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 personal injury NY

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NY-bus-accident-locationTwo people suffered serious injury, 5 moderate injuries and dozens others minor injuries in a bus accident in Long Island, NY that occurred on Sunday night a little after 8:00 pm.

The bus driven by Troy Gaston from Bethlehem, PA belonged to Journey Bus Line in New Jersey. The driver had just picked up 38 students and 5 chaperons at JFK airport. The teenagers aged 16 to 19-year-old were coming back from an Eastern Europe trip organized by EF Educational Tours.  The bus was heading to a mall where parents were supposed to pick up their children. The driver took the Southern State Parkway to get to his destination, apparently not aware that the Parkway was forbidden to most commercial vehicles.

As he drove through the Eagle Avenue overpass in Lakeview, Nassau County, LI, the top of the bus was ripped off by the overpass injuring multiple passengers. According to the police someone shouted “duck” just before the bus hit the overpass. This may have helped keep the number of seriously injured students to just a few. Two 17-year-old girls suffered the most serious injuries. They are still hospitalized but in stable condition. They are expected to leave the hospital in the next 24 to 48 hours. The injuries ranged from broken bones to cuts and scrapes.

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entrance of the German Masonic homeA hard hat was in critical condition after he was hit by debris at a NY construction site. 49 year old Arian Hila was working on the renovation of the Germanic Masonic Home at 120 Western Highway in Tappan, NY. On Friday afternoon one of the debris chutes became clogged with construction material. Arian and another construction worker went inside the dumpster and tried to clean the chute from there. As they were trying to unclog it, the clogged chute detached and fell onto Arian. He was crushed by the debris and could hardly breath. Police officers, firefighters and paramedics all jumped into the dumpster and removed the debris to free him. He could barely breath. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Adrian Hila is an idenpendant contractor employed by Atria Consulting 3. The property is owned by Noble Ninth Inc. The renovation of the building started in 2016. The accident is being investigated.

Read more in the Lohud

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Morgan Wang suffered Spinal Injury in a NY Car AccidentBen Rubinowitz, managing partner at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf just obtained one of the largest verdicts ever in the Country for a Spinal Injury case. The Plaintiff, Morgan Wang, was awarded $71 Million by a Manhattan Jury last Thursday.

The case was tried before Supreme Court Judge James d’Auguste. After 3 weeks of trial, the Manhattan Jury awarded Ms. Wang a stunning amount of money to fully and fairly compensate her for injuries suffered in a car accident in New York in August of 2012. The jury awarded $5 million for her Past Pain and Suffering, 6 Million for her Future Pain and Suffering and 60 Million for her medical needs over her lifetime. “We put in an incredible amount of time and effort to make sure Morgan received Justice” said Ben Rubinowitz, who represented Morgan at trial, noting that “this young girl suffered life changing injuries.” She came to the right law firm. “We have a tremendous amount of expertise with Spinal Cord Injuries and no one will work harder or prepare for trialthe car after the accident better than us” said Rubinowitz.

The jury of 3 men and 3 women took two days to reach their verdict. Morgan suffered a fracture of her Lumbar Spine, often referred to as a broken back. Although she is now able to walk with braces, she still suffers from Neurogenic Bowel, a condition that makes it difficult for her to move her bowels.  As a result she will need continued medical and psychiatric care for the rest of her life. “Morgan is an amazing young woman” said Rubinowitz. “She refused to listen to her doctors at the trauma center who said she would never walk again. She overcame tremendous obstacles and worked through her pain at Mt Sinai Rehabilitation Center in Manhattan to learn to walk again. She is the epitome of someone who will never give up. I am proud of Morgan. She cares deeply about people and, to show you how remarkable she is, she now donates her time to help injured veterans. It was an honor to represent Morgan.”

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accident sceneA woman died in a car accident  after she entered the highway the wrong way.  Two other people were severely injured. The accident occurred early Sunday morning.  The driver of a dark grey SUV entered the North Bound lanes of the Hutchinson River Parkway in Scarsdale the wrong way and started to drive against traffic. The police received the first report of a car driving the wrong way just before 4:30 on Sunday morning but it was already too late. The dark grey SUV hit another grey SUV head-on. The driver of the car driving the wrong way was killed in the accident. The passenger as well as the driver of the other car were both critically injured.  The driver of a black sedan who swerved in the grass on the side of the highway to avoid the collision was fine.  A man working at a gas station just north of the accident told CBS News that it wasn’t the first time that a car was driving the wrong way on the parkway. He said it was happening quite often. The parkway was blocked for 11 hours to allow investigators to complete their accident reconstruction. It is still too early to know if alcohol or drugs were a factor. The investigators also still didn’t know where the driver entered the parkway. In recent years, there were several wrong way accidents in Westchester. Some say confusing signalization may be a factor.

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2 people suffered personal injury after being struck by a patrol vehicle on Long Beach in Long Island, NY. A 48-year-old man and his 36-year-old female companion, both from Hempstead, were lying on the beach among people a little bit after sunset when a cop driving a beach patrol SUV ran over them.  Both of them were transported to the hospital to be treated. The man suffered broken ribs and a bruised lung. His companion had a broken finger and a leg injury. The man was released from the hospital on Monday. The woman is still in the hospital.

