New City Law Blog
What are the penalties for drunk driving in New York?
The law treats drunk driving in New York very seriously. If you get a DWI charge in New York, you can face several penalties, including a suspended driver’s license, fines, higher insurance rates, a criminal record and the installation of an interlock device on your vehicle. Any drunk driver with a blood alcohol content level of .08% or more gets a drunk driving charge of a DWI. New York has some of the strictest DWI laws in the U.S., with basic offenses carrying a one-year jail sentence, a fine of up to $1,000 and the installation of an interlock device [...]
Types of eye injuries
No matter the type of occupation one holds, there are still several hazards present in the workplace. Many of those may end up causing a serious eye injury. Understandably, workers in New York and around the nation will want to know what those hazards and injuries are. The following includes a list of some of the most common eye injuries one could get in the workplace.When people think about chemical eye burns, they usually think about a busy warehouse. However, chemical eye burns can occur within any industry; even chemicals in cleaning products are enough to cause injury. Because of [...]
2021: Outlook on workers’ comp trends
When people in New York and other states around the nation think about workers' comp, they usually have an assumption that it only involves pay during their time out of work. However, there are many components to the program that deal with more than just wages. Those components are likely to change very soon. The following includes the changes you may see to this program in 2021.In recent years, certain issues have arisen from the overprescribing of pharmaceuticals such as pain killers. This will likely lead to certain restrictions on the prescribing of these and similar medicines. However, one should [...]
Holiday weekend drunk driving crackdowns
The number of motor vehicle accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs usually increases significantly during holiday periods. This is why law enforcement agencies in New York and around the country often launch holiday drunk driving crackdowns. These efforts usually include setting up checkpoints near bars, nightclubs and other areas where drunk driving is common that are designed to identify impaired motorists before they cause accidents.The legality of sobriety checkpoints was challenged in 1990 by Michigan residents who claimed that they violated protections against unreasonable government search and seizure guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. In a [...]
The elements of successful OH&S training
According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), more than 1.4 million workers in the United States are impacted by serious workplace injuries or illnesses every year. Members of the workforce in New York are probably aware that many of these injuries could be handled better if there were more preventative training in place. Having certain core information in every workplace safety training manual can be the secret to minimizing these injuries going forward.The key purpose of any occupational health and safety (OH&S) program is to increase safety in the workplace by laying out a plan of action that [...]
DWI crackdown in New York took place on Halloween
New York residents who planned to attend any parties or other gatherings over the Halloween weekend were wise to avoid alcohol if had they planned to drive home as law enforcement agencies all over the state put more officers on the street to combat drunk driving. The STOP-DWI Crackdown began on October 30 and ran for three days. The initiative that involved several police departments was announced on October 26 by the Steuben County Sheriff's Office.Studies suggest that an increased police presence can reduce impaired driving deaths by as much as 20%. In addition to upping the number of patrols [...]
Drunk driving charges come against New York school bus driver
The choices people make can sometimes have unintended consequences. For some, those consequences could include criminal charges if authorities believe that the individuals consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. Though drunk driving charges are relatively common, that fact does not make them any less serious to address.One woman in New York will certainly want to address her situation as effectively as possible after recently being charged with drunk driving. According to reports, the 29-year-old woman is a bus driver and had stopped at a fast food restaurant with six students on her bus one morning. A [...]
Understanding LOTO violations
Lockout/tag-out procedures, known as LOTO, have saved thousands of lives since OSHA demanded that New York businesses follow them. However, OSHA has also reported that one of the most common violations seen includes a lack of LOTO implementation. In fact, in 2019, LOTO violations were the fourth leading issues found within businesses. How can a business properly practice safe and accurate LOTO procedures?One of the most common reasons for employees filing for workers' comp benefits is due to an injury caused by a factory machine. LOTO demands that a business train its employees to understand how to shut down properly [...]
How lockout/tagout training should be conducted
Lockout/tagout procedures are essential to some New York workplaces because they protect workers from cases where dangerous machinery energizes or starts up unexpectedly. They are said to prevent some 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries every year across the U.S., but lockout/tagout violations were listed at number four in OSHA's Top 10 list of the most cited violations.Any LOTO training program must go step by step through the process. It all begins with the procedures for shutting down and restarting machinery. There can be hazards associated with the shutdown, which must be emphasized. The shutdown instructions should be written down for [...]
Fewer construction accidents reported in the last year
Those employed in the construction industry risk injury or death every day they go to work. Construction accidents simply happen far too often. The good news is that, at least in New York City, construction accidents are on the decline.According to a recently released article, between July 2019 and June 2020, there was a 19% decrease in construction-related accidents. In that time, a total of 543 injuries were reported, as well as eight deaths. The previous year, the city management report showed a total of 646 injuries and 11 deaths. The shutdown of nonessential services earlier this year is believed [...]
