Ask any New York personal injury lawyer and he or she will tell you that the streets of New York are some of the most dangerous in the world for pedestrians. But the story below in today’s New York Daily News really jumps the shark.
The News reports that a 53-year-old man was left to die on a Brooklyn street after two motorists plowed into him in a grisly hit-and-run Thursday night.
A white van first hit the man, clipping him while he was in the crosswalk at Coney Island Ave. and Avenue K in Midwood, witnesses said. As he struggled to get up, a dark-colored sedan mowed him down and kept on going, according to bystanders.
The good Samaritan, who declined to be named, recalled the victim saying, “The guy hit my leg a little but I’m okay.”
While the Samaritan dialed 911, the second car came barreling through the intersection.
“The light turned green and a sedan slammed into him,” he said. “I saw the fender hit his face – it was not good.”
The impact was so hard it sent the man flying from one crosswalk to another across the road, witnesses said.
“The sedan didn’t even slow down,” the Samaritan said.
The unidentified victim was taken to Coney Island Hospital in traumatic arrest, fire officials said. He died at the hospital 45 minutes later.
The driver of the van initially stopped to check on the pedestrian but took off after he was hit the second time. It was unclear if the van had returned to the scene.
Police are investigating the crash and no arrests have been made.
The wheels of justice grind slowly.
The New York Post reported today that a trial has been postponed for the driver of an interstate bus that crashed in Virginia in May, killing four passengers and injuring dozens more. The story made national headlines; and perked up the ears of many Virginia personal injury lawyers.
Caroline County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tony Spencer says a hearing in the case of Kin Yiu Cheung of New York will be held March 7. Cheung was scheduled to go on trial Thursday on four felony counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Court records show Cheung admitted to police that he fell asleep at the wheel when the low-fare Sky Express bus from Greensboro, N.C., to New York City swerved off Interstate 95 about 30 miles north of Richmond, hit an embankment and overturned with 60 people aboard May 31.
Cheung has pleaded not guilty.
Every once in a while the City does something right. And, it often is something so simple you have to wonder why it took so long to do it. In this case, according to a story in The New York Daily News today, it will take little more than a street light to cut down on vehicle and pedestrian accidents and the number of personal injury accident cases that often result.
The NYC Dept. of Transportation announced this afternoon that a feared Atlantic Avenue intersection near Brooklyn Bridge Park is getting a summer makeover with plans to slow down speeding traffic racing towards the expressway.
The Department said it will add a pedestrian island near the Brooklyn Queens Expressway on-ramp as well as a wider lane for the turning cars.
The agency will ban vehicles from making a right on red onto the BQE when going eastbound on Atlantic Avenue – a rare legal right-on-red spot in a city known for it’s strict traffic laws.
“Anything to slow down the traffic is a good thing,” said one Brooklyn Heights mom who was crossing the wide drag with her 6 year old son.
Last summer, the DOT restricted drivers from making a right on red for three hours during the morning commute. But pedestrians complained that drivers were still making the turns at all hours throughout the day. Oh, well, this is New York City.
I blogged about a story similar to this one in that the weapon in question isn’t really a weapon at all. It was a time bomb waiting to go off in the wrong hands. There are no second amendment issues here as I see it. Just gross negligence on the part of the company that made and sold this deadly device to an unsuspecting buyer. I wonder what a top New York personal injury lawyer would have to say about this.
Here is the story from today’s New York Daily News:
A 14-year-old Utah boy was mortally wounded after a miniature 18th century replica cannon accidentally went off in his hands.
The teen’s older brother was inside the room Monday morning when the boy picked up the cannon and peered into its six-inch barrel.
“At some point in handling that, the cannon fired and struck him in the face,” according to The NY Daily News.
The boy was killed instantly by the cannon blast. The tiny weapon, typically intended as a decorative display, can hold a .50-caliber round and a black powder charge.
Police ruled the death an accident, and were investigating how the mini-cannon went off.
I realize the second amendment to the constitution protects the right of people to bear arms. But how does one actually define the term “arm”?
The New York Daily News reported today that a 15-year-old boy was caught with a pellet gun at his Manhattan high school Monday.
The paper said the teen was trying to get the weapon through security scanners at the High School for Media and Communications on Audubon Ave. in Washington Heights.
