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Car Accident Lawyers

The law firm represents clients in all five boroughs of New York (NY): Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, along with Suffolk County & Nassau County on Long Island, Westchester County, Rockland County, and throughout the entire state of New York.


Car accidents are one of the most common causes of personal injury. Even though many auto accidents are minor fender-benders, they can still result in a large number of severe injuries and deaths. In addition to the potential for disability, accident victims often experience substantial pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages, medical expenses and property damage. Sadly, many car accident victims never receive the full amount of damages to which they are entitled. Very often, car accident victims are unaware of the full value of their claims and accept the first offer from their insurance company.

The insurance company wants to settle your case as soon as possible – and for as little money as possible. After an accident, you need time to determine just how serious your injury is, what medical treatment or physical therapy you need, and how much your lost wages will be. Therefore, it is crucial to retain a qualified personal injury attorney as soon as possible to achieve maximum compensation. Never talk to the insurance company prior to obtaining legal representation.

We routinely handle NYC auto accidents knowing that this is not an everyday experience for you. We will guide you through every step in the process. By getting to know you and thoroughly understanding your accident case, we can provide you with superior legal representation.

We Fight For Your Maximum Injury Compensation

Our New York City Personal Injury attorneys take the time to learn every aspect of your case during our initial meeting in order to properly evaluate the full extent of the damages you or a loved one have suffered.

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NYC Auto Accident Claims:

A catastrophic car accident can happen at any time and instantly change your life. The devastating impact of injuries suffered from an automobile accident may result in substantial medical bills, pain and suffering, the loss of wages due to the inability to work, the inability to do everyday tasks, permanent disabilities or even death. In the blink of an eye, your entire world can come crashing down and leave you with physical, emotional and financial burdens you never expected to endure.

