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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location of the fatal e-bike accidentTwo e-bike riders died in NYC accidents  during which they lost control of their bike while no other vehicles were involved since the beginning of this year. Another similar accident occurred around Christmas (see previous blog).

On Thursday January 6th around 2:45 pm, 26 year old Cheng Wang was riding a e-bike on Ralph Avenue. As he was near Avenue D in Flatbush, Wang lost control of his e-bike and fell to the ground. EMS found him unconscious in the street and rushed him to the hospital. While unconscious, Wang was still alive when he arrived at the hospital. He died less than 12 hours later from internal injuries. It is not clear what caused Wang to loose control of his e-bike. The segment of Ralph Avenue where he fell is in an industrial area and the pavement has a lot of cracks.  The weather was very cold as well and the road might have been icy. (read more in StreetBlog)

Less than 24 hours later, on Friday January 7, a man on a e-bike crashed into a parked car in the Bronx and died from his injuries, The accident occurred around 12:45 am. The victim was riding an e-bike on East 149th Street in the Bronx when he crashed into the back of a car parked next to the curb. A surveillance video shows the cyclist riding in the middle of the street, then veering to the right and hitting the car parked against the curb. It is not clear why the victim piloted his  e-bike that way. Maybe there was a pothole, debris on the ground or black ice? The victim who according to the NY Daily News was in his 30ies was not wearing a helmet. He suffered major head trauma. EMS found him unconscious in the street and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The man did not have any identification on him.

 

 

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New York Child sexual abuse lawyer Ben RubinowitzThe COVID crisis has dramatically altered the way courts conduct business, but any judge will tell you, with a sense of pride, that the courts never closed. How have courts – an institution notoriously slow to change – adapted to provide access to justice throughout a pandemic?

Our managing partner Ben Rubinowitz will be speaking at a conference hosted by The Center on Civil Justice at NYU Law School that will address these issues. The conference will take place online Monday January 11, 2021, from 12pm to 5pm.

The conference will examine the nature of the way courts change and adapt in general, what specific trial and pre-trial rules and procedures have changed (and how), and which of these changes can be used to improve efficiency and access to justice after the COVID crisis passes.

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Linemen have one of the most dangerous job in the construction industryDerrick workers in oil gas and mining, roofers, ironworkers, crane operators, construction helpers, landscaping supervisors, highway maintenance workers, cement masons, ground maintenance workers, maintenance workers and mining machine operators have some of the highest death rates among all workers. Out of the top 25 most dangerous jobs  in the US, 12 of them are related to the construction industry according to a recent study released by AdvisorSmith.

Derrick operators in the oil gas and mining industry whose job is to operate and maintain the derrick and drill equipment used to extract oil or gas have the third most dangerous activity of all American workers behind logging workers and aircraft pilots and flight engineers. The average yearly salary of a derrick operator is $51,390 and the average fatal injury rate is 46 per 100,000 workers.  20 of them died on the job  in 2018 according to the most recent data of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Roofers who average a $42,100 yearly salary come right behind them with a fatal injury rate of 41 per 100,000 workers. 96 of them died in roofing accidents in 2018.

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location of the pedestrian accidenta 4 year old pedestrian died and a 6 year old suffered serious injury in a dramatic accident that occurred on their way to school. The accident occurred yesterday morning around 9:15. The two children had just been dropped in front of Yeshiva Ketana of Bensonhurst on 67th Street near 20th Ave (see Google map picture on the left)  by a 76 year old van driver who then ran over them. The investigation is still ongoing to find out exactly how the accident occurred.  The driver of the van apparently did not realize he hit the children and left the scene of the accident.  The two boys were transported to the hospital where one of them was pronounced dead. The other one survived with serious injuries. The driver of the van returned later to the scene of the accident and was questioned by the police. According to preliminary investigation, the children found themselves in the street in front of the van instead of being on the sidewalk. The driver told the police he didn’t know that he hit the children and he was not charged. City records however show that since 2016, the driver accumulated two red-light camera and two school zone speeding tickets.

Another 4 year old child was injured in a car accident in Brooklyn on Saturday evening…

According to the Gothamist, the young pedestrian was in the crosswalk on Ocean Avenue when a driver heading westbound on Parkside Ave hit him.   The accident occurred around 9:00 pm. The boy was transported to the hospital in serious condition. The 50 year old driver stayed at the scene of the accident and so far has not been not charged.

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Location of the deadly e-bike accidentA e-bicyclist died in an accident in New York City a little bit after midnight on Christmas.

The accident occurred in a very dangerous area of sunset park in Brooklyn where several people were previously killed in traffic accidents.

33 year old Alejandro Santos  was riding a e-bike on Third Avenue near the intersection of 24th Street when he collided with the rear of a flat-truck bed that was unoccupied at the time of the accident. The young man was transported to the hospital with serious injuries to his legs as well as internal injuries. He died later on at the hospital.

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New York Personal Injury Attorneys Rubinowitz and TorganIn every case, someone makes a choice that gives rise to the claim. For the attorney conducting a cross-examination of the person or persons who made the choice, dissecting the thought process that led to that choice will provide fodder for cross-examination and lead to success in the courtroom.

In their Trial Advocacy column published Today in the New York Law Journal, New York trial lawyers Ben Rubinowitz and  Evan Torgan explore Question and Answer techniques for eliciting useful responses.

Read more in the New York Law Journal 

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NYC construction workers1,061 construction workers died on the job in the US in 2019, 5% more than in 2018 according to the annual National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries report recently released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The private construction industry remains one of the most dangerous  industries with a fatality rate of 9.7 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2019 compared to 3.5 deaths per 1000.000 average for all industries in 2019. In 2018, the rate of fatality in the private construction industry was 9.5 per 100,000 workers.

Roofers and and construction trade helpers have the highest rate of fatality among  all construction workers

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Engineering-study-of-injury-in-car-crashPreventing personal injuries and saving lives is a component of safety and public health. Every year, the Center for Injury Research and Prevention is offering several summer programs to undergraduates who are interested in injury science research. Students who have limited access to research opportunities such as American Indian Natives, Alaskan Natives Black and Latino students as well as women, vets and people with disabilities are highly encouraged to apply.

The 10-week program takes place over the summer and provides students with hands-on research experience, participation in multidisciplinary research approach  and one-on-one mentoring by leading scientists. Students receive a $5000 stipend as well as help for their travel expenses and will be housed for free in separate units for projects requiring in-person participation. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the projects will be held remotely but the situation may change depending on the evolution of the pandemic.

This summer the projects will be split in 3 areas: Engineering, Behavioral Science and Epidemiology.

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covid-19A recent study of 730,000 Covid tests found that workers in the construction industry had the highest positive rate of all workers in any industry including healthcare workers. The study was conducted in Los Angeles between August and October by the testing firm Curative. Each person that was tested was required to fill a questionnaires that include their type of occupation. 5.7% of asymptomatic construction workers and 10.1 % of construction workers who had symptoms tested positive. The positivity rate among asymptomatic construction workers was the highest and well ahead of any other type of occupation.  “Sick construction workers  may still be coming to work if they have symptoms because some have no paid sick leave according to Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a professor at UCLA’s School of Public Health who co-authored the study.

While the study didn’t find any case of asymptomatic correctional workers, among those who got tested because they had symptoms, 12 % were positive. That was the highest rate of positivity among symptomatic workers among all industries.

Workers in food services came 3rd with a positivity rate of 3.8% for those tested who were asymptomatic and 7.8% for those who had symptoms.