Long Island Auto Accident Lawyer
In just one month in New York City (February 2020), there were 13,586 motor vehicle collisions, causing 3,017 injuries or death to motorists, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians. Ninety percent of these crashes were spread across Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, with Staten Island encountering only 406 collisions, 137 injuries and two deaths in that one month. Crashes involving passenger vehicles and SUVs far outnumbered any other type of vehicle, including taxis and large commercial trucks. The vast majority of crashes were chalked up to driver inattention/distracted driving, followed by a host of negligent driving behaviors (failure to yield right-of-way, following too closely, improper passing and unsafe lane changing, drunk driving, etc.).
- Car Accidents
- Distracted Driving Accidents
- Drunk Driving Accidents
- Hit & Run
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Rideshare Accidents
- Rollover Accidents
- Truck Accidents
After going down every year for 50 years, car accidents are on the rise again on Long Island. With offices in Garden City/Stewart Manor, Giuffré Law Offices is ready to take on car accident cases throughout Nassau County and Long Island. Call our office for a free consultation at 516-802-9912, and we’ll go to work right away, fighting to get you fair amount compensation to help you deal with even the most severe and catastrophic injuries from a Long Island auto accident.
New York no-fault insurance laws
With basic Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage, auto accident victims can recover up to $50,000 of their medical costs and lost earnings, along with other reasonable and necessary related expenses, after an auto accident in New York. PIP is “no-fault” coverage, meaning you don’t have to prove that the other driver was negligent or that you were not negligent in order to recover compensation. However, you cannot collect any additional compensation over your policy limits, or compensation for damages such as your pain and suffering, unless you suffered a “serious injury” under New York’s insurance law. The serious injury threshold is met when a crash causes any of the following:
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Significant disfigurement
- Fracture
- Loss of a fetus
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system
- Permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member
- Significant limitation of use of a body function or system
- Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents you from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute your usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment
This law is structured to keep you inside the no-fault system as much as possible. When you’ve suffered a serious injury, it takes the help of a skilled and tenacious attorney to investigate and prepare your case and prove that you meet the criteria to step outside the no-fault system, so that you can get compensation for your pain and suffering. To get that compensation, you will need to bring a case against the at-fault driver and secure a reasonable settlement from their insurance company or take them to court if you can’t get a fair settlement, contact our experienced Long Island auto accident lawyers.
Help with all types of car accidents in New York
Giuffré Law Offices can represent you any time a negligent driver crashed into you and injured you. Our Long Island auto accident practice covers the gamut of car crashes.
Every type of crash involves its own unique set of facts and applicable laws. From investigating your crash at the scene to working up the case for a valuable settlement or strong position in court, Giuffré Law Offices is committed to seeing you get the appropriate care and compensation you need and deserve after getting hurt in a collision that wasn’t your fault.
New York City Auto Accident FAQs
The odds are that every person will be involved in at least one car accident at some point in their life. Hopefully, this never happens to you, but if it does, you need to know a few basic things to protect your ability to recover compensation from the negligent driver who hit you. See below for answers to some frequently asked questions we often get at Giuffré Law Offices as we help people who have been injured in auto accidents in Nassau County or throughout Long Island or New York City. If you have other questions or need help after a crash, call Giuffré Law Offices in Garden City/Stewart Manor, Brooklyn or Queens for a free consultation. We’ll come to you if you can’t travel to our offices, and our multilingual staff is prepared to assist clients in English, Russian, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
Can I recover compensation after a car crash if I wasn’t wearing my seat belt?
Yes, but this fact could limit your financial recovery. The burden is on the defendant to prove that you had access to a working seat belt but failed to use it when a reasonable person would and that your injuries would have been less severe had you been belted properly. There are many ways to counter the “seat belt defense” and prevent it from limiting your recovery. At Giuffré Law Offices, we’ll take the time to understand the facts of your case and give you our honest assessment of how factors such as these might impact your settlement and the success of your case.
What if the driver who hit me didn’t have insurance?
New York requires all drivers to carry liability insurance, and most do. The basic policy includes coverage of $25,000 for bodily injury to one person or $50,000 for more than one person and $50,000 for death to one person or $100,000 for death to more than one person. The basic policy also includes $10,000 of property damage liability insurance. If the other driver was uninsured, you could turn to your basic policy, which contains Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage in the same amounts of liability insurance you carry. UM insurance will cover you when the other driver doesn’t have insurance. UM also includes Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage to make up the difference when the insured driver’s basic policy does not cover all of your expenses.
Are bar owners responsible if they overserve a person who later causes a drunk driving car accident?
So-called “dram shop liability” is part of New York law, and you can sue a bar or tavern that illegally sold alcohol to a drunk driver who later injured you in a crash. Selling alcohol illegally could mean the bar served an underage person, but it could also mean the bar served a person who was already visibly intoxicated or whom the tavern employees knew to be a “habitual drunkard.” These laws apply not just to commercial establishments but also to social hosts who serve alcohol in their homes.
Proving dram shop liability can be difficult, but at Giuffré Law Offices, we take every reasonable step to hold all responsible parties accountable for the damage they have caused, to maximize both justice and compensation for our injured clients.
What do I do after an auto accident to secure my claim for compensation?
Get the name of the driver who hit you, along with their driver’s license number, insurance company name and policy number. You should share your information with the other driver as well, but don’t offer details about your policy limits or make statements like, “I have good insurance.” Statements like this can be used against you to imply you thought the accident was your fault. If there are any witnesses to the crash, try to get their names and contact information, as well as a statement about what they saw. Call the police, and call 9-1-1 if anyone needs emergency medical care. Take pictures of the crash scene, including the road and the damage to the vehicles. Report the accident promptly to your insurer and call an attorney as soon as possible to discuss the next steps.
Help with Auto Accidents in Nassau County, Long Island and New York City
For help after an auto accident in Nassau County or throughout Long Island or New York City, call Giuffré Law Offices at 516-802-9912 for a free consultation. Our Long Island auto accident lawyers take the time to listen to you and tailor our representation to your needs and the facts of your specific case. We can come to you if you can’t come to our offices, and we don’t charge a fee until after we are successful recovering for you. Call our offices in Garden City/Stewart Manor, Brooklyn or Queens today and get started obtaining valuable compensation to help with the injuries inflicted on you through no fault of your own.
