Have you been in an auto accident in New York City? If you have, you need a car accident lawyer. New York City has a wide selection of lawyers who are ready to help.
Having a lawyer in your corner is a must for a successful car accident claim in New York City. Besides proving that the car accident was purely due to the driver negligence of the other party, a lawyer can protect your rights throughout the claim proceedings.
Car accident attorneys can build a compelling car accident case that gets you compensation for all of your injuries sustained after the accident.
In short, by hiring a New York car accident lawyer, you’re getting more than legal services – you’re getting legal services from a lawyer who specializes in car accident claims and getting you the compensation you deserve.
There are a plethora of other reasons why you should hire a car accident attorney. We’ll cover all of them in this article.
Before that, however, let’s talk about what you should do right after a New York City car accident.
What You Should Do After a Car Accident When You Are Injured
Before you file a car accident lawsuit in New York City, you need to take the right steps, especially if you’re injured. Follow these steps before you call a car crash lawyer in New York City:
1. Call the Police
As soon as you get in an auto accident, you need to notify the authorities immediately. The first people to call would be the police. If a police officer happens to be nearby, they will be quick to attend to you.
The police will assess you and other motorists for severe injuries. As per protocol, they will also notify emergency medical services. The police will record the incident and protect you and the other driver from oncoming traffic.
Under no circumstances should you leave the scene of the car accident. In New York City, leaving the scene of car accidents can constitute a hit-and-run, especially if other motorists or pedestrians suffered injuries.
2. Collect Information
While waiting for the police to arrive, gather as much information as you can. Take note of the time of the accident and any other accident victims, besides yourself.
You must also note down any other vehicles involved, as well as the damage to your vehicle. To document damage to your car and that of the other motor vehicle, take pictures with your phone.
You should also collect information about the other motorist. In particular, ask for the other motorist’s name and contact information. Write down the license plate number of the other car, as well.
When the police arrive, get the name of the officer who was present, as well.
It’s important to write down all of the information you collect. Doing this is important because, following an NYC traffic accident, you will be in a state of shock. The resulting anxiety and panic will put you in a frame of mind that makes committing information to memory very difficult.
At this stage, it’s best to have written information instead of trying to memorize everything.
3. Conduct a Preliminary Self-assessment for Car Accident Injuries
Whenever car accidents happen, victims can sustain serious injuries from the forces generated by the impact. The signs of injuries aren’t always easy to spot, especially following the shock of a car accident. Nevertheless, for your health’s sake, you need to conduct a preliminary assessment. One of the first indicators of serious injury you need to check is your consciousness and orientation.
Checking your orientation is easy. All you need to do is remind yourself what day it is, where you are, and what your name is. When it comes to your level of consciousness, assess whether you have trouble staying focused or awake after the car accident. Any issues in recollection and level of consciousness are signs that you may have a traumatic brain injury.
After this, check for problems when moving your limbs. Any inability to do so is a sign of broken bones or dislocated joints.
While waiting for emergency medical services to arrive, take note of your symptoms. You may disclose your symptoms to the officer on the scene.
4. Seek Medical Attention
Medical services will arrive on the scene. When members of the emergency medical team arrive, don’t hesitate to get checked or have any crash-related injuries and internal injuries examined.
As mentioned earlier, injuries from car crashes aren’t always easy to spot. To help the medical team, disclose the symptoms you’ve taken note of in step 3. This can give the team a better idea of what steps to take before you’re carted off to the hospital.
You may only leave the scene of the accident if the medical team transfers you and your injured passengers to the hospital. Once you have reached the hospital, you will be under the care of a physician who will continue treatment and conduct a more thorough medical evaluation.
5. Call Your Insurance Company
Receiving medical care for serious car accident injuries in New York isn’t cheap. Unless you’re willing to shoulder the medical bills yourself, you should call your auto insurance company to discuss whether the accident will be handled by your insurance coverage.
Your auto insurance company can cover a significant portion of your medical bills. The coverage will be particularly crucial for covering any catastrophic injury resulting from your car accident.
Besides covering your medical bills while you are in the hospital, your insurance provider can also cover your lost wages if your injuries bar you from working.
However, your car insurance provider will require certain information before you receive reimbursements and coverage. This brings us to the next step.
6. Ask for Medical Records and Keep Your Receipts
To protect itself from fraud, the average New York insurance company refuses insurance claims that lack documentation. This is why you need documents and records to back up your insurance claim.
While you are in recovery, request signed medical records from the hospital. Quite likely, the records you will be able to secure would be copies of your patient’s chart, a medical certificate stating your condition and injuries, and your prescriptions if you have any. You may also ask for copies of diagnostics, like x-rays.
You also need documentation of your medical expenses. To prove the amount you need to pay in medical costs, you need a statement of account or bill from the healthcare facility that treated you.
If you paid for anything out of pocket, keep the receipts. These are necessary if you are to receive reimbursements for your out-of-pocket medical expenses.
