After a car crash, it is imperative that you get the medical care you need. However, you may be left needing additional help that doctors cannot provide, such as help with your medical bills. That’s where a car accident lawyer comes in.
Our Hamburg, NY car accident lawyers help injured car accident victims in Hamburg and throughout the state get the damages they face after car accidents. This can help them pay for medical expenses, replace lost wages, and even get compensation for pain and suffering and other intangible harms.
For a free case review, call The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083. Our Hamburg car accident attorneys are prepared to help with your case.
No-Fault Rules in Hamburg Car Accident Cases
If you live and drive in New York, you may already be familiar with the state’s no-fault insurance rules. Most states use one of two systems for car accident cases:
- At-fault or “tort” systems where each driver’s insurance pays for the damages their driver causes in a crash
- No-fault systems where each driver’s insurance pays for their own driver’s damages regardless of who caused the crash.
In an at-fault system, you need to prove fault before you can get damages for your crash, which can leave you with expenses you cannot afford until the case goes through. With a no-fault system like the one used in New York, you can often get damages paid faster. However, no-fault rules have serious drawbacks that can hurt your ability to get compensated after a car accident.
You should always speak with our Hamburg car accident lawyers after a crash to make sure that you get the full compensation you are entitled to. Many no-fault insurance settlements leave drivers with only a portion of the damages they can claim in a lawsuit or a third-party insurance claim. This happens because no-fault insurance leaves out damages for pain and suffering, requires drivers to pay deductibles before their coverage kicks in, and blocks payment beyond a certain percentage of the actual damages.
If your injuries are considered “severe,” then you may be entitled to file an at-fault claim against the other driver’s insurance or a lawsuit against the driver directly. In a lawsuit, their insurance usually provides them with a lawyer, and the neutral court often allows you to claim additional damages that your no-fault insurance claim would have blocked.
Talk to our Hamburg car accident lawyers today about how to start your case to get you on the path to full financial recovery.
Proving a Car Accident Case in Hamburg, NY
Many drivers are concerned about who was at fault in their car accident case and whether their own mistakes could be used to block them from getting compensation for a crash. Our Hamburg car accident lawyers understand these concerns and have assembled some information to help with some of the common questions and issues that injured drivers face:
Proving Fault
To get damages in your injury lawsuit, your Hamburg car accident lawyers will have to prove that the other driver was at fault. This usually means proving which driver committed traffic violations or did something unsafe behind the wheel to cause the crash.
If you are afraid that you did something wrong, talk to your lawyer about the specifics of your case. In many car accident cases, a driver’s slight or minor mistakes are far outweighed by the other driver’s mistakes, especially in cases involving speeding, drunk driving, reckless driving, or other serious mistakes. If the court does find you at fault to some small degree, it might just reduce your damages rather than blocking compensation.
Traffic Violations that Affect Fault
In most cases where there is some sort of concrete traffic violation, the at-fault driver can be held responsible. Even if the police that respond to the accident scene do not issue any tickets or citations, the court can still hold the driver who committed the violation responsible.
The traffic violation that led to the crash usually has to involve driving and mistakes behind the wheel, so violations involving expired registration or driving without insurance do not typically help you prove that the other driver was at fault. Instead, more serious moving violations are often at issue, including the following:
- Speeding
- Running a red light
- Running a stop sign
- Failing to yield
- Drunk driving
- Distracted driving
- Tired driving
- Reckless driving
- Tailgating
- Failing to signal
- Driving at night or in bad weather without headlights
Evidence Needed to Prove Fault
To get a court to believe your side of the story, you need to provide evidence of what happened. Your Hamburg car accident lawyers will typically present this evidence through the testimony of various witnesses.
Your own testimony will often make up the core of your case, but testimony can also be presented from any passengers or witnesses that saw what happened. Evidence in the form of photos and videos can also be helpful to back up your claims about how the accident happened, who was at fault, and what damages and injuries resulted. Additionally, the police officer who responded to your crash will often assemble a police report that will provide your lawyer with additional information they can in building your case, and the police officer can testify as to what they saw and what information they included in the report.
Talk to your attorney about what evidence to collect in your case, especially if you were seriously injured and were unable to stay at the scene of the crash to collect evidence yourself.
Call Our Hamburg, NY Car Accident Injury Attorneys for a Free Case Review
If you or a member of your family was injured in a car crash, consider taking your case to the Hamburg, NY car accident attorneys at The Carrion Law Firm today. Our number is (718) 841-0083.