleased” with the verdict of Judge Sarah Netburn who ordered the government to pay out a total of $4,646,548.15 to Dershowitz’s husband, Nathaniel. Rubinowitz said “they feel vindicated knowing Marilyn did nothing wrong and that indeed she was entirely free of fault” but while the money judgment is “a nice thing to have, they are very much aware it could never replace Marilyn. She was one of a kind. She was a tremendous woman. The loss is very real to them, every day of their lives.”

Marylin Dershowitz was riding her bicycle in downtown Manhattan with her husband when she was fatally struck by a postal truck. Last month U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn found the federal government 100% liable for the fatal accident in a 72 page Opinion (see our previous blog).

Also see article in the New York Law Journal

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Published on: May 8, 2015

51 reports of personal injuries and one death prompt the FDA to announce an urgent Class I Recall of Maquet’s Tiger Paw System II, a medical device used during heart surgery

By GGCRBHS&M

A defective surgical staple used to close tissue in the left atrial appendage of the heart is being recalled by the FDA after reports that patients suffered personal injuries such as tissue tears and bleeding including a possible tear of the left atrial wall (top left chamber) during use of the device. The manufacturer of the defective medical device, Maquet Medical Systems, sent an “Urgent Medical Device Recall (Removal) Immediate Action Required” letter to all affected customers asking them to immediately remove and quarantine the Tiger paw System II from their inventory.

Read the press release from the FDA

Published on: May 7, 2015

In New York City, personal injuries related to motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of injury resulting in death among children aged 1 to 12 years

By GGCRBHS&M

Personal Injury is the leading cause of death among children 1 to 12 years old in New York City and in the U.S. as well. Between 2003 and 2012 438 NYC children died from injuries according to a new report just published by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. These injuries were primarily related to motor vehicle accidents followed by fire related injuries, suffocation and falls. Most of the children who died after being involved in a traffic accidents were pedestrians.

Most injuries leading to death (65%) were unintentional. Infants between 1 and 2 years old are the most at risk as well as non Hispanic black children of all ages and kids from very poor neighborhoods. Boys have a much higher risk of death from an unintentional injury than girls.

Death related to intentional injuries are more prevalent among infants, in poor neighborhoods. Non Hispanic black kids are the most at risk of dying from an intentional injury.

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