Car Accidents

In order to establish negligence by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not), the victim/plaintiff must have evidence in a car crash claim. Until very recently, New York personal injury attorneys had to rely almost entirely on witness testimony and the police accident report. These sources are still very useful, but they also have significant problems. Witnesses are sometimes biased or unqualified. Maybe they were in a car crash themselves or maybe they were not wearing their glasses. Similarly, the police accident report is sometimes incomplete. If...

The fully-loaded semi-trucks that crisscross the New York metro area weigh at least 80,000 pounds. Furthermore, bureaucrats routinely grant waivers which allow shipping companies to pile even more weight onto these trucks. There’s more: these vehicles normally carry hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel. This concoction burns at a different temperature from gasoline. So, many large truck crashes involve huge fireballs. Because of these hazards, New York truck drivers have a higher duty of care than non-commercial drivers. For example, non-commercial drivers must be more alert at night. But...

Every year, car crashes kill or seriously injure millions of Americans. A few of these incidents are one-off accidents, such as a dad who turns around to yell at his kids at exactly the wrong moment. But most of these injuries involve one of the five types of driving impairment, as defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. If the car crash victim sustained a serious injury, substantial compensation may be available. This compensation includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as...

Due to the fact that merging onto busy and congested highways in Manhattan can be challenging, Manhattan car accidents as the result of merging improperly are not that uncommon. Merging safely requires the complete attention of the auto operator, and unfortunately, many drivers are distracted while driving upon the City’s roadways. It is important to keep in mind that New York is a pure comparative negligence state, so even if both you and the other driver that hit you each bear some responsibility for the happening of the accident,...

Once a Manhattan car accident victim decides to seek recourse against the driver of the at-fault vehicle in the accident, one of the things they will invariably ask is, “Am I better off settling my auto accident case or should I take it to trial?” The answer to this question is one that no one really wants to hear, but the answer is – it depends. And furthermore, this is something one will want to discuss with their personal injury attorney. The reality is that most car accident cases...

New Yorkers are no strangers to rain, ice and snow. These extreme weather conditions can affect a person in many ways, especially when they are driving on the road. These driving hazards are in play from fall to spring—potentially half of the year. Weather-related car accidents are deadly. In fact, they kill more people than tornadoes, floods, and other weather disasters. The United States sees 5.8 million car crashes every year. Approximately 21 percent of those are contributed to by extreme weather conditions.   What Causes These Accidents? Unfortunately,...