Unfortunately, New York City’s busy and fast-paced lifestyle lends itself to thousands of car accidents every year. If you were in a car accident in New York City, you may have questions keeping you up at night. How will you pay your medical bills? How will you make up for your lost wages? How will you negotiate with the insurance company to receive a fair settlement? What will you do if the settlement offer from the insurance company is too low? Will you be able to receive compensation for pain and suffering?
We can answer those questions for you and help you receive the compensation you deserve. Our car accident lawyers have helped hundreds of people just like you. If you were in a car accident in New York City, let us help you develop a strong case and fight for an appropriate and just settlement on your behalf.
New York City is known as the city that never sleeps. Busy traffic streets are common 24 hours a day in the Big Apple, and with those busy streets come accidents. The most common types of vehicle accidents in New York City include the following:
New York City is a fast-paced city, and drivers are known to engage in riskier driving behavior than in other parts of the country. When one car hits another from behind, it is known as a rear-end accident and it is common in New York City. In most cases, the driver in the following vehicle was either following too close to the car in front of them or did not brake quickly enough to avoid colliding with the vehicle in front of them. While some rear-end accidents are just “fender benders” in other cases, these can be severe accidents causing serious injuries.
If a car hits another car’s side, this is known as a side-impact collision. This can happen if one car merges into another car, one car hits the other car at an angle, or in the worst-case scenario, one car directly hits the side of the other car perpendicularly, known as a “t-bone” accident.
Head-on collisions are where the front of a vehicle collides with the front of another vehicle, typically causing serious injuries and damage. These accidents often happen if one person is driving on a one-way street the wrong way, or has fallen asleep at the wheel and veers into the other lane of traffic.
Other types of vehicle accidents in New York City include drunk driving accidents, hit and run accidents, high-speed collisions, and roll-over accidents.
Auto accidents may happen for any reason in the Bronx. The leading causes of road accidents in the Bronx include driver inattention/distraction, failure to yield right of way, backing unsafely, loss of consciousness, turning improperly, driver inexperience, and weather conditions.
The Bronx had 14.1% of all accidents in New York City, with a total of 31,372 from 2014 to 2015. Almost 30% of all car accidents reported resulted in some sort of injury to a passenger in a car.
The Bronx intersections that have the most collisions are Bruckner Blvd. and Hunts Point Avenue, Bruckner Blvd. and East 138th Street, East 233rd Street & White Plains Road, Eastchester Road, and Waters Place and Bainbridge Avenue and East Gun Hill Road. The highways, bridges, and tunnels that see the most road accidents in the Bronx include Major Deegan Expressway, Cross Bronx Expressway, Bruckner Expressway, Bronx River Parkway, and Hutchinson River Parkway. The total of these expressway accidents reached nearly 5,000 in one year alone. Almost 500 injuries occurred in road accidents on major streets, and 168 on highways or bridges, with Major Deegan Expressway seeing the most accidents in the Bronx at 108.
The most common causes of collisions throughout New York City, including Brooklyn which results in serious injuries include passenger distraction, following too closely, glare on the windshields, defective headlights, physical disability, traffic control disregarded, unsafe lane changing and failure to yield right of way.
Brooklyn saw 28% of the total accidents in New York City in one year, totaling 62,455 collisions. Over 28% of all injuries in car accidents in New York City occur in Brooklyn each year.
The Brooklyn intersections that have the most collisions are Flatbush Ave. and Grand Army Plaza, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Tillary Street, Linden Blvd. and Pennsylvania Ave., Atlantic Ave. and Pennsylvania Ave., and 3rd Avenue and Hamilton Avenue. The highways, bridges, and tunnels that see the most road accidents in Brooklyn include Belt Parkway with 155 accidents yearly, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Gowanus Expressway, Brooklyn Bridge and Prospect Expressway. The total of these expressway accidents reached nearly 4,700 in 2014 through 2015. The Belt Parkway is by far the most dangerous roadway in Brooklyn.
One-fourth of all accidents that occur in New York City are caused by a driver taking their eyes and attention from the road. This aligns with national statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that states that one out of every five car accidents in the United States results in an injury as a result of distracted driving, causing 16% of all traffic fatalities.
From 2014 through 2015, there were 4,024 traffic accidents in the borough of Manhattan which involved 7,819 people. The Manhattan intersections that have the most collisions were East 96th street and Madison Avenue, 8th Avenue and West 42nd Street, 2nd Avenue and East 36th Street, 9th Avenue and West 42nd Street, and 3rd Avenue and East 59th Street. The highways, bridges, and tunnels that see the most road accidents in Manhattan are Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive with 117 accidents, Henry Hudson Parkway, Harlem River Driver, Triborough Bridge, and Queensboro Bridge Upper. The total of these expressway accidents reached 4,024 in April 2015.
As one of the largest cities in the world, with tourism and 24-hour activity, the traffic accidents causing serious injuries in Manhattan are common. In a one-week period alone, in all of New York City, more than 4,000 car accidents will happen with almost 1,000 people being hurt in that week alone.
In all of New York City, there were nearly a quarter of a million car accidents during the time period of 2014 – 2015, and of those nearly a quarter resulted in a serious injury or death. The borough of Queens had more accidents than any other borough, accounting for 29.5% of the total number of car accidents. Additionally, the 109th precinct, in the Flushing neighborhood in the borough of Queens has the distinction of the most car accidents in all of New York City with a total of 519.
