Our partner Anthony Gair was invited by the New York State Bar Association to speak at their seminar LITIGATING THE PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE: LAW AND PRACTICE in New York City on October 24th.
This is a video from his presentation. If you would like to see the complete program (with different speakers) a live webcast option will be available on Friday November 1st 2013 for the Albany Program. Click here for more info.
Defective brake control software may increase the risk of an accident for Nissan Pathfinders from model years 2013 and 2014, as well as Infiniti JX35 SUVs from model year 2013, and QX60 SUVs from model year 2014.
In the affected vehicles, on rough or uneven roads, software settings in the antilock braking system may lead to stopping distances that are longer than drivers expect, Nissan said.
Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is proud to announce that our partner Jeffrey Bloom together with Jeffrey Lichtman from Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman have been elected Co-Chairs of LawPAC, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association’s Political action committee.
Both Mr. Lichtman and Mr. Bloom have dedicated their time and energy over many years to NYSTLA’s political campaigns, and their election as Co-Chairs is a well-deserved recognition of their efforts.
Jeffrey B. Bloom graduated from Hofstra in 1979. He joined our firm that same year and became one of the top medical malpractice and personal injury attorneys in New York. Jeffrey has been co-chair of NYSTLA’s Medical Malpractice Committee for the past eight years.
In New York City in 2012 there were 152 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities and 14,327 injuries. Of those 14,479 crashes, DMV data show NYPD cited 101 motorists for careless driving. That’s a citation rate of 0.7%.
The careless driving law was initiated in 2009 and was intended as a minimum penalty to hold drivers who injure and kill accountable, in lieu of a more serious criminal charge. However after summonses were dismissed in court because officers weren’t witnessing violations the NYPD prohibited cops from issuing careless driving citations unless an officer witnesses a violation, or the crash is investigated by the Collision Investigation Squad (previously known as the Accident Investigation Squad). CIS only investigates around 300 crashes a year. As a consequence NYPD doesn’t enforce the law against careless driving and most reckless drivers are never being held accountable for their acts.
Read more in StreetBlog.org
After too many pedestrians suffered personal injury or wrongful death in traffic accidents on Fourth Ave in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, New York City proposed to trim traffic lanes to slow speeding drivers. This proposal was rejected by the Brooklyn Community Board 10. According to the Brooklyn Daily, some board members said they wanted the avenue to keep its current format, even if it endangers residents walking in the neighborhood.
A previous study for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the six-mile thoroughfare was the third most dangerous road in Brooklyn, tied with Avenue U and Eastern Parkway. The study shows that 4 pedestrians were killed on the strip between 2008 and 2010, mostly elderly and children. This year, two pedestrians have been killed at this location.
Courtesy of Department of Transportation: The city was also proposing an island to give refuge to pedestrians crossing Fourth Avenue on the southern side of 86th Street. The board rejected it as well.
Rosa Eubanks, 54, was killed in a car accident involving 3 vehicles Tuesday morning. Rosa, a city bus driver, was driving to her depot when her car slammed into another car and and the course struck a tractor trailer truck at the intersection of Ralph and Foster Aves in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.
Eubanks was married with 4 children and had been working for 19 years as a bus driver. She was an active supporter of Transport Workers Union Local 100. She died at Brookdale Hospital. The other driver was also injured and was transported to the hospital. He is in stable condition. The bus driver didn’t suffer any injury.
Read more in the New York Daily News
A worker at San Francisco General Hospital reported to a nurse that he had to step over the passed out body of a woman while going up and down a fire escape stairwell. The nurse contacted the Sheriff’s Department who is in charge of the security at the hospital but for some unclear reason no deputy was dispatched to check the location.
A week later, the dead body was found by another employee who had to access the locked stairwell. It was the body of Lynne Spalding, 57, who disappeared from her room on the hospital’s fifth floor Sept. 21, two days after she was admitted for treatment of an infection. Her body was found Oct. 8 on the fourth-floor landing of the locked stairwell.
Last march Hyundai recalled its Genesis Sedan model manufactured between April 1, 2008 and March 16, 2012 to fix a defective brake system but only 60% have been repaired.
After the NHTSA received 23 complaints of incidents related to increased brake pedal travel and reduced brake effectiveness in model year 2009 Hyundai Genesis vehicles, including one crash, Hyundai is issuing a second recall the fix the other 40%.
Owners will be notified by mail but they can contact their dealer to have their car checked immediately if they wish.
One person died and one was seriously injured in a blaze that tore through a home on Springfield Blvd. in Queens Village New York. Fire officials don’t know yet what sparked the blaze but said there were no working smoke detectors in the home. Read more in the New york Daily News
New York law requires homeowners and landlords to install smoke alarms in each sleeping room, outside each separate sleeping area in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms and on each additional story of the dwelling, including basements but not including crawl spaces and uninhabitable attics.
Smoke alarms are cheap, easy to install and can save lives. If you are a homeowner or a landlord please make sure that smoke alarms are installed according to the law and are working properly. Negligence may have catastrophic consequences…
Ethel Rubenstein, a 69 year old pedestrian died after being hit by a minivan on Sunday night. She was crossing 11th Ave. at 49th St. in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York. The police are still investigating the cause of the accident. Read more in the New York Daily News
According to New York Crashmapper, during the last 25 months there were 5 other collisions at this location. One motorist and one cyclist were injured.
New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog