New York Injury Attorneys Blog

This week our New York truck accident attorneys won a decisive battle in Brooklyn Supreme Court. We successfully convinced the Court in Brooklyn that that the defendant truck driver was 100 percent at fault for hitting our client who was a pedestrian crossing the street.

Our New York personal injury lawyers proved that the defendant had a stop sign and since he did not see the pedestrian until after the accident, he violated New York's vehicle and traffic law by failing to yield at the stop sign until the intersection was free of pedestrian traffic. The Court also agreed that there was no excuse for the truck driver's failure to see the pedestrian and the only excuse was that the driver failed to keep a proper lookout and see what there was to be seen.

The defendants attempted to argue that the Plaintiff was partially at fault because she did not avoid the accident but the Court held that the defendant failed to demonstrate that the pedestrian did anything wrong.

As a New York construction accident lawyer, I have handled numerous cases involving personal injuries with saws. Saws are by their very nature dangerous and when accidents happen serious personal injuries are too often the result.

Often on construction sites, the gaurds on circular saws are removed so that the workers can work faster. Other times, the gaurd does not retract properly after a cut is made and the teeth come in contact with the operator. There are numberous causes of safetys on saws that do not retract. They include worn out or broken springs or build up of saw dust or other material in the saw which prevents the guard from retracting. At the end of every day, the saw should be cleaned by blowing air from an air gun through the saw to prevent the build up of dust.

New York construction lawyers have a powerful weapon to protect injured construction workers. Labor Law 241 requires that reasonable protection be provided to New York construction workers. 12 NYCRR § 23-1.12 (c)(2) states that every portable, power-driven, hand-operated saw which is not provided with a saw table shall be equipped with a guard which covers the saw blade to such an extent as will prevent contact with the teeth. Thus if a New York construction worker was cut by the teeth of a saw because the guard failed to protect him, Labor Law 241 was most likely violated.

Likewise, marine construction workers such as dockbuilders are especially at risk for saw accidents because they often work on platforms direclty on the water. The New York regulations require safe and non-slippery footing and coating for work surfaces. When martine construction workers use saws on a slippery surface, the dangers are compounded.