7. Request an Impairment Rating
An impairment rating is a score that indicates the extent and severity of your injuries. Impairment ratings are often given in percentage points that increase based on how much your injuries prevent you from performing certain tasks.
The highest impairment ratings often indicate a permanent disability, like permanent brain injuries or amputated limbs.
Impairment ratings will be useful later on when you file a personal injury claim against parties who are liable. Your New York auto accident lawyer will use this rating to argue for a fair settlement from other drivers or parties.
In New York City, a high impairment rating enables you to sue drivers and other negligent parties for your injuries. For added documentation, ask your physician to give you a copy of your impairment rating during or after your medical treatment.
8. Ask Your Employer for Records Proving Lost Wages
Your insurance provider will also cover you for lost wages. To receive wage-loss benefits from your insurance company, you need records that prove your inability to work. This must come from your employer.
You must call your employer to request any record that proves your inability to come to work. Along with your medical records, documents showing your concurrent absence will be helpful.
9. Resist the Temptation to Post About Your New York City Car Accident on Social Media
When car crashes happen, some New York City car accident victims take to social media to detail the auto accident. Do not make this mistake.
While there is no law in New York, NY that prohibits you from doing this, a single social media post can yield information that might work against your car accident case.
NYC car accident attorneys representing the other motorist can use this information against you. If there’s even one indication of distracted driving or aggressive driving on your part, you will lose your chance to obtain compensation.
10. Organize Your Files and Records
By the time you have been discharged from the hospital, you will have gathered several documents. You need to organize all of these documents into a file. By doing this, you will have pieces of evidence that will make things easier for your New York City car accident lawyer.
Once you have gathered and organized all of your documents – from receipts to medical records – you will be ready to file a personal injury lawsuit, which brings you to the next step.
11. Get in Touch With an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in New York City
When you are trying to recover compensation for your car accident, you need help from a law firm. Choose a lawyer or law firm that specializes in helping victims of motor vehicle accidents.
Not only will you be able to file a claim with your New York car accident lawyer. You will also be more likely to recover compensation from liable parties.
If your motor vehicle accident was the result of a faulty vehicle component or defective vehicles, your New York City car accident lawyers can file a case against a negligent third party. This is an action you cannot perform alone.
There are many other reasons to call an NYC lawyer who is experienced in car accident lawsuits. In the next section, we’ll go over the most important reasons you need a legal team backing your injury claim in New York City.
Why You Should Hire an Attorney
Most car accidents in New York become a hotbed of litigation and claims for maximum compensation. With this in mind, you can bet that the other driver or other liable parties will have their team of New York City car accident lawyers trying to cover their tracks.
You need to level the playing field, especially if you’re not the negligent driver in the incident. An experienced attorney in New York, NY can help you recover compensation in the following ways:
#1. An NYC Car Accident Lawyer Will Explain (and Protect) Your Rights
The rights of car accident victims in New York City are not always observed following car accidents. When auto accidents happen, parties involved in the traffic accident scramble to file compensation claims. In the ensuing chaos, authorities can overlook certain things. The resulting oversights may lead to some rights being ignored, which is further complicated when many victims don’t even know what their rights are.
A pivotal part of the attorney-client relationship is your lawyer explaining your rights as a victim. By knowing your rights during your claim’s proceedings, you can determine the next steps to take with your lawyer.
You can also determine what violations the other party is committing. Your attorney can leverage this to construct a better case or claim a mistrial if matters escalate to court.
In addition to acting as your advisor for your rights, your New York City car crash attorney also acts as your advocate. Your attorney will also protect your rights as a victim so that the lawyers on the opposite side cannot take advantage of you.
#2. New York Car Accident Attorneys Can Give You Realistic Expectations
For many car crash victims, filing compensation after traffic accidents in New York City culminates in a large settlement amount. However, this is not always true. Not all personal injury claims result in a sizable compensation for the victim.
In New York, NY, compensation from automobile accidents is determined by factoring in the negligence of both the defendant and plaintiff. In other words, while negligence from a fatigued or drunk driver is a big part of your case, you might have had a hand to play in the accident, too.
Your attorney can explain to you what evidence proves your partial liability. Your lawyer can then present a ballpark amount that you can expect as financial compensation. This amount may or may not be the amount you are expecting, but it will be realistic so you don’t have any unpleasant surprises down the road.
Your attorney can also advise you on actions that the opposite party can take. They can accurately predict how long the claim will take and whether or not the opposite party will draw it out. It’s also worth noting that, in incidences like drunk driving accidents and rear-end collisions, your injuries need to be severe. Depending on your injuries, your attorney can advise you on whether you can make a claim or not.
In short, an attorney can give you realistic expectations about your claim and explore the pros and cons of pursuing legal action.
The importance of realistic expectations is why we at Pagan Law offer a free consultation to any prospective client that has been injured in a crash. We offer a free case review to find out if you have a case and determine your eligibility for compensation in New York, NY.
