Brooklyn Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Brooklyn’s roads are not always the safest place for bikes, but many New Yorkers rely on their bikes to get around. Because of the way that roads are designed and because of the negligence and inattention of other drivers on the road, many people are killed each year in bike accidents.
If you lost a loved one to a bicycle accident in Brooklyn, you should speak with an attorney. You may be able to hold the negligent driver who hit them responsible for the accident. This can help you recover compensation that can help your family move forward, like lost wages and funeral expenses.
For a free review of your potential case, call The Carrion Law Firm today. Our Brooklyn fatal bicycle accident lawyers are standing by. Call us at (718) 841-0083.
Suing for a Fatal Bike Accident in Brooklyn
If a loved one was killed in a bicycle accident in Brooklyn, you may be able to file a lawsuit and seek justice for their death. If someone intentionally hit them with a car or the accident involved drunk driving or other circumstances that could lead to vehicular manslaughter charges, there may also be a criminal case going on over this accident. However, you can still file a separate “wrongful death” lawsuit.
A wrongful death lawsuit is a civil claim filed in civil court to seek damages for the deceased and their family. Overall, the cases filed for a loved one’s death can pay for things like pre-death medical bills; fear, pain, and suffering the victim experienced before death; post-death costs of funerals and burials; and other damages. The way these cases are filed and how the damages are distributed can be complicated, so it is best to work with an experienced Brooklyn fatal bicycle accident lawyer to make sure your case is filed properly and that you get all the damages you deserve.
Filing a Lawsuit for a Death in a Brooklyn Bicycle Accident
Technically speaking, the victim’s family might not be the ones to file a wrongful death suit. There may also be two separate claims that are filed, one for the surviving family’s needs and one for the damages that the deceased would have been able to claim if they survived the accident. Your Brooklyn fatal bicycle accident lawyer can explain these technicalities to you, but there are still a few core elements to understand about filing a lawsuit for a death in a Brooklyn bike accident:
Who Files the Case?
When someone dies in a bike accident or any other accident, their “personal representative” will typically file the lawsuit. This person is appointed in the deceased’s will or appointed by a court if they died without a will. This person might be the deceased’s spouse or parent, and you can speak to an attorney about determining who this person is and getting them to file the claim for you if you cannot file some parts of the claim for yourself.
Who Receives Benefits?
The damages will typically be paid two different ways depending on who the damages are claimed on behalf of.
If the damages are something that the deceased victim suffered before death, they are usually paid into the deceased’s estate. This means that pre-death medical bills, the victim’s pain and suffering at the end of their life, and other losses they suffered before dying would all be paid into the estate. The estate, including any other property they owned before death, would be distributed according to their will (or the intestacy statute, if they died without a will).
Other damages are claimed directly on behalf of the family. This includes things like burial and funeral expenses they paid, ongoing lost earnings the family faces, parental care that the children will miss out on, and more. These damages are paid directly to the individual family members who suffer these damages.
What Damages Can You Claim?
As mentioned, you can claim damages for a loved one’s death to cover both the harms that the deceased’s suffered and the harms the family suffered. However, there are some important caveats about what specific damages can be claimed.
Typically, pain and suffering damages can only be claimed for the deceased. If the victim lingered for many days or clearly experienced fear and suffering because of the accident, the damages for pain and suffering may be higher.
However, the surviving family members cannot claim damages for their own pain and suffering. Even though the loss of a loved one is quite painful, you have to claim damages only for the monetary losses you faced as a surviving loved one. This means focusing your claims on ongoing lost wages, lost inheritances, lost household services, and other monetary effects of your loved one’s death.
Your Brooklyn fatal bicycle accident attorneys can help you calculate damages and understand what harms you can claim compensation for in your case.
Proving a Wrongful Death Case for a Bike Accident in Brooklyn
To prove that the other driver was responsible for your loved one’s fatal bike accident, you must produce evidence. Eyewitness testimony, testimony from EMTs and police officers, and deathbed statements from your deceased loved one can all help provide evidence. Traffic cam footage or helmet cam footage of the accident can also be essential.
In some cases, the defendant might try to shift blame to your lost loved one. Many bike accidents in Brooklyn are caused by mistakes on the part of the driver as well as the bike rider. If your loved one’s own traffic violations contributed to the accident, damages might be reduced to account for their share of fault. Your Brooklyn fatal bike accident lawyer can explain details more fully after examining the facts of your case.
Call Our Brooklyn Fatal Bicycle Accident Lawyers for Help
If your loved one was killed in a bike accident in Brooklyn, call The Carrion Law Firm’s Brooklyn fatal bicycle accident lawyers today. For a free case evaluation, call us at (718) 841-0083.