Any car accident is dangerous, but car accidents on the busy streets of New York City tend to be especially chaotic. Queens is no exception, and certain roads and highways in the neighborhood of Sunnyside are known to be risky for drivers.
Car accidents in Sunnyside often happen around Queens Boulevard, which is the main arterial road running through the neighborhood. Drivers are often impatient at exits or red lights, and collisions are common. Damages often consist of claims for physical injuries, medical expenses, pain, suffering, and more. New York requires drivers to carry no-fault personal injury protection insurance, and lawsuits are only permissible if the plaintiffs experienced a serious injury as defined by the law. You should speak with an attorney about whether you have a serious injury and if you can file a lawsuit quickly, as the deadline to file your claim begins counting down on the date of your accident.
Get in touch with our car accident lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm by calling (718) 841-0083 and setting up a free review of your potential lawsuit.
Where and How Car Accidents Can Happen in Sunnyside
New York City is famous for a lot of great things, but one of the not-so-great aspects of the city is its traffic. Accidents happen every day in each borough of the city, including Queens. The Sunnyside neighborhood has numerous busy and potentially dangerous roads and intersections, including those along Queens Boulevard.
Queens Boulevard earned the nickname “Boulevard of Death” because of its history of accidents. It is the main arterial highway that runs through the neighborhood. It is very wide, and accidents involving pedestrians, bike riders, and other vehicles are unfortunately common. The area where Queens Boulevard meets 48th Street can be especially dangerous, as there is a confusing intersection where the Boulevard, 48th Street, and Greenpoint Avenue intersect.
These accidents often happen because drivers are in a hurry and do not bother to wait and make sure it is safe to enter an intersection. Many exits along Queens Boulevard are like this, and accidents happen all the time. Many accidents in the area involve speeding, distracted drivers, failures to signal, and failures to yield.
If you are in an accident in Sunnyside, you can contact the 108th Precinct for help. The precinct, located in Queens at 547 50th Avenue, covers various areas in and around the borough, including Sunnyside. After contacting the police and getting any necessary medical attention, call a lawyer about how to get compensation.
Claiming Damages in Sunnyside Car Accident Cases
Your damages should account for all your injuries, losses, and painful experiences related to your accident. Perhaps the biggest contributing factors to your damages are your physical injuries. First, serious injuries often require extensive medical care. Such care is usually not cheap, and many injured drivers are saddled with costly medical bills. Even with insurance, you might have to pay high deductibles out of your own pocket.
You should also account for the pain and suffering you went through because of your injuries. Not only are accident-related injuries painful on their own, but treatment can also be painful. Accident victims recovering from surgery often experience excruciating pain from the procedure. Emotional or mental trauma is not unusual, and you deserve fair compensation.
Property damage is another important consideration. Your vehicle was likely damaged or even totaled in the crash, and the cost to replace it might be more than you can afford. On top of that, you might have lost valuable personal belongings that were in your vehicle or on your person.
People often need some time to recover after an accident, and they might not return to work for a while. In cases involving severe injuries, a person might be unable to return to work for the foreseeable future. In these cases, plaintiffs can claim the value of their lost income, current and future.
How Insurance Might Apply to Your Sunnyside Car Accident Case
Whether we like it or not, insurance is bound to come up in almost any car accident case. While insurance policies are meant to be safety nets for injured drivers, the insurance claims process can be confusing, frustrating, and sometimes ineffective. In New York, the laws surrounding how auto insurance works place additional hurdles on people who want to file lawsuits.
No-Fault Insurance
New York follows a no-fault insurance system when it comes to car accidents. According to I.S.C. Law § 5104(a), drivers must carry personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. This policy comes from your insurance provider and covers you after a crash without requiring proof of who was at fault.
The problem with no-fault insurance, or any insurance for that matter, is that insurance policies are limited. Even if the insurance company completely agrees that you deserve compensation for your injuries and damages, they will not pay out more than what is limited by your policy. Limits tend to vary based on the terms of your policy, and our car accident lawyers can help you determine what kind of limit you might encounter.
Additionally, New York’s no-fault insurance system hinders your ability to file a lawsuit. As you may read in greater detail below, drivers typically cannot sue the other driver unless they experienced a “serious injury.”
Serious Injury Rule
New York requires drivers to file insurance claims through their PIP insurance as a first course of action. Generally, a lawsuit may be filed only if certain conditions are met, including the requirement of a serious injury. The serious injury rule under I.S.C. Law § 5102(d) defines what injuries allow injured drivers to pursue lawsuits for their accidents.
Serious injuries tend to involve some permanent injury, impairment, or limitation from the accident. Under the law, a person may file a lawsuit if they experience significant disfigurement, fractures, loss of a fetus, permanent loss or limitation of an organ, limb, or function, death, or another medically determined, non-permanent injury that hinders them from doing normal daily tasks for at least 90 of the 180 days after the crash.
Proving you have a serious injury might be easy or difficult, depending on your injuries. Certain injuries are very obviously serious, and you should not have to jump through hoops to prove it. For example, a person in a full body cast after a car accident likely would not have to bend over backward to get their case into court. However, some injuries are on the borderline of what is legally defined as serious. In such a case, get a lawyer immediately.
Call Our Sunnyside Car Accident Lawyers Today for Assistance
Reach out to our car accident lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm by calling (718) 841-0083 and scheduling a free evaluation of your potential lawsuit.