The aftermath of a car accident can be filled with pain, difficulty overseeing your vehicle repairs, and unpaid bills while you are out of work. Much of this can be alleviated by working with a lawyer.
We can fight to get your medical bills and repair costs covered. We can also help you get paid for your lost wages, all by filing a claim with your insurance and taking the case against the negligent driver and their insurance.
Call (845) 303-2748 for a free case evaluation with the car accident lawyers at Basch, Keegan & Spada.
What Should You Do After a Car Accident in the Hudson Valley
Take these steps immediately after a crash to protect yourself and your rights:
Get to Safety
If you stay in the middle of the road, you are in danger of a second crash. Get yourself – and your vehicle, if it is working – to the side of the road. If you need to wait in a safe, well-lit location while you wait for the authorities, do so.
Call 911
Immediately call 911 and report the crash. When you do, they will send an officer to investigate the crash and write a report.
Also request an ambulance or fire truck as needed; they might not send these if you do not request it.
Get Medical Care
Once the ambulance arrives, have them check you out. Do not refuse treatment, and follow their advice to go to the hospital if they say you should.
Continue following up with any medical care you need, such as X-rays, physical therapy, etc.
Collect Evidence
If you can remain at the accident scene before being rushed to the hospital, collect as much evidence as you can about the crash. Definitely get the other driver’s name, insurance, and contact info. Also get witness contact info and photos of the vehicles, injuries, damage, and scene if you can.
Call a Lawyer
Next, call our car accident lawyers. Do not try to handle insurance or file a lawsuit on your own; get help from professionals who handle these kinds of cases day in and day out.
File Insurance Claims
New York’s no-fault laws mean your insurance should cover some damages, all without waiting for their investigation of fault to play out. This can help you get some coverage now, but it should not be the end of your case.
You may be entitled to file against the at-fault driver, too – but if they do not cooperate, we can take them to court in many cases.
File a Lawsuit
If we need to file a lawsuit, we will. This puts the case before a neutral judge and jury instead of giving the insurance company the power to decide fault and payment amounts.
How New York’s No-Fault Insurance Rules Work
In New York, we have a “no-fault” insurance system. This restricts when you can sue and what damages you can claim, but it makes damages more available overall.
Every Driver Has Insurance
No-fault rules require each driver to carry PIP (personal injury protection) insurance. This does not pay pain and suffering, but it will cover important damages.
As the “no-fault” moniker implies, PIP covers your damages regardless of who caused the crash.
Insurance Covers You and Passengers
No-fault insurance covers both the driver and any passengers in their car. This means it may be stretched thin if you had multiple people in your car when you were hit.
It also extends to pedestrians and cyclists injured in a crash, meaning they are potentially covered under the no-fault insurance of the driver who hit them.
Medical Care and Lost Wages
PIP covers up to $50,000 of medical expenses, lost earnings, and “other reasonable and necessary expenses” at certain rates:
- Medical bills are covered at 100%, meaning PIP can run out quickly.
- Lost earnings are covered up to $3,000 per month for up to 3 years.
- Other expenses are $25 per day for up to 1 year.
As you can see, this likely is not enough to cover a serious case in full.
No Pain and Suffering without “Serious Injuries”
You cannot reach beyond your PIP insurance and go after the defense’s insurance or claim any damages for pain and suffering unless your case meets the “serious injury” requirement.
Serious Injuries Defined
A “serious injury” includes any injury causing a fracture, amputation, serious disfigurement, or total or partial loss of use of a body part/organ/system. It also includes death or loss of a fetus, allowing you to sue for a lost loved one or lost pregnancy.
Filing a Lawsuit for a Car Accident Case
These general steps make up the process of filing a lawsuit after a car accident:
Collect Evidence
Our car accident lawyers need to follow the evidence rather than making assumptions about who was at fault. This means looking for proof of how the accident happened and following that to the conclusion of who was at fault. We may ultimately find that more than one driver was at fault, not just the one you expected.
Serious Injuries Needed
You can file an insurance claim with your own insurance regardless of who caused the accident and how serious your injuries are. However, lawsuits may be restricted unless your injuries are “serious.”
A broken bone typically qualifies, as does any permanent or long-term limitations or loss of function.
Filing Case
We must file your case in court on time, which typically means filing within 3 years. To file the case, we submit the proper paperwork and a “complaint” with the right court. Depending on where the accident happened, we may file in a different court.
We also have to serve the defendant with a copy of the complaint to start the case.
Going to Trial
Before trial takes place, there are rounds of negotiations, evidence exchange, motions, and replies to motions. It could be months or even over a year before trial is finally scheduled.
