Borough Park Truck Accident Lawyer
Truck accidents are often responsible for devastating injuries. Our lawyers can help you get compensation for your losses if a trucker negligently injured you.
While you can turn to you car insurance to cover some of your initial losses, our team can determine if you can file a lawsuit to cover your pain and suffering. If your injuries are serious or sustained economic losses over $50,000, you can file a lawsuit against the negligent party. Trucking companies can also be added to a lawsuit in most cases, giving you more opportunities to cover your losses. Our team can gather evidence to show how the trucker caused the crash, like driver logs showing they drove past the driving time limits. We will also determine if you have three years to file your claim or whether it must be filed sooner, like when a government truck driver is at fault.
To get a free evaluation of your case with our Brooklyn truck accident attorneys, contact The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083.
How to Sue for a Truck Accident in Borough Park, Brooklyn
Truck accident victims are often shocked to learn that they must jump through a few hoops before they are allowed to file a lawsuit. All vehicle accidents, including those involving commercial trucks, are subject to NY no-fault regulations. After a crash, victims must first file a claim with their personal injury protection (PIP) insurance provider to cover damages from the accident. However, PIP only covers certain basic economic losses, specifically necessary medical expenses and 80% of lost earnings, according to I.S.C. § 5102(a).
Considering the injuries truck accidents often cause, PIP might not be enough to cover your damages if you only have the basic insurance limit of $50,000 and provides no compensation for non-monetary losses, like pain and suffering, nor gives victims the automatic right to file a lawsuit for them under § 5104(a). Fortunately, our truck accident lawyers know how to overcome legal thresholds so that you can get compensation for all your damages. Our team will also determine the time limit to file your claim and if additional filing deadlines apply.
How to File a Lawsuit
There are two exceptions to the above limitation that allow victims to sue, which include cases involving serious injuries and exceeding basic economic loss.
Truck accidents commonly result in devastating injuries that qualify as “serious” under § 5102(d). Victims who suffered a fracture, miscarriage, significant disfigurement, dismemberment, permanent loss of a body member, function, organ, or system’s uses, permanent consequential limitation in the use of an organ or body part, or significant limitation of bodily function or system.
Surviving family members can also claim serious injuries if the victim dies as a result of the accident.
If these injuries do not match yours, you can still sue for non-permanent injuries that are medically determined to prevent you from performing most of your usual daily activities for no less than 90 days in the first 180 days following the incident.
The other exception on the right to file a lawsuit is for victims who meet the basic economic loss threshold. This bar is met if your medical costs, lost income, and other necessary and reasonable expenses add up to $50,000 or more. Medical expenses can include hospital bills, ambulance services, surgeries, rehabilitation, occupational therapy, psychiatric care, and any other necessary healthcare services. Lost wages include the work earnings you would have made had you not been injured, as well as expenses incurred for obtaining services for the work you would have performed.
When Lawsuits Must be Filed
While gathering evidence to overcome the above exceptions, we will determine the date your lawsuit must be filed by and any notice requirements that must be met. The statute of limitations for most injury victims to file their claims is three years from the day they were hurt, according to C.V.P. Law § 214(5). If the case is filed even one day after that date, the victim will not be able to recover compensation.
While the statute of limitations is strict, there are exceptions to it. In some cases, truckers and trucking companies are not based in the state but were only conducting business in Borough Park when the collision happened. If so, or the trucker provided false identification, § 207 will not include the time they are continuously absent from the state against your time to commence an action. The time limit will also be extended for children and those with a disability up to three years from their 18th birthday or when the disability ceases, according to § 208.
Numerous local and state government trucks operate in the neighborhood that could cause an accident. In these situations, our team will file a claim against the government agency that employs the truck driver. However, we must act fast because notice of your claim must be made in writing within 90 days of the crash before your lawsuit can proceed, as per G.M.U. § 50-e(1)(a).
Proving How a Truck Accident was Caused in Borough Park, Brooklyn
Proving a truck accident lawsuit involves determining how the accident was caused and what evidence supports the claim. The trucker is typically at fault in some way. Some speed to complete deliveries, while others violate federal driving time regulations. Our team can use violations of the law to prove the driver’s negligence by collecting driver logs and “black box” truck data.
Trucking companies can typically be held liable for their negligent truckers if they caused the crash while on the job, even if the company did nothing to contribute to it. Still, we will investigate the trucking company’s records to determine if it has negligent business practices for which it should be held accountable. Perhaps the trucking company allowed an unqualified driver on the road, failed to train them adequately, or did not check their background for past misconduct.
Our Borough Park, Brooklyn Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help You Hold the Responsible Parties Accountable
Call The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083 for a free case review with our truck accident lawyers.