Corona is home to some of the most walkable areas and biggest attractions in Queens and greater NYC, like the National Tennis Center and Citi Field. Unfortunately, the heavy mixture of cars and pedestrians in these areas often leads to serious accidents.
If that happens to you, our team will be ready to help you get compensation from the driver who injured you. You will likely worry about how to cover your damages, especially medical bills that can hit your finances hard early on. We can help you get coverage for your economic damages by first filing a claim with your auto insurance. If you do not have car insurance and the other driver cannot cover your damages, we will need to file a lawsuit. Our lawyers can help overcome the challenges that can prevent you from filing your case in court.
Reach out to our Queens pedestrian accident attorneys at The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083 for your free case evaluation.
How Car Insurance Rules Apply to Pedestrian Accidents in Corona, Queens
You might wonder why car insurance applies if you are an injured pedestrian in Corona. New York’s no-fault insurance system is designed to cover any person injured in a vehicle accident, whether you are the driver, a passenger, or a pedestrian. However, many are surprised to learn that the rules often complicate their case and can even prevent them from filing a lawsuit. Our pedestrian accident lawyers can help you maximize your coverage and overcome the legal restrictions to file your lawsuit. The following will help you understand what the process is likely to be like after your accident and what thresholds we must meet:
Vehicle Accidents Involving Pedestrians
Under I.S.C. Law § 5102(j), Personal Injury Protection Insurance (PIP) is intended to benefit all “covered persons” injured in a vehicle accident, including pedestrians. This means your initial coverage for damages will typically come from one party’s insurance or another. If you have PIP insurance for a vehicle you own, that will be the first place you turn for compensation.
But you might not have PIP insurance because you do not own a car, which is common for people in Queens. In that case, the negligent driver’s insurance should cover your basic losses since the law requires insured drivers to compensate “covered persons.” In some situations, a household member’s PIP insurance might also be relied upon for help.
The good aspect of this system is that you can usually get compensation quickly without having to prove negligence beforehand. You will still need evidence of your injuries and the accident, like medical records and police reports, so be sure to report your accident and get treatment. However, you do not need to demonstrate how the driver caused the accident. You simply file your claim with this evidence, and you will get benefits.
The issue is the compensation you receive. While you need not prove negligence, PIP insurance will not fully compensate you.
What Insurance Covers
No-fault PIP insurance is limited to covering only an injured pedestrian’s basic economic damages. Economic damages, in this sense, mean your medical expenses and lost wages. It is not designed to consider or compensate non-economic damages.
“Non-economic” damages are commonly known as “pain and suffering.” These damages are difficult to quantify because your physical pain, depression, anxiety, humiliation, and other subjective impacts cannot be measured in dollars.
Further, PIP might not even cover all your economic damages. It depends on your coverage. If you only have the minimum coverage of $50,000, which many do to save money, you will be responsible for any medical bills and lost income beyond that limit.
Filing a lawsuit is the only way to recover lingering economic losses and compensation for pain and suffering. However, no-fault insurance rules can also limit victims’ ability to do this unless our team can determine a workaround in the law.
Limitations on Filing a Lawsuit
While injured pedestrians’ right to sue is generally limited, the law provides a couple of avenues to overcome this. We can help determine which will serve your case, allowing you to file a lawsuit to recover the full range of damages for which you deserve to be compensated.
Many pedestrians suffer serious injuries, which is one situation in which victims can file a lawsuit. § 5102(d) considers many different injuries serious, including fractures, miscarriage, dismemberment, and death. It also includes broader definitions of “serious,” like those that meet the 90/180 rule, in which any injuries you have impact your daily life for the first three months after the collision. We will gather medical records from your healthcare providers to submit with your lawsuit.
We might have an even more direct path to filing a lawsuit if your economic damages go beyond the basic limit provided under § 5102(a). If your economic damages are more than the minimum PIP coverage of $50,000, you can sue for pain and suffering, as well as your remaining financial losses. Although you might have purchased higher PIP insurance limits that totally cover your medical bills, you can still sue for non-economic damages and remaining lost income if the bills you paid exceed this threshold.
Proving Liability in a Pedestrian Accident Case in Corona, Queens
Arguing liability can be more challenging in pedestrian accident claims since there is sometimes more room to claim you contributed to the accident. Negligent drivers commonly employ the “comparative negligence” defense under C.V.P. Law § 1411. This rule allows the negligent party to provide evidence of your negligence, after which the court will determine the percentage of liability assigned to each of you. If the court does find you partially at fault, your compensation will be lowered by the percentage of liability you share. Fortunately, you can still recover damages even if found mostly at fault since New York uses a “pure” comparative negligence rule.
Contact Our Pedestrian Accident Attorneys in Corona, Queens Today to Get Justice for Your Injuries
Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 to receive your free case review with our pedestrian accident lawyers.