The Queens’ intersections that have the most collisions include Farmers Blvd. and Rockaway Blvd., Brookville Blvd, and Rockaway Blvd., 205h Avenue and Whitestone Expressway, Horace Harding Exp. and Main Street, and 65th Place and Queens Blvd. The highways, bridges, and tunnels that see the most road accidents in Queens are Interstate 495, Grand Central Parkway, Van Wyck Expressway, Cross Island Parkway and Belt Parkway. The total of these expressway accidents reached 4,694 in April 2015 with the largest number of accidents totaling 230 on Interstate 495. Of the 230 accidents on Interstate 495, 30 were motorists, 23 were passengers, and one was a pedestrian.
With 19,000 car accidents per month, 4,750 car accidents per week, and 28 car accidents per hour, New York City literally has 1 car accident every 2 minutes. Queens has the distinction of being the borough with the largest number of total traffic-related injuries in all of the five boroughs, with over 1,400 people requiring hospitalization and over 15,000 people treated yearly in emergency rooms due to car accidents.
According to the New York State Department of Health, car accidents are the 4th leading cause of death throughout the state of New York, and there are almost 100 traffic-related deaths every month in the state. However, of the five boroughs, Staten Island is the least dangerous with respect to car accidents.
Only 4.7% of all car accidents in New York City occurred in Staten Island in 2014 – 2015, with a total of 13,017 collisions. The Staten Island intersections that have the most collisions include Richmond Avenue and Victory Blvd., Rockmond Avenue and Richmond Hill Road, Glen Street and South Avenue, Hylan Blvd, and Old Town Road, and Clove Road and Richmond Road. The highways, bridges, and tunnels that see the most road accidents in Staten Island include State Island Expressway with 68 accidents, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Upper, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Lower, West Shore Expressway, and Korean War Vets Parkway. The total of these expressway accidents reached only 903 in April 2015. Again, the borough of Staten Island has considerably fewer car accidents than the other four boroughs.
Car accidents in the state of New York may result in severe injuries or fatalities. Some of the most common types of auto accident injuries in New York include the following:
  • Broken bones
  • Bone fractures
  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Neck injuries including whiplash
  • Scarring
  • Disfigurement
  • Spinal cord injury resulting in either temporary or permanent paralysis
  • Concussions
  • Amputations
  • Nerve damage
  • Internal bleeding and internal injuries to organs
  • Loss of feeling
  • Death
According to research, car accident victims often suffer polytrauma, which is multiple wounds instead of just one singular isolated trauma. In many cases, victims of automobile accidents suffer blunt force trauma as the accident throws the body into parts of a car such as a steering wheel, sharp force trauma as the shattering glass and metal pierce the skin, and internal trauma as the vehicle’s sudden stop impacts the internal organs causing damage. These different types of trauma typically result in multiple injuries or even death.
New York requires drivers to carry New York State liability insurance, which will cover the costs of any damages to the other party if you are responsible for a car accident. Liability coverage includes two different types of coverage: property damage liability insurance (PDL) and bodily injury liability insurance (BIL). These different types of insurance will cover both property and vehicle damage as well as medical expenses incurred as a result of the car accident. In order to officially and legally register your car with the state of New York, you must prove that you are covered by this liability insurance.
The minimum car insurance requirements in the state of New York are as follows:
  • $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for injuries (BIL)
  • $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for death (BIL)
  • $10,000 for property damage in one accident (PDL)
  • $50,000 for basic no-fault insurance
  • $25,000 per person and $50,000 for uninsured and underinsured motorist liability
No-fault insurance is required in the state of New York due to the laws that state that if you are involved in an accident, your insurance company will pay for your damages first, regardless of who is considered at-fault for the accident. Therefore, your insurance will cover your property damages and medical bills, and the other person’s insurance will cover their damages. However, there are some circumstances in catastrophic accidents, where your damages will exceed the limits of your insurance coverage. If the other party is at-fault, you may be able to bring a lawsuit against that party and receive additional compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and property damage.
If you were seriously hurt in a car accident in New York, you likely have medical bills and property damage. Many people believe that they can easily negotiate with insurance companies to receive a fair settlement regarding their car accident. However, in most cases, the insurance adjuster assigned to your case has the goal to pay as little as possible and persuade you to accept as little as possible in terms of compensation. Insurance companies are in the business of making money and paying out as little in claims as they can get away with.
Additionally, if you fail to accept their first settlement offer, insurance companies can become aggressive or adversarial quickly. They can deny your claim, call you repeatedly asking innocent questions in an attempt to get you to admit guilt or record your answers to use against you at a later time. Oftentimes, the insurance company will delay the entire process in order that a victim will miss the deadline (known as the statute of limitations) in a court of law in order to file a lawsuit against the insurance company to receive the compensation they are owed.
Oftentimes, insurance companies will attempt to dissuade you from working with an attorney by saying phrases such as:
  • Why would you want to hire an attorney? We can work this out together.
  • An attorney will just take all your money, you should not hire one.
  • Why would you want to pay an attorney part of your award?
The truth is that the insurance companies know very well that hiring an attorney will require them to offer a fair and just settlement offer, and they will not be able to have the upper hand with an unsuspecting accident victim if they are legally represented by counsel. If you were in a car accident and are struggling with receiving a fair settlement from an insurance company, you should always visit with an experienced car accident attorney to help you understand your legal rights, and negotiate on your behalf.
