Car accidents often lead to very serious injuries. Victims of car accidents often have hefty medical bills because of surgeries, pain management medication, and other treatments for their injuries. If you were in a car accident, you may not know how you are going to handle the aftermath, even after a full physical recovery.
Fortunately, our lawyers can help. We can get to the bottom of your case and build a strong argument for you to take to court and fight for what you are owed. We can begin building your case by assessing your damages, including medical costs and property damage. We can also start gathering evidence to support your claims in court. It is a good idea to contact an attorney right away, as your time to file a case may be running out.
For a free case analysis, call (914) 685-6950 to speak with The Martello Law Firm’s car accident lawyers.
Types of Car Accidents in Peekskill, NY
All kinds of car accidents can lead to injury. When you talk to our lawyers, we can go over your accident in detail to help craft a legal argument that gives you the best chance of getting compensation for your injuries.
Head-On Collisions
Head-on collisions occur when moving in opposite directions collide with each other. Generally, these collisions happen when one driver moves their vehicle into a lane it is not supposed to be in, but a head-on collision can also happen when one vehicle turns when it is not supposed to, or for other reasons.
Head-on collisions are particularly dangerous because the area in front of the driver’s seat is the most likely point of impact. At certain speeds, even modern vehicle safety features may not be enough to prevent injury.
T-Bone Accidents
T-bone accidents are when one car strikes another perpendicularly to form a “T” shape. These accidents can result in severe injuries because many car safety features are designed to mitigate impacts to the front and rear of the vehicle.
Although many vehicles have safety features to protect against side impacts, the reality is that there is simply less material between the side of a vehicle and the passenger compartment than there is at the front and rear of the vehicle, so injuries are likely to be worse.
Single-Vehicle Accidents
Some accidents may appear to only involve one vehicle suddenly moving out of control and crashing. However, in many circumstances, a single-vehicle accident may be caused by another driver. For example, if another driver moves their vehicle in an aggressive fashion, it may cause you to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision, which could lead to an unexpected car accident.
Causes of Car Accidents in Peekskill, NY
Car accidents can happen for many reasons. While it may not be of particular concern to you what caused your car accident, it is actually very important information for our car accident lawyers because it lets us know whom to sue. You can only recover damages from parties that have caused your injuries, so if you sue the wrong person, company, or other entity, you will not be successful in court.
Traffic Infractions
Many car accidents happen because drivers ignore common rules of the road. Speeding, running red lights, merging without checking rearview mirrors, and other traffic infractions are all prohibited because they are likely to lead to accidents.
Drunk Driving
Drunk driving is incredibly dangerous. Accordingly, it is criminalized in every single state. Intoxicated individuals are more likely to make risky choices and cannot react as quickly to what is going on. This is a very dangerous combination of side effects when one is in a car. A drunk driver will not be able to assess a situation on the road accurately, and this very often leads to serious injuries or death for the victims of drunk driving accidents.
Fatigued Driving
Tired driving and drunk driving are equally dangerous for many of the same reasons. In fact, a recent study found that being awake for 20 hours impairs someone to about the same level as a blood-alcohol content of 0.08%.
Like intoxicated individuals, sleep-deprived or fatigued drivers cannot react effectively to changing road conditions. Worse still, a drowsy driver may fall asleep at the wheel, completely removing any ability to drive their car.
Vehicle Problems
Accidents can be caused by things other than driver conduct. On occasion, car accidents are the result of a problem with the vehicle that causes it to act erratically, potentially hitting a pedestrian, another vehicle, or injuring its driver when they lose control. These types of problems with vehicles are called “defects” and can be further broken down into design defects and manufacturing defects.
Design defects are problems that are inherent in the product, even when it is built to the “correct” specifications. These problems arise when the product is being used as intended. For example, a car with airbags that deploy so forcefully that they may seriously injure the passengers may have a design defect.
Manufacturing defects, on the other hand, are problems that arise from mistakes during the construction or maintenance process. These defects happen because someone somewhere did something wrong to the car. Examples of manufacturing defects include the use of substandard materials in the construction of the vehicle chassis, improperly installed brakes, and faulty transmissions and electrical wiring.
If you believe that your car accident was caused by a vehicle defect, you should include the vehicle manufacturer or designer in your lawsuit.
