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.

Articles Tagged with new york personal injury

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Kelly Hurley, The 31 year old woman who was critically injured in a bicycle accident in New York (see previous blog) didn’t survive her injury. She was taken off life support a few days ago and passed away.

Kelly was heading North on First Ave in Manhattan when a truck making a left turn onto East 9th Street hit her. She had the right of way. Despite violating the right of way law, NYPD announced today that they only issued a summons to the driver for “not having a cross over mirror”. The police also blamed the victim and said that “the victim sadly slipped off her bike”. (see DNA info)

The police were observed ticketing bicyclists one block away from the fatal accident scene.  (see the Gothamist)

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the truck was making a left turn onto 9th Ave when he hit the bicyclist A bicyclist was hit by a box truck in New York yesterday morning.

The 31 year old woman was riding her bike on East 9th Street around 7:20 am. As she was crossing First Ave she was hit by a box truck.

The box truck was making a left turn from First Ave onto 9th Street when he struck the bicyclist. The woman was pinned under the back wheel of the driver’s side. Witnesses heard her say “I can’t move, I can’t breath”.  Shortly after, emergency responders arrived. They lifted the truck to free the victim. She was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

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accident scene1 person died and two people were injured in a truck accident in New York early Monday morning.  Around 2:20 am, 23 year old Sandhu Simranjeet Singh from Durham, NC was driving a tractor-trailer, heading west on the Cross Bronx Expressway. As he was near the George Washington Bridge he lost control of his truck and slammed into a car. He then fled the scene of the accident leaving behind him 3 critically injured people. The reckless drunk truck driver was later caught by the police near the Vince Lombardi Rest Stop. He was arrested and charged with drunk driving.  The 3 occupants of the car had to be pulled out of the mangled vehicle by the emergency responders. They were transported to the hospital. The driver, 25 year old Caeser Contreras, didn’t make it and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The two other passengers who were 28 and 39 years old were in critical condition.

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A pedestrian was hit by a SUV last night on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The accident occurred around 9:10 p.m.  A 37 year old woman was crossing the intersection of E. 86th Street and York Ave. According to the police, she was 10 feet away from the crosswalk when a SUV hit her.  The pedestrian suffered leg and head trauma. A witness reported that she was bleeding extensively. She was transported to the hospital in critical condition but she is expected to survive.  The driver, a 56 year old man stayed at the scene of the accident. Read more in the NY Daily News

The winter months are usually the most dangerous months for pedestrians. Since last October more than 1,000 pedestrians were injured every month in motor vehicle accidents in New York City. According to the most recent statistics released by the NYPD, the number of pedestrians injured in car accidents in NYC last January was 1,083. This is the highest number of pedestrian injuries for a month of January since Vision Zero started in 2014. Before Vision Zero started, there were 1,107 pedestrians injured in January 2013.

Pedestrians injured in a vehicle accident in NYC by month with trendline and 3-month moving average

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A woman suffered critical personal injury after being hit by a MTA bus in New York City. The accident occurred around 9 pm last Monday. 61 year old Aurora Beauchamp was crossing E. Houston Street at Avenue D in the crosswalk  and at the green light when the bus struck her. She was transported to the hospital. Her sternum, ribs hip and pelvis were broken and she suffered internal bleeding. The bus driver was also transported to the hospital for trauma. He was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian.

It is not the first time that a pedestrian has been hit by an MTA bus at this location.  Just a few months ago, in October 2016, 73 year old Anna Colon was fatally hit by a MTA bus that was turning left from Avenue D onto East Houston.

While looking at the Twitter picture below, one can see that Monday’s accident occurred exactly in the same way: the bus was making a left turn onto East Houston as well.

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NYC DOT bike lane porposal Amstedam AvePeople riding bikes in New York City decrease their risk of being seriously injured in a bike accident by 75% when they are using a protected bike lane.  According to a 2014 DOT study, protected bike lanes have led to a decrease of 22% of pedestrian injuries and to a minor decrease of  bicycle accident injuries despite a dramatic increase in bicycle traffic in the city.  Recently a new DOT proposal to extend the Amsterdam Avenue protected bike lane with a painted bike lane above 110 street seems somewhat weak.

