New York City
Car Accident Lawyer

Experiencing a car accident can result in painful outcomes that leave a permanent mark on your daily life. If the carelessness of another motorist led to your crash and subsequent harm, you should not be forced to handle the financial burden of those losses on your own. You have the right to pursue payment for medical expenditures, missed paychecks, and other related costs by working with a New York City car accident lawyer.

A New York City car accident lawyer from our office can support injury victims as they seek the financial restoration they require to move forward. An experienced legal professional from The Silbowitz Firm can identify which types of losses you are eligible for and represent your specific interests through every stage of a legal claim or a lawsuit.

No-Fault System in New York

New York utilizes a no-fault vehicle insurance structure that dictates the way motor vehicle crash claims are managed throughout the five boroughs and surrounding areas. Under these rules, your own insurance provider is tasked with paying for specific immediate costs, including medical care and a portion of your lost money from work, regardless of who actually caused the impact.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Benefits

New York belongs to a small group of states that use a no-fault insurance approach. In a practical sense, this means that injured motorists and their passengers first look to their own car insurance policy for money, even if someone else was clearly at fault for the wreck.

State statutes require all drivers in New York to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage under Insurance Law § 5102. These PIP benefits are meant to pay for required medical treatment, a part of your lost wages, and helpful household help up to the specific limits of the policy you purchased.

One of the main benefits of PIP coverage is how fast it works. These funds are available quickly, which lets injured people get financial help during their recovery without needing to prove who was at fault or waiting for a legal decision on liability.

However, PIP coverage has a narrow reach. It only pays for basic economic hardships and does not provide money for non-economic losses such as physical pain and suffering or the permanent consequences of a major injury. When the costs related to your crash go beyond the available PIP limits, filing a claim against the insurance carrier of the driver at fault may be a necessary step to find more support.

The Insurance Industry is Not on Your Side

Insurance corporations use many different methods to ensure that people with injuries receive the lowest amount of money possible. Their business setup is centered on keeping payouts low while making sure premium income stays high. This set of goals directly impacts how your claim is checked, slowed down, lowered, or even turned away entirely.

Grasping the No-Fault Framework in New York Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Benefits The Insurance Industry is Not on Your Side Is hiring a lawyer helpful after a vehicle crash? Financial Losses Resulting From Car Accidents Quality of Life Losses From Car Accidents Recovery Options if You Experienced the Loss of a Family Member How Our Legal Team Can Assist You Our History of Success for Clients Establishing Carelessness Frequent Types of Carelessness That Lead to Crash Injuries We Gather Evidence From Many Places for Your Case What to Know About Filing a Crash Report in New York

Potential Payment You Can Pursue After a Vehicle Wreck

The harm you suffered from a vehicle wreck in New York City is often just the beginning of the expensive challenges you might encounter. You may be allowed to seek several categories of payment in a legal case, which includes both financial losses and quality of life impacts.

Is hiring a lawyer helpful after a vehicle crash?

Dealing with the results of life-changing injuries after a wreck is just one of many hurdles that people find themselves facing. Financial and personal losses almost always go along with auto accident events. Many of these hidden expenses make it very hard for individuals to get back to their normal routines.

Economic Damages

Financial losses are the specific, measurable costs that people must deal with as they try to get better. These can include direct bills from unexpected medical needs or less direct issues like losing out on the chance to earn money at a job.

• Current medical bills: These include the price of going to the emergency room, staying in the hospital, getting tests done, having surgery, using an ambulance, going to physical therapy, or buying prescriptions.
• Future medical costs: Serious injuries from a car wreck are not fixed with just one or two trips to a clinic. They often need many months of regular care which can become very pricey.
• Missed income: Going to the doctor all the time can really mess up a person’s work hours. Being unable to do your job because of an injury or physical limitation also leads to losing your paycheck or even losing your position entirely.
• Lowered ability to earn: It is quite frequent for people to go through life-changing shifts because of a car crash. If you are hurt so badly that you cannot do your old job, you might be forced to take a different job that pays much less.

Non-Economic Damages

You might be able to seek a recovery for:

• Physical pain and suffering, if the wreck caused you significant bodily pain or other hard times.
• Mental distress, for the emotional struggles you might be experiencing after the event.

Every vehicle crash case is unique, and you might have to satisfy certain rules to go after specific types of payments. A car accident lawyer can help you see every form of payment that might be open to you after a wreck.

