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 pedestrian accident nyc

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Our client, Ruthie Ann Miles returned to the stage last Friday performing the starring role of lady Thiang in the West End production of the King and I in London. We are joining Ruthie Ann Miles fans to express our admiration for her strength and her courage.

Our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz who represents the family, told the New York Post “It’s just a testament to the courage, strength and bravery of both of them, Jonathan and Ruthie Ann.” “She really is taking it a day at a time, trying to get by.”

On March 5th, Ruthie Ann Miles and her young daughter Abigail were struck by a reckless driver while crossing a street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Abigail was killed in the accident. Ruthie Ann Miles who was 39 weeks pregnant at the time of the accident was critically injured. A few weeks after the accident the actress also tragically lost her unborn child  following the injuries suffered in the crash.

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Speed camera prevent injuries and deathsA speed camera program that was installed in 2014  in New York City school zones to reduce pedestrian accidents was shut down. Cameras were turned off yesterday in 120 school zones around the city and by the end of August 20 other school zones will see their speed cameras turned off as well.

Despite heavy campaigning by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and NY Governor Andrew Cuomo not only to keep the school camera program alive but also to add additional cameras in the city, lawmakers in Albany failed to call a vote to renew the program.

Since they have been installed in 2014, the speed cameras have clearly demonstrated that they protect pedestrians and especially children from being injured or dying in car accidents in New York City school zones. Statistics indicate that in school areas where cameras were installed speeding decreased by 63% and fatalities by 55% between 2014 and 2016.

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5,569 people suffered personal injury in 20,551 traffic accidents in New York City last May. Among them were 2,534 motorists, 1,755 passengers, 430 cyclists and 850 pedestrians.

While looking at past statistics,  we notice a seasonal factor that causes the number of crash injuries to always increase during the month of May compared to the previous months of  February, March and April. Last May the auto accident injuries in New York City increased to a record number.

In May 2013, before Vision Zero, 4,988 people suffered injuries in NYC crashes.  Then the Vision Zero program started and the number of crash injuries declined to 4,621 in May 2014. It increased again slightly to 4,788 in May 2015 but stayed below the Pre-Vision Zero number of injuries recorded in May 2013. In May 2016, it peaked above 5000 and never went back below that level for the last 3 years. 5,415 crash injuries were recorded in May 2016 and 5,314 in May 2017.

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Laundromat dangerous parkingA young pedestrian was killed and her mother was injured in a car accident in Brooklyn, NYC, on Sunday afternoon.

A 4 year-old girl was riding her mini scooter on the sidewalk of Wyckoff Ave near Hart Street while her mother was walking close by. At one point the little girl lost a shoe.  She picked it up, then the mother bent to help her. As the mother was helping her daughter, a car parked at a laundromat just next to them backed up, hit them both and continued on its way. The little girl died at the scene of the accident. Her mother survived but was injured.

The car driver and two passengers were stopped by the police two blocks away. It is not clear if the driver realized than she ran over the mother and her daughter. Residents have been complaining for a long time about the dangerous parking lot of the laundromat. In order to park or to leave the parking space, drivers have to cross the sidewalk.

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Staten Island Pedestrian accident locationA pedestrian died in New York City on Sunday morning. He was hit by a drunk driver around 4:40 am. 32 year old David Bloomer, a father of four, was crossing Tompkins Ave at Broad St. in Stapleton, Staten Island, NYC when he was struck by a car. The driver tried to speed off but one of David’s cousins rallied a group of people to run after him. They were able to catch him a block away from the accident. The driver, identified as 25 year old, John Rudder was allegedly drunk.

During the accident, Rudder hit Bloomer so violently that the pedestrian went flying into the air and crashed through the windshield of a jeep that was parked nearby. The firefighters had to remove the roof of the jeep to try to save him. Unfortunately Bloomer died at the scene of the accident.

Bloomer left behind him 2 children, 17 year old Charlie Perez, 8 year old Mikayla Papon and 2 stepdaughters, 14 year old and 6 year old Yolanda and Dakota Makins.  He was a DJ and a beloved member of the Stapleton Community.

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12 people died and 4,578 were injured in traffic accidents in New York City in April. Among the fatalities were 7 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and 2 motor vehicle passengers. The number of fatalities recorded last April is the lowest number of traffic fatalities ever recorded in April since Vision Zero started. Last year during the same month 20 people died in NYC motor vehicle accidents. In 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, there were respectively 14, 19, 21 and 15 fatalities.

