Car Accidents

Personal Injury Lawyer Representing Victims in White Plains and Beyond

Car accidents can result in devastating injuries, such as broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, lacerations, and more. After suffering injuries in a car accident in Westchester County, you may want to know whether you can be compensated for the full spectrum of what you have lost. White Plains car accident lawyer Mark A. Siesel can represent you in your effort to recover damages for injuries arising out of a car accident.

No-Fault Insurance

New York is a no-fault insurance state. This means that you need to obtain personal injury protection (PIP) coverage on your insurance. After a car accident, you will need to first turn to your PIP coverage to be compensated for economic losses like medical bills and lost wages, even if the other driver was at fault. You can only go beyond the no-fault insurance if you suffer serious injuries under state law. Serious injuries can include fractures, permanent restrictions on using a body member or organ, significant restrictions on the use of a bodily system or body function, significant disfigurement, and a substantial disability lasting for 90 days. If your injuries qualify as a serious injury, you can file a personal injury lawsuit or third-party liability claim against the driver who was at fault.

Car Accident Lawsuits

You can sue the other driver if he or she was at fault for your car accident. A car accident attorney in White Plains could help you try to establish negligence, which means that you would need to prove that the other driver owed you a duty to use reasonable care, the other driver deviated from that duty, and you suffered damages that were caused by the crash. Breaches of the duty to use reasonable care can occur in many ways. They can occur, for example, when a driver speeds, tailgates, weaves through traffic, cuts off other drivers, fails to obey traffic signs and signals, or is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. You would need to show that there was a causal connection between the actions constituting a breach of the duty of reasonable care and the injuries that you suffered.

In New York, courts follow the rule of pure comparative negligence. This means that the other driver may try to show that you were partially or fully to blame for the car accident and resulting injuries. The jury will be asked to look at the evidence and assign a percentage of fault to each party. As the plaintiff, your damages award would be lowered by an amount equal to any percentage of fault for the accident. For example, if the total damages are $200,000, and you were 30% to blame, you can recover $140,000.

Damages in Car Accident Cases

A White Plains car accident attorney can help you pursue both economic and noneconomic losses. Economic losses are often covered by no-fault insurance, at least partially. Economic losses can include a wide range of harms suffered in connection with serious injuries, including replacement services, rehabilitation, therapy, caregiving, and out-of-pocket costs as well as medical bills and lost wages. Generally, economic losses are documented. In the case of very complicated and severe injuries, it may be necessary to retain an expert or experts on the issues of future lost wages and other future losses.

Noneconomic losses can include pain and suffering, mental anguish, and lost earning potential. You cannot obtain noneconomic damages through no-fault insurance coverage. They are usually subjective losses and represent the value of the losses that the jury believes would naturally flow from the kinds of injuries that you suffered. The attorney whom you retain can make a huge difference with regard to noneconomic damages, based on how he elicits your testimony, presents your story, and demonstrates your losses.

Consult an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in the White Plains Area

If you suffer injuries in a car accident in White Plains, you should call the Law Office of Mark A. Siesel for guidance on your options. Our firm also represents victims in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, as well as across Westchester, Kings, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties. Call us at (914) 224-3086 or use our online form to set up a free appointment.

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