However, cases are likely to settle before that point. If we do go to trial, we can put on a case before the jury and argue that you are the victim and deserve full damages.
What Damages Can You Get?
Damages in an injury case can vary, but these costs are typically claimed in a car accident case:
Medical Bills
You should not have to pay for your treatment after an injury. Your insurance – after your deductible payment – can cover some of these costs. However, to get full damages, you often need a claim against the defendant.
Medical damages can include surgical care, hospital stays, follow-up procedures and appointments, and physical therapy/rehabilitation. Mental health care, such as therapy, should also be covered.
Lost Wages
If you miss work during your recovery, the defendant should pay for that. This is true even if the accident was not related to your work at all.
On top of that, you may lose money in the future because of your injuries. If you now work at a reduced pay rate or have reduced hours because of the injury, that difference in wages can be claimed as damages. You can also claim damages for lost earnings if you are totally disabled now.
Property Damage/Vehicle Repairs
The cost of repairing your vehicle can also be substantial. Even though this deals with property damage and not personal injuries, we still definitely want to see you recover these expensive costs.
If your repairs are worth more than the remaining total value of the vehicle, that remaining value is cashed out instead. This is what it means for a vehicle to be “totaled.”
Other Economic Damages
There may be other costs and expenses you face, which can also be included. For example, replacement transportation or services around the house during your recovery may be claimed in many cases.
Pain and Suffering
You also have damages that have no monetary value to them. These include physical pain, mental suffering, emotional distress, and more “non-economic” damages.
These values are often calculated based on the severity of the injuries. We can either use a multiplier chosen to reflect that severity and apply it to the economic damages to come up with non-economic damages, or we can come up with a per-day value for your pain and suffering and multiply that by the number of days you suffer.
What Evidence Do You Need in a Car Accident Case?
The following pieces of evidence can be helpful in a car accident case. Our car accident lawyers can help you collect some of them, but some may need to be saved at the scene of the crash.
- Your testimony
- Other witness testimony
- Expert witness testimony
- Photos of the crash and damage
- Video of the crash (security footage, dash cam video, etc.)
- Medical records
- Medical bills
- Damage appraisals and repair records
- Vehicle repair bills
- Evidence of the pre-crash value of your car
- Pay stubs
- Other financial records.
How Long Do You Have to File?
Car accident victims in New York typically get 3 years to file injury cases. If you are filing for a loved one killed in a crash, you typically have 2 years from their death to file a wrongful death claim.
Do You Need a Lawyer?
Yes. You can technically proceed pro se (acting as your own lawyer), but you likely do not have the experience and training to handle your case. Especially since the defendant will be given a lawyer through their insurance, you need a lawyer of your own.
What if You Are Partially at Fault?
New York law accounts for partial fault with a “comparative negligence” system. The rules are a bit different for general injury cases, but car accident cases use this rule:
- Fault can be assigned to each at-fault party as a percentage (adding up to 100%).
- As long as your fault is 50% max, you can still recover damages, minus the amount equal to your percentage of fault.
What if You Are a Passenger?
Passengers usually cannot be considered at fault for a crash. This means that you are likely bringing your case against one of the drivers or all of them.
Even though you were not driving and it was potentially not even your car, you are still covered under your driver’s no-fault insurance first. This means you still need “serious injuries” to sue or get pain and suffering damages.
What if You Were Not in a Car?
If you were hit as a pedestrian or cyclist, or you were riding in a truck or bus when the accident happened, the same rules generally apply. The driver’s PIP insurance blocks you from suing if you are covered, and you may be covered as an occupant or as a pedestrian/cyclist.
If you have serious injuries, you are entitled to a lawsuit to recover pain and suffering and other damages that have not been covered through insurance.
Do You Have to Use Insurance?
New York law requires everyone to have PIP, and you are expected to use this insurance first to cover the damages you can get covered. Any additional damages that are not covered can be claimed against the at-fault driver when you meet the serious injury threshold.
Can You Sue Multiple Drivers?
Yes. Many crashes involve more than one car, and you do not need to choose only one driver who was at fault before filing. If we have a reasonable argument as to why another driver was potentially at fault for even part of your damages, we can include them all in the case. Then it is up to the jury to determine if they share fault and how much.
Even drivers who shared 5% or 10% of the blame can be made to pay their share of the total damages in your case.
Call Our Car Accident Lawyers in the Hudson Valley Today
For help with your case, contact Basch, Keegan & Spada’s car accident attorneys at (845) 303-2748.