Traffic fatalities NYC April 2018
Sadly, the number of people injured in accidents in the city was higher in April 2018 than it was in April 2017. It wasn’t as high as in 2016 but it was higher than in 2014 and 2015 and also back at the level where it was before Vision Zero was implemented.  While pedestrians and cyclists account for most deaths, motorists and passengers sustain most of the injuries.Motor vehcile accident injuries New York City April 2018

Motorists injuries continue to be on an ascending trend with a record number of 2,117 motorists injured last April compared to respectively, 1,922, 2,061, 1,363, 1,305 and 1,599 in 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013. Distracted driving might be one of the reasons why this number continues to increase.

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location of the fatal pedestrian accident BK NYCOn March 5th, Ruthie Ann Blumenstein was crossing the road with Abigail, her 5 year old daughter when a reckless driver struck them (see our previous blog). Abigail died at the scene of the accident and her mother suffered serious injury. At the time of the accident she was 39 weeks pregnant with Sophia Rosemary Wong Blumenstein. On Wednesday our managing partner, Ben Rubinowitz who represents Mrs Blumenstein announced that sadly her unborn child had died from the injuries suffered during the crash. “The pain suffered by Ruthie and Jonathan is nearly impossible to fathom,” Mr. Rubinowitz said. “As you might imagine, they are overwhelmed by the sadness of the deaths of their children.”

Ruthie Ann Blumenstein is a Tony-Waward winning actress. The actress and her daughter Abigail were among a group of pedestrians who were crossing the intersection of Fifth Ave and 9th street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, when Dorothy Burns ran a red light and erratically plowed into them.  Abigail and 20 month old Joshua Lew died at the scene of the accident. Several pedestrians were injured including the pregnant Ruthie Ann Blumenstein.

Dorthy Burns was recently indicted by a Grand Jury and was charged with manslaughter, assault and criminally negligent homicide (see previous blog).  Burns suffers from multiple sclerosis. Prior to the fatal accident she received 12 driving violations for speeding in school zones and running red lights. Her license is now suspended. It is outrageous that she was still allowed to drive at the time of the accident.

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Location of the garbage truck accident in BrooklynA private garbage truck struck and seriously injured a 78 year old woman who was crossing the street yesterday in New York City . The hauling truck that belongs to MIST Entreprise was making a left turn from East Fourth Street onto 18th Ave in Kensington, Brooklyn, when it hit the pedestrian. The accident occurred around 11:00 am. Witnesses saw the victim being pinned under the wheel of the truck. She was screaming and her leg was completely mangled.  The 78 year old woman was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.  The driver of the truck stayed at the scene of the accident and so far hasn’t been charged.

KILLING MACHINES

The truck that crashed into the pedestrian has a history of reckless driving. According to city records, over the last two years, the truck was cited 5 times for running red lights.  Privater garbage truck haulers have a very bad reputation in New York City. Drivers are forced to drive long hours and cover large routes, making them prone to reckless driving.  Between 2010 and 2017, 43 New Yorkers died after being struck by private carting companies’garbage trucks. Organized labor believes that the Business Integrity Commission that regulates them is not doing enough to prevent this carnage. Not even a month ago another elderly resident from the Bronx was fatally struck by a private garbage truck. Police investigated the accident and discovered that the driver had previously fatally ran over a colleague with his truck 6 months before. He lied to the police about it and was still allowed to drive without being charged. (see previous blog).

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In a previous post we mentioned that a pedestrian was fatally struck by a garbage truck belonging to Sanitation Salvage two weeks ago in the Bronx. Leon Clark, a man in his 70ies who was living in Adams Houses was walking on E. 152nd St. near Jackson Ave in Morrisiana when he was fatally struck by a private garbage truck driven by 33 year old Sean Spence. It is the second time in less than 6 months that Spence killed a pedestrian while driving his truck.

On November 7, Spence was driving his truck when he fatally ran over 21 year old Mouctar Diallo, an off-the books employee who was helping him. Diallo was standing on the the steps leading to the passenger’s door when he lost  his grip,  fell under the truck’s rear wheels and died. Spence initially lied to the police and claimed that the victim was a crazy homeless man who tried to jumped on the side of his truck.

Sanitation Salvage has a history of safety violations

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NYC Traffic fatalities by mode before and after Vision ZeroSince Vision Zero started in 2014, NYC traffic fatalities decreased by 28% while nationally they went up by 15%. According to the Fourth Vision Zero Annual Report that was recently released by the de Blasio Administration, the decline was the strongest in pedestrian deaths. They went down by 45% since the program was launched in 2014.

STREET REDESGIN

Last year, under the Vision Zero umbrella, the city installed 832 additional Leading Pedestrians Intervals (LPI). 24.9 miles of protected bike lanes were built leading to a total of more than 60 miles of protected bike lanes in the City. Left turn calming treatments were placed at 110 intersections. 390 speed bumps were also created all over the five boroughs.