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 pedestrian fatality Bronx NYCThe number of pedestrian fatalities in New York City which had significantly decreased during the coronavirus lock-down peaked back up as soon as the city started to reopen.

Yesterday night around 9:30 pm a 50 year old man who was crossing the street at the intersection of Beach Avenue and Mansion Street in Parkchester was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver.  The man was rushed to the hospital but he could not be saved.

The Police are still looking for the driver who recklessly killed the pedestrian and sped away behind the wheel of a SUV. According to the police the driver was chasing another car when the accident occured.

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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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child-head-injuy-1Because young children can’t express themselves proprely it can be challenging for doctors to diagnose a traumatic brain injury or concussion.  A recent article published in Pediatric Emergency Care suggests that using previous “Characteristics of Diagnosed Concussions in Children Aged 0 to 4 Years Presenting to a Large Pediatric Healthcare Network” might be helpful. The study was authored by Podolak, Olivia E. MD*; Chaudhary, Sofia MD*,†; Haarbauer-Krupa, Juliet PhD; Metzger, Kristina B. PhD, MPH*; Curry, Allison E. PhD, MPH*,†; Kessler, Ronni S. MEd*; Pfeiffer, Melissa R. MPH*; Breiding, Matthew J. PhD; Master, Christina L. MD, CAQSM, FACSM*,§,∥; Arbogast, Kristy B. PhD*,†,§

The researchers analyzed the medical data of 329 young patients aged 0 to 4 who visited the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia healthcare network from October 1, 2013, to September 30, 2015 . They identified  the 3 top common mechanisms of injury.

The first one was fall and represented 64.4 % of all young patients who were diagnosed with a concussion with children younger than 2 year old being at a higher risk of sustaining a concussion in a fall than children from 2 to 4 year old.  Falling from furniture was the most common type of fall leading to traumatic brain injury, followed by tripping and hitting the ground and falling down the stairs.

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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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construction site NYIn NY State,  it is the responsibility of the contractor and/or of  the owner of the construction site to make sure their construction workers are safe at work.

In addition to the usual safety guidelines, contractors now have to make sure their employees are adequately protected  from getting infected by the coronavirus.  A recent article in the Commercial Observer looked at the challenges faced by New York construction sites one week after their phase 1 reopening.

The new Covid-19 health protocols are creating challenges for both employers and employees on New York construction sites

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Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz

Our managing partner, New York Personal Injury Attorney Ben Rubinowitz, has developed a reputation as a leading plaintiff’s trial lawyer throughout the country. In recognition of his skill as a national leader in his field, Ben will be speaking to the Wyoming Trial Lawyers at their annual convention. In light of the recent string of eight figure multimillion dollar verdicts that he received, Ben has been asked to speak about developing damages through cross-examination of experts.

The Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Convention ” Litigation in 2020 and Beyond” will take place on June 18th and 19th via Live Streaming.

Click here for more info or to register

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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.