Sustaining a serious injury in a car crash is devastating under any circumstances, and the process for seeking financial compensation in New York can be complicated. Since New York is a no-fault state when it comes to auto accidents and insurance claims, anyone who is injured in a collision needs to begin the process of seeking financial compensation by filing an insurance claim through their own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. Then, if the injured person can show that they have suffered a “serious injury” as it is defined by New York law, that injured person may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver or another negligent party.
There are many different kinds of motor vehicle collisions that can lead to car accident lawsuits in New York. While it is important to remember that a person can suffer a serious injury in nearly any type of vehicle wreck, the following are examples of some of the most common types of crashes that result in auto accident lawsuits.
Truck Accidents Involving Smaller Passenger Vehicles
To meet the serious injury threshold under New York law in order to file a lawsuit, injuries typically must be debilitating or severe. Unfortunately, many truck accidents involving smaller passenger vehicles result in life-threatening and fatal injuries for the occupants of the car. As the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) points out, most serious and deadly injuries that occur in trucking collisions affect passenger vehicle occupants due to the weight and size of large trucks. Semi-trucks usually weigh 20 or 30 times as much as passenger cars, and they sit higher from the ground. As such, in collisions involving a large truck and a passenger vehicle, especially an underride accident, the occupants of the passenger vehicle can suffer devastating injuries.
Wrong-Way Crashes
Wrong-way accidents, or head-on collisions, are often especially devastating. These collisions frequently occur when a driver enters the highway on the wrong exit ramp, or when an intoxicated or drowsy driver crosses over the median and causes a wrong-way accident.
Speed-Related Motor Vehicle Collisions
Generally speaking, the faster a car is traveling at the time of the accident, the higher the possibility of very serious injuries. Of course, severe and even deadly injuries can occur when a vehicle is traveling at low speeds, yet higher speed crashes often result in more serious injuries, especially when pedestrians or bicyclists are involved.
Intersection Collisions
Many accidents that happen at intersections can be especially devastating. These collisions are often T-bone accidents that happen when one driver runs a red light and crashes into an oncoming vehicle in a perpendicular fashion. Since the driver running the red light, or a stop sign, often is traveling at a particular high speed, these collisions can lead to devastating personal injuries.
Contact a New York Auto Accident Lawyer
Do you need assistance filing an auto accident lawsuit in New York? Our firm can assess your case to help you determine whether you meet the serious injury threshold for filing a lawsuit, and we can advocate for your right to compensation every step of the way. Contact Leitner Varughese Warywoda PLLC for more information.