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 nyc

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a 47 year old woman was injured in New York City after the window of her livery cab exploded and showered her with shards of glass. The woman was a passenger in a livery cab that was driving on East Fordham Road near Sedgwick Avenue in University Heights in the Bronx.  The accident happened around 9:00 pm.  The police are still investigating the caue of the accident. They thought someone may have shot at the limo but no bullet was found. The victim was transported to the hospital. She had cuts in her neck caused by the shattered glass.

Two children were also injured this week-end in the Rockaways, Queens after a gunman on a rooftop randomly fired at the window of the cars they were in. The gunman is still at large.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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February showed an increase in pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents and motorcycle accidents in NYC while bus accidents and truck accidents were lower than the previous years during the same month. Was the usually warm weather a contributing factor or is Vision Zero  not really working?

After two years of decrease, the monthly number of pedestrians injured in NYC crashes in February is back to the level where it was 3 years ago. Last month 980 pedestrians were injured in traffic accidents in the city compared to 735 in February 2015, 820 in February 2014 and 983 in February 2013.  11 pedestrians died in motor vehicle accidents in NYC last month. The same number of people died the previous month and in February 2015. After Zero Vision was launched in 2014, the number of pedestrians killed in the month of February initially decreased from 13 to 8 between February 2013 and February 2014 and went back up above 10 for the last two years.

Even though the trend is still showing a decline of pedestrians injuries since the beginning of 2013, the 3-month moving average is back around 1,000 while for the same period last year it was around 900. A similar observation can be made for the 3-month moving average of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents. While the moving average was below or at the level of the trend line in February 2015 and 2014 it is now back above the level of the trend line in February 2016.

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Fire escapeA 23 year old man suffered critical injury after he stepped on a defective fire escape and fell 4 stories to the ground. 23 year old Chad Miller was about to move to a new apartment on Bedford Ave near Lefferts Boulevard in Brooklyn, NYC. He was hanging out with a friend on the fire escape outside his new place when the railing broke. Chad fell 4 stories and was critically injured. According to his dad, his son is still in a coma.

The owner of the building  received a violation for failure to maintain the fire escape. It could cost him up to a $5000 penalty. There is also a good chance that the family of the victim files a premises liability lawsuit against him. In 2011 we settled a case for $5,000,000.00 when a fire escape landing on which a man was standing on collapsed causing him to fall approximately 30 feet to the ground. Discussion of case here.

Read more in the NY Daily News and here 

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A pedestrian suffered serious injury after being hit by a car in New York City but according to a witness, the driver was let go by the police after he flashed a badge.

On January 11th, 63 year old  Cindy Klump who managed the drawing Center at Pratt Institute, was trying to cross Myrtle Ave at Ryerson Street in Brooklyn, NYC.  As she was crossing, she tripped and fell on the ground. She was getting back when up she was hit in the back by a a light colored minivan.  John Cisneros, a Pratt student who witnessed the accident saw the van driver parking his vehicle 50 feet away and run to rescue the woman. Another woman who also witnessed the accident ran to the rescue. She had medical training and tended to Klump while Cisneros called 911.

The ambulance and the police showed up shortly after. One of the police officers, Officer Orlando Vargas, started to interview the woman who helped Klump. She pointed at the driver who was still around and pointed at his car and told the officer: “that’s the guy who hit her and that’s his car”. The driver denied it and said it was a car before him who struck the woman and ran away. Cisneros said he saw the driver flashing a badge to Officer Vargas. He then kept the badge on a chain around his neck and was let go by Officer Vargas.

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nypd chaseA 34 year old mother and her 2 year old daughter suffered personal injury in a car accident in the Bronx, NYC.  The accident was caused by a driver who was chased by the NYPD. The chase started after police officers saw a car speeding on on Nereid Ave in Woodlawn Heights. The driver of the car lost control of the vehicle near the Mount Vernon border and crashed into several parked cars on West 4th Street. The mother and her daughter were sitting in one of the cars when the crash happened. She and her daughter were injured and transported to the hospital. According to the NY Daily News, the mother suffered severe head trauma.

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A young woman was seriously injured in a car accident in New York City early morning Saturday.  As she went to help a  drunk driving girlfriend in a disabled car, she ended plunging 30 feet off an highway overpass after being caught in a chain reaction accident. The accident happened as follows.

