Car accidents can leave victims with serious injuries, long-term recovery needs, and daily expenses that they need covered. Often, car accident victims who cannot work for any amount of time will find it hard to afford these additional expenses. However, the law is on their side: Damages are available for injury victims, and at-fault drivers can be held responsible for the damages you face from a car accident.
Our lawyers will help you get the damages owed to you, starting with a free case evaluation. We can assess your potential claim, help you understand what evidence might be available, and begin building a claim that we can take to the insurance companies and even file in court, if needed, to get you the money you are owed for your crash.
For a free case evaluation, call The Carrion Law Firm’s car accident attorneys at (718) 841-0083 today.
Car Accident Cases for Injuries vs. Vehicle Damage in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
When you are involved in a car accident, how you get damages will change depending on how severe the crash was.
Property Damage Only
Property damage only accidents are the least serious. While your car might face weeks in the shop or even be totaled in a property damage only crash, it is fortunate that no one was injured. Your own car insurance might have comprehensive or collision coverage that you can pay a deductible for, activating full coverage for your vehicle cost. However, the at-fault driver can also be made to pay damages, and you can file against their insurance as well. If you use both policies, you can often get your damages covered in full, with their insurance paying your deductible and your insurance company recouping the costs they paid for you from the at-fault driver’s insurance.
Minor Injury Cases
Car accidents involving minor injuries are the start of where our car accident lawyers help, given that we primarily handle personal injury cases at our firm. With these cases, the at-fault driver should be at fault, but restrictions on our auto insurance laws might prevent you from suing or even filing an insurance claim with them.
New York’s no-fault insurance system has you use your own insurance first, and you can only reach beyond that to get coverage from the at-fault driver’s insurance – or to sue them in a lawsuit – if your injuries are serious enough. Fortunately, your insurance is often enough to cover minor injuries and does so regardless of who caused the crash.
If you have any trouble getting the compensation you need from your insurance company, our lawyers can help you file your claim against them, potentially even including bad faith allegations. You may be able to tap into additional coverages on your policy, such as additional first-party benefits and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage if they apply to your case. This can get you compensation beyond your base “personal injury protection” (PIP) coverage.
Without serious injuries, you are limited to medical bills and lost earnings up to certain limits. Unfortunately, no pain and suffering or other non-economic damages can be claimed without serious injuries.
Serious Injuries
If you faced serious injuries, then your claim is free to move forward against the at-fault driver. While your own insurance might still provide PIP and other first-party benefits, we can reach past that to get you the rest of the damages you need directly from the at-fault driver or, more likely, through their insurance.
At-fault drivers are required to carry insurance to cover not only property damage but also serious injuries. Our attorneys can file a claim against them and get you damages for medical bills as normal, but serious injuries also unlock the ability to claim the rest of the economic damages you face, as well as pain and suffering damages.
Serious injuries are defined under I.S.C. § 5102(d) to include permanent injuries, injuries resulting in disability for at least 90 of the next 180 days, serious scarring/disfigurement, and broken bones. Because broken bones are included, many cases qualify as “serious injuries,” and you should never settle or accept what the insurance company decides to pay you without talking to our attorneys first. Also note that loss of a fetus and death are always included, allowing family members to sue for these cases without restriction.
Because pain and suffering is only available with serious injuries, these cases can be worth far more than you might expect, given that pain and suffering can often total at least as much as the other damages in your case.
Death
As noted above, death always qualifies as a “serious injury,” and family members can sue for their loved one’s death from a car accident. These cases can recover compensation for the victim’s damages as they would have been able to claim them if they lived to file an injury claim. That can include their pre-death pain and suffering, but you cannot get other pain and suffering or non-economic damages for the family members. The family’s damages are limited to monetary damages only.
Common Car Accident Types in Carroll Gardens
In Carroll Gardens, we have a lot of tight streets in town, though the neighborhood is bordered by I-278 and I-478, leading to some highway crashes as well. As such, the following causes are some of the most likely.
Pulling Out Without Looking
Drivers exiting parking lots and on-street parking without looking where they are going is one of the most common causes of crashes. Drivers double parked along the road also often start getting back into traffic without looking, causing accidents.
Wrong-Way Drivers
Many of the tight streets in Carroll Gardens are one-way streets. Drivers unfamiliar with the area, coming in from other neighborhoods as Uber/Lyft/delivery drivers, or simply driving around frustrated while looking for a parking space might find themselves going the wrong way – and they might not notice it until they hit you.
Pedestrian and Cyclist Accidents
Many crashes in Carroll Gardens and throughout Brooklyn involve pedestrians and cyclists. Without a car around them, these drivers often face serious injuries.
Speeding
Whether on the highway or on narrow streets, speeding can be a serious cause of crashes. Especially when drivers cannot see around corners, pulling forward at high speeds can quickly cause a crash when an unsuspecting driver comes around the corner.
Call Our Car Accident Lawyers Today
For help with your injury case, call the car accident lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083.