Recovery Options if You Experienced the Loss of a Family Member

Just like any car wreck, no injury case is easy to take care of by yourself, and it is even harder when you are mourning a loss. A car accident attorney from our firm can take care of every part of a wrongful death matter for you and help you find some form of recovery. This might include financial and personal losses such as:

• Medical costs that your family member needed before they passed
• The price of a funeral and burial
• Loss of the money and support the person would have provided in the future
• The pain and suffering your family member went through before their death

How Mitchell Silbowitz Helps Your New York City Injury Claim

Our car accident lawyers are known for taking on cases that range from very simple to extremely complicated. While some wrecks in New York City might look easy to figure out, any injury matter can have many problems, such as:

• A denial of your claim: The insurance company might try to say your injuries are not as bad as you say. They might also claim that a gap in when you saw a doctor means you made your own injuries worse.
• Very low offers: You might get offers that are not fair from insurance companies, and these might not even cover all of your bills.
• Claims that you are the one at fault: Even if the other motorist was clearly the one who was careless, you might face wrong claims that you are to blame. We can find proof from New York City wrecks to show what really happened.
• Multiple people being at fault: You might not see that more than one person or company could be responsible for what happened to you. You could lose out on a lot of money if you do not take the right steps.

We understand that you and those close to you may be going through a lot as you deal with losing your income, paying hospital bills, and trying to get healthy again. As your legal team, we will talk to the insurance companies for you. Our attorneys will handle the legal side of things so you can put your energy into getting better.

Time Limits for Filing a Car Accident Claim

In cases involving injuries, there is a law called the statute of limitations that sets the amount of time you have to start a lawsuit. Based on New York law CPLR § 214, this is usually three years for a personal injury matter. For cases involving a death, you usually have two years under EPTL § 5-4.1. If you wait too long and miss these dates, you might not be able to get money for your injuries or lost wages.

You should take steps to start your case as soon as you can for this reason. There are also some times when these deadlines are even shorter. You might have only 90 days to take action in certain situations. Getting legal help right away gives you and your lawyer a head start on finding the proof needed for your case. Someone from our firm will start working right away to save the evidence that could be the key to proving who is responsible.

How Our Attorneys Create a Case Against a Careless Driver in New York City

If you or a person you love was in a vehicle wreck, you might have a legal case. If your injury came from the actions of a careless driver, you might have the legal right to file a claim or a lawsuit for the money you need. Being able to get compensation depends on whether the other driver was careless. To show this, you have to prove several things:

• The other person had a duty to act safely around you.
• That person failed to do their duty.
• That failure is what caused your injuries.
• You have real losses because of those injuries.

Our New York City personal injury attorneys can help. We fight for your right to get the payment you deserve and hold people accountable for what they did.

Most Common Causes of Auto Accident Injuries

In New York City, the streets are busy and accidents happen frequently. People being in a hurry often leads to poor choices. Other types of carelessness like driving while distracted or under the influence can also cause a wreck. We have to show how the other driver’s choices led to the crash to move forward. Some common forms of carelessness include:

• The driver not paying attention
• Going too fast
• Following too closely
• Not letting others have the right-of-way
• Ignoring stop signs or red lights
• Using a phone to text
• Driving while drunk
• Changing lanes when it is not safe
• Doing an illegal turn
• Bad weather
• Problems with the road
• Parts of a car that do not work right
• Not following traffic rules

We Gather Evidence From Many Places for Your Case

Our firm might look for proof from many different spots because careless drivers and their insurance companies often say they did nothing wrong. We talk to people who saw the wreck and get the police reports while we look at the proof from the scene. If we need to, we work with people who can recreate the crash using computers. This data is very helpful when we have to explain what happened to a jury. We might also work with experts like:

• People who rebuild accident scenes
• People who look at tire marks
• Surveyors
• Other specialists

We will do what is needed to go after the money you deserve. If talking does not lead to a fair deal, you can be sure that our attorneys are ready to tell your story to a jury.

Steps to Take After a Car Crash

After a crash, it is normal to feel unsure of what to do next. Here are the steps to take to look after your health and your legal rights:

1. Stay where you are. Never leave the scene of a crash. This could lead to criminal problems for you. Stay there until the police say it is okay to go.
2. Call 9-1-1 if anyone is hurt or if the cars are damaged. You need to wait for an officer to arrive.
3. Trade information. If another car was involved, you must trade names, phone numbers, plate numbers, and insurance details.
4. Get medical help. See a doctor right away for any injuries. If you wait, the insurance company might claim you were not really hurt.
5. File a report. In New York, you must send a report to the DMV within ten days if there is more than $1,000 in damage. If you do not, you could lose your license.
6. Talk to our team. We can help you see your options and make sure your right to get money is protected.

What to Know About Filing a Crash Report in New York

New York law says you must report a car wreck that involves an injury or a death to the police. The driver who caused the injury is the one who must report it. If there was only damage to cars, you must report it if the damage is over $1,000 or if the other driver is not there. Drivers have to file these reports within ten days of the wreck and they should do it as soon as they are physically able to do so.

Call The Silbowitz Firm Today

If you have been injured in a car accident in New York City, don’t wait. Call The Silbowitz Firm at (516) 375-6692 for a free consultation. We will review your case, explain your options, and fight for the compensation you deserve.