Around 5:00 am Saturday morning, 22 year old Samantha Maloney who was drunk driving, crashed her car into a concrete median on a Whitestone Expressway  overpass near Grand Central Parkway in Flushing, Queens. The car was left disabled on the right shoulder. Instead of calling 911, Samantha called her girlfriend Victoria Garratt, also 22 years old, to the rescue. Victoria showed up a few minutes later at the scene of the accident.  At the same time Christopher Pierce, an off-duty FDNY EMT who was driving by, stopped his car and offered assistance to the two young women.  According to officials, Pierce parked his car “at an angle” in front of Samantha’s disabled car. As the three of them were waiting for “official” rescuers to arrive, a 38 year old off-duty NYPD lieutenant who was driving by tried to swerve to avoid them but instead he crashed into them. The impact was so strong that it sent Victoria flying over the highway overpass. She landed 30 feet on the road below.  The young woman almost died in the accident. According to the Gothamist she was so badly injured that she may end up paralyzed for the rest of her life. Pierce was also injured in the car accident. His arm was broken. Samantha was not injured but she was arrested for drunk driving. If investigators determine that she caused her girlfriend’s injuries she may be charged with reckless endangerment.  The 38 year old off-duty cop was tested for alcohol and had a 0.02 blood alcohol level which is well below the legal level of 0.08. Investigators will have to determine if he was driving at an appropriate speed.

 

 

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co_detectorA whole family was injured by a carbon monoxide gas leak in NYC early morning yesterday. Initially called for a fall accident, the firefighters arrived to a Flushing home in Queens and found the mother unconscious in the bathroom and the dad circling the apartment and talking in a way that didn’t make sense. One of the two kids was crying. An elderly man was also present in the house. The FDNY checked the house for carbon monoxide and found that the level of CO was at 755 parts per million, an extremely high and fatal level. The family was immediately transported to the hospital to be treated. They are now in stable condition.

The family had recently moved into the Queens house. They hadn’t installed CO detectors which are mandatory in New York City. According to the FDNY, the gas leak was coming from a defective heating unit that was venting CO in the house. The FDNY told the NY Daily News that “some work was recently done to the furnace and it wasn’t done to code”.

Carbon monoxide is a very dangerous gas because it has no smell and no color.  The first symptoms of CO poisoning are upset stomach, vomiting, headache, chest pain, dizziness and confusion. Further intoxication can make people pass out and ultimately die. People who are sleeping or who are drunk may die without even feeling the first symptoms.

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A 14 year old boy suffered personal injury in a NYC car crash last Saturday. 14 year old Luiz Cruz stole a car with another teenager and went for a joy ride in Coney Island. The police spotted the car speeding on Surf Ave near West 23rd Street and began to chase them. The police tried to pull them over before the driver lost control of the vehicle and hit a cement median and several parked cars. The driver fled the scene of the accident leaving his friend injured on the passenger seat. The police are still looking for the driver.

Read more in the NY daily News

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location of the hit and run accidentA 70 year old man was critically injured by a speeding hit an run driver yesterday afternoon in Brooklyn, NYC. The man who was riding his electric scooter  was in the crosswalk at the intersection of 25th Avenue and 85th Street when he was side-swiped by a speeding white SUV.  The impact knocked the elderly man off of his scooter.  Jennifer Fahmy, a teenaged pedestrian was standing nearby and witnessed the accident. She told NBC News that the driver almost hit her as well. As he was fleeing witnesses said he ran several red lights.

Jennifer immediately ran to the victim to assist him. She said that he was critically injured and was barely moving. She called 911.

The elderly man was rushed to the hospital in life threatening condition.

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The NYPD are actively looking for five negligent hit and run drivers who killed a bicyclist as well as two pedestrians and injured two other pedestrians.

The first accident took place Sunday morning in the Bronx around 1:30 am. 63 year old Jose Contreras was attempting to cross Webster Avenue at the intersection of 175th street when he was struck by a grey SUV. The driver never stopped. The victim who had just attended his sister’s birthday at a nearby catering hall was found by his son. He suffered severe trauma and was rushed to the hospital. He didn’t survive. The police are looking for a 2001-2006 gray suburban Cadillac Escalade. More information about the accident can be found on the ABC7NY website.

The second accident occurred less than an hour later in Queens, NYC.  A 22 year old woman was crossing Guy R. Brewer Boulevard at 118th Road in South Jamaica when she was hit by a silver minivan. The driver never stopped. The police found the young pedestrian unconscious on the ground. She was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with critical head trauma.