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.
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A total of 118 people including 39 motorists, 16 motor vehicle passengers, 5 cyclists and 58 pedestrians lost their life in crashes in New York City during the first six months of 2021. This is the highest number of traffic accident fatalities during the first semester since 2013 when 121 people died in crashes. During the 7 following years, after Vision Zero was launched in 2014, auto fatalities declined and oscillated around 100 during the first six months of the year with their lowest at 84 deaths during the first semester of 2018.

traffic accident fatalities NYC 1st semester 2021
New York City auto accident injuries were lower than usual during the first semester of 2021. Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, less people have been on the road in the city which might explain the decline in injuries. A total of 22,898 people were injured. Among them were 10,975 motorists, 6,492 passengers, 2,303 cyclists and 3,128 pedestrians.

traffic accident injuries new york 1st sem 2021
Pedestrian fatalities were at their highest since 2014 last semester with 58 deaths compared to respectively, 37, 51, 49, 49, 56, 34, 60 and 72 during the first six months of 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.It is very disappointing that after 7 years of  multiple Vision Zero initiatives, the number of pedestrian fatalities is back at its 2014 level. Are more pedestrians dying because the streets are still less busy than usual and more people are speeding or driving in a reckless manner?

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location of the dump truck accident in Brooklyn, NYCA scooter rider was fatally struck by a dump truck in Brooklyn, NYC, yesterday morning. The accident took place at the dangerous intersection of Canton Avenue and East 7th Street in Kensington, Brooklyn.  The scooter rider that was killed yesterday was identified as 27 year old Frederico Zaput Palsa.  The young man was working at the time of the accident, making a delivery for the pan-Asian restaurant Dao Palate in Park Slope. The truck driver, a 42 year old man, remained at the scene of the accident and so far has not been charged.

Both the dump truck and the scooter were trying to go around a double-parked car

According to the preliminary report of the Police, the scooter rider and the truck driver were both going East on Canton Avenue, the collision occurred as both the scooter and the truck were trying to go around a double-parked car.  Zaput Palax suffered a critical head injury and died at the scene of the accident.  His 21 year old brother, Alfonso was heartbroken. He told the News that he had already lost another brother to Covid19 last year.  Frederico  was the father of two sons and one daughter who live in Guatemala.

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Professor Daniel PollackIn a recent commentary in the New York Law Journal, Daniel Pollack, MSW, Esq., a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City wrote: “If at some point a lawsuit is brought against the department of human services/CPS in connection with that death, compassionate, yet experienced plaintiff and defense attorneys, familiar with the inner workings of CPS, will definitely be needed.”

The commentary can be found here 

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roofers fatalityRoofers have one of the most dangerous occupations among all workers. Every year more than hundred of them are dying in fall accidents. According to the most recent statistics, among the 401 fall fatalities recorded in the construction industry in 2019, 146 of them were roofer fatalities. Roofers have the fourth highest fatal injury rate after fishing and hunting workers, logging workers and aircraft and flight engineers according to the National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (see graph on the left)

Many fatal falls could have been prevented if  roofers were using a personal fall arrest

In New York, employers are required by law to provide roofers with a personal fall arrest system that meets the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z359).  A personal fall arrest system consists of a full body harness, connectors and lanyards that will limit the fall distance by being attached to a fixed anchor. Under New York Law, roofers also have to take a determined amount of hours of training in order to learn how to use the equipment.

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A decorative stone arch on the top of the front door of a residential brownstone in Brooklyn collapsed on the stoop and destroyed it, prompting the Department of Buildings to evacuate the building. Luckily nobody was around when the accident occurred. Three families living in the building were evacuated and temporarily relocated by the Red Cross. The owner of the building located on Carlton Avenue in Prospect Heights was issued a ticket for failure to maintain the building.  The owner was also ordered to immediately install a sidewalk shed to protect pedestrians from further potential collapse and to repair the building.

Building owners in New York City have a duty to maintain their property so they are safe inside and outside

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Heat Injury preventionHeat injuries can have serious consequences including disability and death. Heat injuries affect not only people practicing sports during the summer but also workers such as construction workers or landscapers. Anyone who practices a strenuous activity in warm conditions is at risk and should understand the body mechanism behind a heat stroke and how to prevent it.

When someone exercises in the heat, the body reaction is to sweat to cool off the body. Therefore the body looses a lot of fluids that need to be replaced by water or hydrating drinks. The body also needs to cool off.  If someone doesn’t let his or her body cool off properly and hydrate proprely, the body becomes dehydrated and  heat injuries occur.