The Amsterdam Avenue segment that runs from 110th street to 162nd street is a busy two way 4 travel lane corridor with no bike lanes.  Columbia University, City College of New York, several senior centers as well as various commercial and residential buildings are located on this segment of Amsterdam Avenue.

Speeding, unsafe intersections and the absence of bike lanes are making the avenue unsafe for the community. Between 2010 and 2016, 4 pedestrians died on this segment of Amsterdam Avenue. Between 2010 and 2014 8 bicyclists and 28 pedestrians were severely injured.

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nypd-chaseAn elderly woman was injured in  a car accident in New York City on Tuesday. The accident was caused by two police officers who were chasing a robbery suspect. The police officers received a radio order to stop the pursuit but ignored it. They continued to chase the suspect on Graham Ave, a busy Williamsburg street in Brooklyn. During the pursuit, the suspect lost control of his vehicle on Myrtle Ave. He hit two police cars and jumped the curb. He struck a 71 year old woman on the sidewalk. The woman and two other police officers were injured and transported to the hospital. According to witnesses talking  to the NY Daily News, it’s a miracle that no other pedestrians were hurt.

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After a young bicyclist was struck by a car in New York City, the Court of Appeals held the city of New York liable for failing to install traffic calming measures in a street the city knew was dangerous. The Court of Appeals decision  is related to a crash between a bicyclist and a car that occurred back in 2004  on Gerritsen Avenue in Brooklyn, NYC.

On December 5 2004 around 6:30 pm, 12 year old Anthony Turturro was riding his bike on Gerritsen Avenue. At the time of the accident, Gerritsen Ave was a four lane avenue with two lanes of traffic going in each direction.  As he was attempting to cross the avenue at mid-block, the young boy was struck by a car. The driver, Louis Pascarella, was speeding. The police investigation established that when the crash occurred, the driver’s speed was 54 mph, 24 mph over the 30 mph speed limit at this location. Turturro suffered serious injury. The driver pleaded guilty  to assault in the second degree.

RECKLESS DRIVING AND SPEEDING

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84th street and York IntersectionTwo pedestrians were injured in car accidents at two dangerous intersections of the Upper East Side of Manhattan this week-end. Both accidents occurred after sunset. The first one took place at the intersection of 84th Street and York (see Google Map picture on the left) Saturday at 5:45 pm. A 76 year old lady who crossed the street against the light was struck by a car. She suffered broken bones in her face, leg and pelvis.  She was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged. Since 2009, 7 pedestrians were injured in car accidents at this intersection.

The second accident took place at an even more dangerous intersection. 28 pedestrians were injured since 2009 at the intersection of East 86th Street and Third Ave. Another victim was hit by a car at this location on Sunday at 8:30 pm.

To prevent such accidents the city launched the Dusk and Darkness campaign to tell pedestrians and drivers about the higher risk of pedestrian accidents during the winter darkness. As part of this campaign The NYPD also increases enforcement against drivers speeding, failing to yield or being distracted while driving between 4:00 pm and 9:00 am.

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location of the accident 6th Ave and 47th StreetA woman riding her bike was hit by a van in Midtown Manhattan. The 56 year old woman was riding a Citi Bike near the intersection of W. 47th street and 6th Ave around 9:30 am yesterday morning. The van driver hit her and continued his way dragging the mangled bike under his vehicle. Two counter-terrorist cops saw it and immediately ran to the rescue.  While one of the cops was chasing down the van, the other one took care of the victim.  The woman suffered a very bad injury to her legs. According to witnesses, bones were visible in the knee area. The driver stayed at the scene of the accident. It is not clear why he didn’t stop immediately after hitting the woman. So far he hasn’t been charged.

Read more in the NY Daily News 

Picture: the busy location of the accident, courtesy of Google Maps