If you were in a car accident in New York City, you likely have several questions and want to know how best to maximize your personal injury compensation. The following are some frequently asked questions with answers that will help you as you move forward with your personal injury case related to your car accident.
These are 12 tips to follow after any car accident in order to boost your compensation for your injuries.
  • Call 911 and check for any personal injuries
  • Be careful what you say, and refrain from saying “I’m sorry” or “I didn’t see you” or “It was my fault.”
  • Seek immediate medical attention from a physician in order to document your injuries either from medical professionals from the ambulance or in the emergency room.
  • Gather evidence such as the driver’s and witnesses contact information, license plates, photographs of the scene of the accident and your injuries, video footage of the accident scene or witness statements, and the police report.
  • Contact your insurance company as soon as possible to begin a claim.
  • Contact the other driver’s insurance to notify them of the accident.
  • Never give a statement to an insurance adjuster if you are tired, medicated or confused, and never give a recorded statement.
  • Stay organized, and keep all medical bills, evidence of lost wages, a diary of pain and suffering, police reports and insurance information in one place.
  • Make sure you do not miss the statute of limitations deadline to file a claim with the court regarding your case if you do not receive a just settlement offer from your insurance company.
  • Write a personal injury demand letter to your insurance company, or visit with an experienced attorney to assist you.
  • Stay calm and amicable during negotiations with insurance companies, but never accept a settlement offer less than what you deserve.
  • Hire an attorney to represent you and help you receive the compensation you deserve.
If you were involved in a car accident in NYC, you want to build a strong personal injury claim in order to receive the compensation you deserve. Follow these guidelines to help you build a personal injury claim after your automobile accident.
  • Seek medical treatment immediately after an accident, not only for your own health, but also to provide proof that you suffered injuries that deserve compensation.
  • Gather evidence at the scene of the accident including witness reports, other driver contact information, and photographs if possible.
  • Notify your insurance company and the other driver’s insurance company.
  • Send a written notice to the at-fault driver of your claim for damages.
  • Be careful when visiting with insurance adjusters and do not admit guilt or allow yourself to be recorded.
  • Do not sign a medical release that allows an insurance company to see all of your medical records, but rather only allow those medical records created after the date of the car accident and only for medical treatment related to that accident.
  • Never sign away your legal rights in a settlement agreement, or cash a check from an insurance company unless you believe it is the best compensation package you can receive.
  • If you have any kind of property damage or injuries, contact an experienced car accident attorney who will help you build your personal injury case, negotiate on your behalf with insurance companies, conduct an independent investigation of your accident, and even hire expert witnesses to confirm your claims.
If you are attempting to negotiate on your own behalf regarding your car accident with an insurance company, know that you are dealing with experienced professionals whose purpose is to offer you as little as possible in terms of a settlement. Some mistakes to avoid when negotiating your car accident settlement include the following:
  • Never admit any type of guilt
  • Never offer an excuse for why the accident happened (i.e. I was texting, I looked down for a moment, my brakes should have been replaced, my tires were worn out, etc.)
  • Never answer “fine” to the question “How are you today?” It can be used against you.
  • Do not act too friendly
  • Do not agree to any recorded statements
  • Do not engage in any informal or relaxed discussions
  • Do not offer any opinions related to the accident
  • Do not lie regarding the accident or your medical condition
  • Do not sign any medical release except towards the end of your treatment, and only then for the time period following the accident
  • Do not give your social security number
  • Do not discuss any pre-existing conditions you may have regarding your medical condition
  • Do not exaggerate anything about the accident or your injuries
  • Do not give the insurance adjuster the names of your family, friends, or work associates
  • Do not think you have to answer to every question. Simply state that you will get the information later if you need to verify your answer.
  • Do not think your claim will settle for a fair amount, or that it will be guaranteed to settle. Your claim may need go to trial to receive the compensation you deserve.
The police report will likely impact the insurance claim due to the fact that it will report injuries, if one or more drivers were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or if the participants were disruptive or fighting. The police report will be an official account of the accident and include items such as the date, time and location of the accident, personal information regarding the drivers and passengers, descriptions of the vehicles and injuries suffered, weather and road conditions, and any possible contributing factors such as speeding, non-working brake lights, etc. While police officers are not perfect, these police reports will often be relied upon by an insurance adjuster regarding the evaluation of the causes of the accident, and which driver was considered to be at-fault for the collision. Police officers do not always assign fault in a police report, however, they will provide evidence regarding the accident. If the police report points to the fact that the other party was at-fault for the accident, the negotiation process with the insurance company may be easier.
With most people having access to cell phones, taking photographs after a car accident can help boost the value of your insurance claim. Accident scene photographs or videos that were taken immediately after a car accident can increase your credibility regarding your interpretation of how the accident occurred. The pictures or video will show a story of how the accident happened as well as provide graphic and clear proof of the aftermath of the accident including personal injuries suffered and property damage. Try to photograph cars and other vehicles, any injuries suffered, broken glass, damaged parts, traffic lights or stop signs, weather conditions, reference points, skid marks, passengers and other drivers, and witnesses. These photos can also help jog memories later to reconstruct the accident, and motivate an insurance adjuster to take your claims seriously.