Road Conditions
Sometimes, an accident is caused, at least in part, by poor road conditions, such as potholes or guardrails in a state of disrepair. The responsibility of keeping roads in good working order belongs to state, local, or municipal government entities, so you can possibly file a lawsuit against them under some circumstances. However, doing so can be challenging and complicated, so it may be best to look for other parties to file a car accident lawsuit against before considering this option.
Recoverable Damages in Your Auto Accident Case
Car accidents can be unpredictable regarding injuries and losses. While some are lucky enough to walk away largely unscathed, others are much less fortunate. The damages you claim in your case should reflect all your losses and injuries so that you get all the financial compensation you deserve.
Your vehicle may represent a significant portion of your claim for damages. Your vehicle might be badly damaged or totaled beyond repair. Not only that, but you might have had valuable personal items inside your car that were lost or destroyed in the accident. This and other property damage should be evaluated and claimed as part of your economic damages.
We should also account for your medical expenses. You might have been seriously hurt in the accident and needed extensive emergency medical care. Medical care is known for being expensive. Even minor injuries often incur big medical bills. You should keep a thorough record of your medical costs to add to your damages claims.
Not all damages are directly related to costs or money. Many non-economic damages cannot be proven solely by cost. For example, you may claim the pain from your injuries and the mental distress you endured because of the accident. In some cases, these damages are substantial because plaintiffs suffered greatly.
Evidence and Proof to Support Your Car Accident Case
How we prove your claims in court will depend on what kind of evidence is available. While we will strive to obtain as much strong evidence as possible, every case is different, and sometimes, evidence can be hard to find. Even so, that does not mean your case is impossible or your claims are invalid.
A great place to start our search for evidence is with police reports. After the accident, you should have contacted the authorities so they could investigate. In many accident cases, the police arrive when someone calls 911 and provide aid and other emergency services.
If the police had investigated, they may have uncovered valuable evidence about how the accident occurred and who was responsible. While the report itself is inadmissible in court as hearsay evidence, we can use it as a sort of guide to other admissible evidence.
Another great source of evidence is photos and videos of the accident scene. It is normal for drivers to take pictures or videos of the accident to send to their insurance companies. These recordings can also be admitted into court as evidence in a personal injury lawsuit.
Dealing with Insurance in a Peekskill, NY Car Accident Case
One of the first concerns among car accident victims is how and when to file insurance claims. Drivers are legally required to have auto insurance, and it is arguably the most common way that drivers recover financial compensation.
New York is one of a handful of states that enforce no-fault insurance laws. Drivers do not have to prove fault when they file an insurance claim because they do not have to file third-party claims with the other driver’s liability coverage. Instead, they may file claims with their own no-fault insurance and receive compensation regardless of who caused the accident.
According to I.S.C. § 5104(a), you cannot take your claims to court in a personal injury lawsuit unless you experienced a “serious injury.” Under § 5102(d), a serious injury includes death, serious disfigurement, loss of the fetus, dismemberment, fractures, the permanent loss or limitation of body parts, systems, or functions, or any non-permanent, medically diagnosed injury that inhibits you from performing normal daily chores for at least 90 days out of the 180 days following the accident.
Some people have a hard time proving they have a serious injury. If you do not have one of the several specific injuries mentioned by law, you may still file a lawsuit if you have an injury that gets in the way of your normal life for at least 90 days. How we prove this will vary from case to case.
When You Must File a Car Accident Civil Case
It is normal for people to take some time to consider their legal options before contacting an attorney for assistance. While you should take the time you need, you should also avoid taking too much time, as we only have so much time to file your case in court.
In New York, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases, like car accidents, is under C.V.P. Law § 214. Plaintiffs have 2 years to file their cases in court, and this time usually begins on the day of the accident. As such, time might already be slipping away from us.
If you cannot file your case due to circumstances outside your control, we might be able to have the statute of limitations tolled, and we may have additional time to file.
For example, under § 208(a), minors who are injured in car accidents may have the statute of limitations tolled until they are 18. Children, even ones with driver’s licenses, normally cannot take legal action on their own. As such, the limitation period may be put on hold until they are 18, giving them until age 20 to file their cases.
Call Our Peekskill, NY Car Accident Lawyers Today
To speak with our car accident lawyers for a free case review, call The Martello Law Firm at (914) 685-6950.