Charges were pending against the boy, a freshman whose name was not released.
I would expect this student will be punished. And, rightfully so. But what about the maker of the pellet gun? What if the boy put some kid’s eye out. Wouldn’t the maker of a device that can only injure someone, not really arguably be classified an “arm,” bear some responsibility to the victim? I wonder what a top New York personal injury lawyer would have to say on the matter.
Police described the device as a black spring-loaded pellet gun.
Weather forecasters are calling for snow this weekend. If it comes our way it will be the first snowfall of the year; in fact it will be the first snowy cover the city has seen since the freak blizzard that hit the New York area back in October.
With snow on the way, one top New York construction accident lawyer recommends that hardhat workers keep an eye on the development and avoid doing certain kinds of work — especially on scaffolding high above the city streets — when surfaces of ladders and scaffolding are made slippery by falling snow and ice.
“It’s better to take the day off when weather conditions make working a safety hazard at construction sites,” said Richard Gurfein, partner in the New York construction accident law firm of Gurfein Douglas. “High winds can also be very dangerous for workers who work at great heights.”
The use of electronic cigarettes has skyrocketed over the past 12 months. Manufacturers and product users now say you can enjoy a cheaper healthier cigarette without the bad smells, second-hand smoke, or cancer causing chemicals.
Whether or not any of these claims are true, or just vitamin store style hype remains to be seen. My gut tells me this product is an accident, and scores of personal injury lawsuits, waiting to happen.
According to product advertisements, what is “smoked” when taking a drag on an e-cigarette is mainly a water-based vapor consisting of nicotine.
Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan DA, has launched a criminal investigation into the horrific elevator accident that took the life of a rising advertising exec, according to an article in today’s The New York Post.
One has to wonder if this isn’t anything more than a publicity grabbing stunt for the underwhelmingly performing DA.
According to the report, investigators are focusing on electrical work performed on the elevator by its maintenance contractor, Transel, in the hours before Hart was killed. But they have not yet identified the cause of the accident.
The death toll from the crippled Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia rose to 11 after five more bodies were pulled from the shipwreck on Tuesday.
The lifeless bodies of four men and one woman, estimated to be in their 50s and 60s, were found below the water line at the ship’s front, according to The New York Daily News.
Twenty four others, a mix of tourists and crew members, are still believed trapped inside.
The latest find comes after Italian marine divers armed with explosives blasted their way into the capsized wreck and began navigating its jumbled, murky interior.
Conditions inside the half-sunk Costa Concordia were disastrous, and the frogmen were fighting their way through piles of floating debris in the ships labyrinth of cabins, restaurants, bars, casinos and theaters, rescue officials said.
This accident will help to expose a situation of widespread negligence within the passenger cruise ship industry on the whole. It’s tragic when nothing seems to get done until something so horrible happens that government and industry regulators are forced to do something about an ongoing problem.
New York City has been on fire lately. But not in a good way. It seems like every day there’s another story in The New York Daily News about a tragic apartment building fire.
Today, the News reported that a 7-year-old Brooklyn boy died in a fast-moving blaze early Sunday after his dad was pushed back by flames and critically injured during two attempts to reach his sleeping son.
The boy’s anguished father wouldn’t give up his efforts to rescue his son.
“He was screaming, trying to find him,” neighbors said.
The boy died at the scene and his father was badly burned on his hands and face. He’s being treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell.
The boy’s mother and her three other children were treated at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center for smoke inhalation, sources said.
It took firefighters nearly 90 minutes to get the ferocious blaze under control, FDNY officials said. Wind, ice and frigid temperatures made it especially hard to fight.
“I heard screaming that woke me up,” said a second-floor resident. “I grabbed my kids and ran out. There was black smoke in the hallway. It was everywhere.”
As she escaped, she saw the dead boy’s father standing on the sidewalk.
“He was burned up. His skin was peeling,” said Sistrunk, whose apartment was destroyed in the blaze. “I just feel bad for that little boy. It’s so sad.”
The cause of the fire, which damaged two adjacent buildings, is under investigation but is not considered suspicious. I would suggest that anyone who suffered serious loss as a result of this fire should contact a top New York premises liability lawyer to investigate the matter thoroughly.