Witnesses have no monetary interest in your car accident claim and therefore provide an excellent source of unbiased resources to bolster your claim regarding your injuries or damages. Witness statements can be as powerful as evidence that the other driver was at-fault for the collision that resulted in your damages and injuries. Gathering these independent witness statement can be a powerful testimony for who was at fault and what happened to cause the accident. In order to obtain witness testimony, attempt to gather all of the witnesses’ contact information at the scene of the accident or through the police report. Some valuable witnesses may include drivers or occupants of other cars either involved, or not involved in the accident, people who stopped to give medical aid, business owners, employees, or customers of nearby businesses, road workers, or passerbys. Try to collect as much information and statements from witnesses as possible.
Immediately following the accident, when you feel medically and physically able to do so, you should begin to take notes regarding all aspects of the accident. If you can write in a journal regarding every detail you can remember of the accident, it may help your claim that the other driver was at fault. Additionally, if you suffered any physical injuries, make sure to write down all of the medical appointments you had, and what the physicians said to you during each one. Compile a list of all of your medical appointments, physical therapy, diagnostic tests and bills associated with your injury. Finally, make a journal regarding your pain and suffering, in case you need to later prove that your injuries caused you to miss work, not be able to participate in life or perform daily tasks. The more detailed your notes are, the better your chance of being able to use them to boost your injury compensation after your car accident.
One of the most common fears after a car accident is getting back behind the wheel of a car. The fear of driving, or vehophobia, is a very real medical condition suffered by many victims after a car accident. This fear can be disruptive to a person’s life, as they may feel unable to drive, due to this type of post-traumatic stress disorder. Some examples include feeling the fear that they will be in another accident, or that they have panic attacks when operating a vehicle, or that they will hurt or kill another person while driving. If you believe you are suffering from post-accident anxiety, consider visiting a qualified and experienced professional to help you with your debilitating anxiety. Always remember to include these bills as part of your claim for compensation and keep a journal to help you remember the trajectory of your anxiety and how it affected your daily life.
Under New York law, the insurance company of the car you are in is responsible for your medical bills. If you are a pedestrian of a bicycle rider struck by a car, that insurance company for the car that struck you is responsible for your medical bills. If you or a family member owns a car, under certain circumstances, that insurance company might be responsible for your medical bills. Therefore, you have the right to request that your insurance company, or the other car’s insurance company, compensate you for any bills that you may incur as a result of a car accident due to someone else’s negligence. Some victims settle too quickly with an insurance company to receive reimbursements for their medical bills, however, always use caution and discretion when dealing with insurance companies, and make sure that you are receiving the best settlement offer you deserve.
The state of New York requires that a person involved in a car accident must report that accident with the New York Department of Motor Vehicles if one of the following applies:
  • The accident resulted in property damage greater than $1001 dollars
  • A person is injured or killed
To file an accident report with the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, you must complete the Report of Motor Vehicle Accident Form (Form MV-104) and list the place and time of the accident, the drivers name, address and date of birth, the driver license information of both drivers along with both license plate numbers, the name of all insurance policies, the name and address of all registered vehicle owners, an explanation of damages and an accident diagram describing the accident.
New York is considered a “no-fault” state, which means that if you suffered any injuries or property damage after a car accident, you will look to your insurance policy first to pay for medical expenses, lost earning and certain out of pocket expenses. If you have sustained serious injuries, you are able to file a lawsuit against another driver after a car accident in New York City. In most cases, this will be in the instance that your damages meet the New York requirement of a serious injury and the car accident was due to the other driver’s negligence. You only have three years following the accident in order to file a claim under New York’s statute of limitations deadline, and contacting an experienced car accident attorney can help ensure that you meet those deadlines.
In the event that your car accident claim for damages does not reach an out-of-court settlement agreement, you may have to litigate your case in a court of law. You will need to first go through the discovery process that invoves appearing for depositions that record oral testimony of all witnesses to the accident under oath. The discovery process can also include medical and liability expert witnesses, police officers, financial experts, and your treating medical providers. Following discovery and depositions, a trial date will be set, the jury will be selected, the trial will begin and all evidence and witnesses will give their testimony which will result in a jury deliberation and a verdict.
Whether you need representation to negotiate your case with the insurance company or represent you in a court of law regarding your car accident claim, hiring an aggressive auto accident lawyer in New York will ensure that you obtain the best counsel and representation possible. Our personal injury and car accident attorneys understand that you likely are facing medical bills, loss of wages, pain and suffering, and property damage. We will work hard to make sure that you receive the maximum amount of compensation to which you are entitled. You do not have to do this alone. Schedule a free consultation and we can begin reviewing your case immediately. Our personal injury and car accident lawyers offer their legal services on a contingency-fee-basis, and you pay nothing unless and until we will your case.
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