#3. A Lawyer Specializing in NYC Car Accident Cases Will Negotiate and Fight for You to Get the Compensation You Deserve
In most NYC car accidents, lawyers try to avoid trial by offering settlement amounts to victims. Unfortunately, many of these are lowball amounts, which do very little to cover future medical bills if victims were in catastrophic injury-causing collisions. These low settlement amounts don’t even begin to compensate victims for the emotional trauma of the incident.
Your automobile accident attorney will not only fight to get you a settlement that reimburses you but also compensate you for non-economic losses.
Your car accident attorney in New York City will do this by negotiating for much higher amounts. Your attorney can achieve a higher settlement on your behalf by citing the severity of your injuries and the effects that these have had on your life.
Your lawyer will also be instrumental in identifying other at-fault parties; they can help you get compensation from third parties, like commercial vehicle manufacturing companies, if you sustain injuries from their faulty components.
In short, with the right evidence and the right lawyer in your corner, you stand to get the maximum compensation amount when you file a claim in New York, NY.
#4. You Can Recover Damages You Aren’t Aware Of
Not all damages are economic damages. There are also non-economic damages after motor vehicle accidents – even more so after fatal crashes. During fatal crashes, you can lose a loved one. Many in New York have, and have filed wrongful death claims as a result.
Fatal crashes can also lead to injuries for other victims that directly impact their quality of life. From traumatic spinal injuries to comminuted fractures, many of these injuries reduce the quality of their lives dramatically.
Even if you were able to finance your rehabilitation with your insurer’s no-fault benefits, recovery can be agonizing.
By state law, feelings of loss, trauma, and grief following car accidents constitute “pain and suffering.” Pain and suffering after car accidents are legitimate grounds to seek compensation in New York City. Alongside your economic damages, pain and suffering can make you eligible for a larger claim.
Granted, pain and suffering are subjective, which can make proving these non-economic damages challenging. However, with a personal injury law firm in your corner, you can make a compelling case. Your personal injury lawyer can use evidence of the accident and your emotional suffering to negotiate and fight for a larger settlement claim.
#5. A Car Crash Attorney Understands New York Law Better than You
A mistake victims make in most accidents is assuming that all that is necessary is proof of liability and an injury. Unfortunately, car accident laws in New York City are far more complex than they appear.
From the pure comparative negligence principle to the eligibility requirements for filing personal injury lawsuits, statutes contain many nuances that can make or break your claim. Besides that, some laws detail what actions are violations and what is not.
You should file a personal injury case with the help of a lawyer; attorneys in personal injury law firms are experts in the complicated traffic laws of New York, so with an attorney at your side, you’ll be in a far better position to file a case against the at-fault parties.
#6. Your Attorney Will Deal with the Other Party’s Insurance Company
Insurance companies don’t like to indemnify their policyholders for car accidents, and they will do their utmost to save money and avoid an insurance claim – even if this means denying a victim compensation.
On your own, dealing with the other party’s insurance company will be nearly impossible. However, your NYC lawyer will be able to deal directly with the insurance company, presenting your case with solid evidence so you don’t have to deal with the provider. Your lawyer will also negotiate for much larger amounts, ensuring that you get what is due to you.
#7. NYC Car Accident Lawyers Can Help You File a Court Case
A legitimate injury claim in New York, NY, consists of several elements. To file a court case, you need evidence of your injury and proof of the other party’s violations.
You also need proof that you have been through pain and suffering. Your attorney can amass all of the evidence that proves this and more, adding the necessary gravitas to your claim.
Your attorney can also file your case within the statute of limitations of New York, NY. In New York, NY, the statute of limitations for claims is three years. Your attorney’s law firm can streamline the processing of your case, ensuring that it moves along on schedule.
#8. Your Attorney Gathers and Sifts Through Evidence
The resolution of personal injury cases requires plenty of evidence. The more evidence you have, the more likely you are to win your case.
Gathering evidence means more than re-organizing the records you collected early in your accident; for more definitive proof, you need your attorney to look for evidence of the other party’s negligence and violations.
Your lawyer will be able to find the facts that prove the at-fault motorist’s liability in the incident. For example, your lawyer can analyze evidence like footage and police records to find out if the driver ignored traffic signs.
A lawyer can also review footage and police reports to ascertain signs of fatigued driving or indications of distracted driving. The liability of other motor vehicles on the scene will also come under your lawyer’s examination.
The Pagan Law Firm Is Here to Help
Car accidents in New York occur with alarming regularity. In almost all cases, the resulting injuries are incapacitating, leading to serious pain and suffering for the victims.
If you have been in a car accident in New Your City, know that help is available to you. We at The Pagan Law Firm are one of the most successful law firms for car accidents in New York City. Our legal representation has led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlement claims for our client’s injuries.
As a personal injury law firm, we pride ourselves on our high success rates and transparency. We are a firm that fights for what you deserve.
Call us now at 212-967-8202 or click here for a free consultation.