Heat injuries come in many forms from mild to acute:

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location of the deadly Maserati crash in Brooklyn NYCTwo people were killed and two others were injured in car accidents related to speed in New York City these  last days. Yesterday night, 34 year old Joseph Edlawn, was speeding North on the Harlem River Drive when he lost control of his vehicle while attempting to take the East 125th Exit at high speed. He was on the ramp leading down to 125th Street when he hit the curb violently. The car flipped over and rolled over several times before landing on the roof. The driver was not wearing his seatbelt and was ejected from the car. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.  A 28 year old woman who was a passenger wearing a seatbelt only suffered minor scrapes.  (Read more in the New York Post)

On Saturday morning around 3:30 am a man behind the wheel of  Maserati  was speeding on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the pole of the elevated train line at the intersection of Rochester Avenue in Crown Heights. The car flipped in the air and split in two before catching fire. Firefighters ran to the rescue. A man who is presumed to be the driver died at the scene of the accident and another man who was presumably the passenger was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries.  (Read more in the NY Daily News)

Injuries and death related to speed are on the rise in New York City since last year. According to the most recent data, NYPD collision data, unsafe speed was a contributing factor in 450  NYC traffic accidents that resulted in injury or death during the month of June. As a comparison during the same month, distracted driving, failure to yield-the-right-of-way, and following too closely were respectively the contributing factor in 2,850, 788 and 773 crashes that resulted in injury or death.

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accident sceneA hit-and-run moped driver crashed into a 4 year old pedestrian and seriously injured him last Sunday in New York City. The accident occurred in the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park near the Boathouse at the end of the afternoon. 4 year old Jonathan Beauchamp was hanging in the park with his parents and other children and relatives when  dirt bike and moped riders showed up and started to do donuts.  A mope rider struck 4 year old Jonathan and fled away. The boy was rushed to the emergency room by his dad and was diagnosed with acute head trauma. He remains in critical but stable condition. The police are still looking for the moped driver.

Hit-and-run drivers get away with murder all the time in NYC

In New York City, very few hit-and-run drivers are being found by the police and even in cases resulting in serious injury, many of the hit-and-run drivers face no consequences. Less than a quarter  of hit-and-run drivers involved in accidents resulting in death or serious injuries are indeed arrested.  47 people were critically injured or died in hit-and-run accidents in New York City during the first six months of 2021 and only 11 arrests were made which represent 23% of all the serious cases.  While looking at all hit-and run accidents including those that only result in property damage only 1% of the hit and run drivers are being arrested in New York City.

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North East Corridor RailroadThe Northeast Corridor had one of the worst train accidents in decades when the Amtrak 188 train connecting Washington DC to New York City derailed killing 8 people, injuring 200 including 11 of them critically. The  accident could have been prevented if the train was equipped with up to date technology such as “positive train control” that automatically limits the speed of the train or if the track were equipped with “Automatic Train Control” however like many other rail systems in the US,  the Northeast Corridor railway system is outdated and its infrastructure is crumbling.  As a result, trains are often delayed and passengers safety questionable.

15-year long modernization plan

To address these issues, the Northeast Corridor Commission was created in 2010 after approval by the Congress in 2008 with the mission to develop an implement a modernization program for the Northeast Corridor. Yesterday, this Commission released a 15-year plan including 150 projects to improve the  conditions of the actual system. The plan entitled “CONNECT 2035” includes  among the multiple projects a 5 year renovation project of  the Portal North bridge over the Hackensack River, repairing the North River tunnel, build 4 new stations in the Bronx.

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1 bicyclist, 15 pedestrians, 11 motorists and 3 passengers lost their life in crashes in New York City last May. That is a total of 30 fatalities. Since Vision Zero started in 2014, this is the first time that such a high number of traffic accident fatalities were recorded during a month of May.  Last year because of the Covid-19 lockdown, only 5 fatal crashes occurred in May and during the previous years respectively, 18, 13, 11, 18, 28, 25 and 15 people died in NYC traffic accidents in May 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.  Since the beginning of  the Covid-19 crisis, the de Blasio administration seems to have given up on all the efforts deployed during Vision Zero and the recent traffic accident fatality numbers are similar to the numbers reported during the pre-Vision Zero era.

car-crash-deaths-New-york-May-2021
4,927 people were injured in crashes in New York last May compared to 2,437 during the Covid-19 lockdown in May 2020 and 5,554 in May 2019. The number of car accident injuries last May is a little bit lower than what it was during May 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

traffic accident injuries nyc May 2020
While looking at fatalities by category of road users, pedestrians and motorists accounted for the majority of the fatalities last May. Bicyclist fatalities have been lower than usual and passenger fatalities remained somewhat stable.  It is the first time since 2013, before Vision Zero started, that road fatalities in New York City are above 25 for two months in a row.  Over the last 12 months, monthly traffic accident deaths in New York have been 5 times over 25. Even in 2013, before Vision Zero started, monthly auto accident deaths only went 4 times over 25 during the entire year.

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