The police officer, 32-year-old David Walpole, was making a three-point turn on the beach when the accident occurred. According to the police, Walpole just didn’t see the couple. The cop had driven his SUV in an area where cars usually don’t go because he was trying to prevent a large crowd from going into the ocean as the lifeguards had gone off duty a little bit earlier.Walpole has 20 years of service with the police. He was also sent to the hospital where his blood was checked for alcohol and drugs. Results came out perfectly clean.

A witness said that he was walking on the beach and thought he was hallucinating when he saw the cop car on top of a human body.

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A worker died and another one was injured in a construction accident in Long Island, NY, last Wednesday. Edward Sinnott, an employee from the construction company Antonio and Sons, was buried to death in 15 feet of dirt. The accident occurred as the 59 year old man was standing on the top of the hole, directing the digging of a new cesspool system for a private home on Beech Place, in Hutington, NY. All of a sudden around 1pm, the cesspool collapsed, submerging Sinnott alive. Another construction worker who was standing next to him was able to survive by grabbing the bucket used to dig in the area. Crews used all types of equipment to try to find the construction worker quickly but his body was recovered  6 hours later. OSHA is now investigating the accident. The house was also reported unstable and unsafe. Read more in the Gothamist Our Partner Howard Hershenhorn recovered $3,500,000 in Suffolk County for the family of a man killed when the cesspool at his home collapsed.

 

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diatracted driving accidents prevention poster

Just is all it takes

In New York Sate, car crashes involving distracted drivers killed 160 people and injured more than 33,000 in 20015 according to a study from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research that was published a few months ago. The study estimates that around 20 to 22% of the fatal car accidents in New York State are related to distracted driving. The problem is not only in New York but all over The United States.  Nationally during the whole year of 2015, 3,477 people died and 391,000 were injured in distracted driving accidents.

April is “Distracted Driving Awareness Month” and during the whole month the National Safety Council (NSC) is campaigning to crack down on this epidemic. The NSC invites organizations and communities to share information about distracted driving. Various material is available to download on their website.

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the two young New Yorkers who alerted the residents about a fire in their buildingThree people died and several people were injured in NY fire accidents that erupted mostly in the North West area of the city these past few days.

Yesterday morning 3 people were injured in a fire that started in a third floor apartment of a 5-story building located on West 184th Street near Amsterdam Ave in Washington Heights. One of the victims was critically injured while the two others only suffered minor injuries. Read more in the NY Daily News.

Also yesterday in Mount Vernon, NY a mother and her child died in a fire accident. The fire broke out at the second floor of a residence located on 13th street. 11 people lived in the house. A 30 year old mother and her 17th month baby both died in the fire. Another person was injured and transported to the hospital. The causes of the fire accident are not clear yet. Read more and see pictures on PIX11 

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LIRR_Train33 people suffered personal injury in a train crash in Long Island, NY on Saturday night. A Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train carrying 600 passengers sideswiped a maintenance train and derailed just East of the New Hide Park station in Nassau County. The accident occurred around 9:00 pm. The Huntington Bound passenger train was coming from New York City. After the crash, scared passengers were trapped in the dark for up to an hour until they could be rescued. Among the people injured, 27 were passengers and 7 were workers. The New York Times reported 4 serious injuries.

In a press conference, NY Governor Cuomo told reporters that the accident could have been worse. He also said that the maintenance train violated clearance and intruded into the space of the commuter train. The passenger train sideswiped the maintenance train causing some cars to derail. Yellow paint from the maintenance train was found on the passenger train where the side swipe occurred.

Further investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board  will determine why the maintenance train violated clearance. Regulations related to operation of work equipment are different than regulations related to operation of passenger trains. According to Union sources the maintenance train was operated by a non union LIRR employee.

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Our NY personal injury law firm is proud to announce that our partners Ben Rubinowitz and Richard Steigman obtained a $7.75 million settlement in  a snowmobile accident in Saranac Lake, NY.

snowmobile accident
The plaintiffs, Thomas Taylor (63) and Linda Taylor (57) were guests at The Point at Saranac Lake, a luxury 5-star hotel in Franklin County. The plaintiffs claimed that the hotel arranged a snowmobile tour with Adirondack Snowmobile Rental. The tour was set up by the hotel for the plaintiffs and four other guests (2 other couples) who were also staying at the hotel. All 6 of the guests were beginners – each of whom had never been on a snowmobile before.Payment was arranged through the hotel. The hotel not only arranged the tour but charged the guests 20% extra for this service.

The Tour Guide, Robert Pinsdorf, an employee of Adirondack Snowmobile, started the tour approximately 10 miles from the hotel, at a campground know as Charlie’s Inn. The hotel guests were given a 10-20 minute lesson in the operation of the snowmobile; however, the guide was charged with the responsibility of leading the guests on the tour and keeping them safe throughout the tour. The plaintiffs claimed that they were unfamiliar with the trails, road crossing and trail signs. Although the first hour of the tour went fine during the second hour, one of the snowmobiles broke down due to a faulty drive belt. The tour guide then decided to head back to Charlie’s Inn to get another belt. He left one guest in the broken snowmobile and took one guest with him on his snowmobile. He told the others to follow him. It was claimed that he was in a rush and, at this time, failed to protect the novice snowmobilers by traveling ahead of them without warning them of road crossings and stop signs and without knowing where they were. Plaintiff s decedent, Thomas Taylor, failed to stop for a stop sign. It was claimed that he was unaware that he was traveling towards a road and stop sign. It was at this point that the plaintiff s decedent crossed the road, without stopping, and was struck by a van driven by an elderly man (who was dismissed from the case on summary judgment).