Personal Injury Attorneys - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and the Bronx

Older pedestrians, those over 65 years of age,are far more likely to be killed in motor vehicle accidents while walking than younger ones, according to a new study by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The study analyzed accidents occurring between 2005 and 2007 in New York City and five nearby counties: Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and Orange. The study found that 255 pedestrians aged 65 years and older were killed on downstate New York roads. Though comprising less than 12 percent of the areas population, people aged 65 and older accounted for 30 percent of the total pedestrian fatalities during the three-year period. Those aged 75 years and older represent less than 6 percent of the downstate New Yorks population, but more than 18 percent of pedestrian deaths.

Minimum 21-year-old drinking age laws prevented an estimated 4,441 drunken driving deaths in the last five years alone, according to a new report released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition to estimating lives saved due to 21-year-old minimum drinking age laws, the new NHTSA study shows the number of lives saved by motorcycle helmets has risen sharply in recent years, paralleling an increase in motorcycle use. Agency estimates indicate that lives saved by helmets rose from 1,173 in 2003 to 1,784 in 2007. For the five-year period ending last year, fully 7,502 lives were spared because motorcyclists used helmets.

This past Black Friday bore witness to the inherent dangers in failing to properly control a crowd that could and did turn into a stampeding mob oblivious to the fact that a man was being asphyxiated beneath them. Two days after stampeding shoppers trampled a Wal-Mart worker to death at a Valley Stream, New York store, Queens-based New York City Councilman James Gennaro announced his plans to craft a "Doorbuster Bill" that would require retailers to enact greater security measures during major sales. Nassau County is apparently considering enacting a similar law. On Black Friday, the now-traditional day after Thanksgiving dedicated to enticing shoppers with deep discounts, Jdimytai Damour, a seasonal employee, was killed after a crowd of 2,000 broke down store doors and ran over him. Wal-Mart representatives said the Valley Stream store had augmented its security personnel and erected barricades in preparation for Black Friday. Existing law in New York imposes a duty

We have written about how the New York City Transit Authority has taken to request claimants in personal injury suits produce the Metrocard that they used to board a bus or enter the subway system at the time that their accident occurred. It just happened in one of our cases yesterday morning. This past week it was reported that a murder suspect used his Metrocard to establish his alibi - that he was not present at the location of the murder. Jason Jones was arrested, along with his brother, in a fatal shooting in the Bronx in May. He told the police that he had been nowhere near the scene. He said he had left work, ridden the bus with some co-workers and cashed his paycheck, and later had taken a subway to see his girlfriend.

Common falls can have an unpredictable impact on the bodies of older people. Falls are now recognized as complex, often preventable events with multiple causes and consequences, calling for a wide range of interventions, both psychological and physiological, that many patients never receive. Even falls that cause only minor can be a real warning sign that something serious is wrong. A recent article in the New York TImes by John Leland on November 7, 2008, contained an interesting discussion about falls and the various outcomes that can result from them.

In an earlier blog, we wrote about conflicting conclusions being drawn concerning the safety of bisphenol A, or BPA. The National Toxicology Program (NTP), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that BPA is of "some concern" - the midpoint of a five-level scale - for effects on development of the prostate gland and brain and for behavioral effects in fetuses, infants and children. In contrast, this past August the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that the small amounts of BPA that leach out of containers and into food or milk are not dangerous. But more recently a Food and Drug Administration advisory board voted to say that the agency ignored critical evidence suggesting that BPA could harm children.The FDA's science board, a group of outside experts, voted unanimously to endorse a report that found major flaws in the agency's decision in August to declare BPA s

The tri-state regions most dangerous road for pedestrians is Hempstead Turnpike in Nassau County, according to a new analysis by Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a policy watchdog organization. Between 2005 and 2007, 15 pedestrians were killed along the 15-mile stretch of roadway, with most of those fatalities occurring as the road passes through Elmont, Franklin Square and Hempstead. The TSTC analyzed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations Fatality Analysis Reporting System, years 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The federal government says that the hazards of falling are the biggest safety problem at New York City construction sites after random inspections during a two-week enhanced enforcement effort this past summer. As part of its New York City construction safety task force, OSHA detailed 12 inspectors to conduct 96 safety inspections at 46 construction sites throughout the city from June 23 to July 3. The sites were randomly selected to encompass a cross-section of high-risk construction activities including tower cranes, high-rise construction, poured-in-place concrete operations, steel erection, gut-rehab and other high-risk construction activities. Citations were issued to 60 contractors for 129 violations with a total of $247,400 in proposed fines after inspecting 46 sites in June and July. The major categories of violations cited included fall hazards (39 - nearly a third of the violations), electrical safety (29), scaffolds (17), cranes and rigging (13), welding/

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released new Interpretive Guidelines for nutrition and sanitary conditions in nursing homes effective September1, 2008. The changes clarify areas such as assessment, care planning, and interventions for LTC residents. This guideline is significant as it contains detailed instructions for acceptable parameters of nutritional status, details on required nutritional assessment, food and fluid intake, care planning, and weight-related interventions. There are also added sections on wound healing and feeding tubes which were not in the previous Interpretive Guidelines. Appendix PP - Guidance to Surveyors for Long Term Care Facilities updates the tags on nutrition (F-Tag 325) and sanitary conditions (F-Tag 371). Nutrition The intent of the revised tag on nutrition is that the resident maintains, to the extent possible, acce

The safety of New Yorkers working at or living near construction sites has remained paramount following the crane collapses this past March and May that killed a total of 9 people. Stemming partly from corruption allegations that were first disclosed in the summer when the citys acting chief crane inspector was arrested on charges of receiving bribes, the New York City Buildings Department announced on October 6, 2008, that it was overhauling its procedures on how the city issues licenses to some crane operators. The city said that the written and practical tests for lower-level mobile crane operators licenses (called Class C Hoist Machine Operator licenses) will be given by a nationally accredited nonprofit group, the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, instead of the Buil