The Rear End Car Accident April 26, 2011

The rear end car accident may be the most common type of car accident. Consider these common scenarios:

• You stop at a light and suddenly the car behind you strikes you.
• You’re on the highway and traffic slows down ahead of you. The car behind fails to stop and hits you.
• You slow to a stop at a stop sign and while you wait for traffic to clear, the car behind you hits you.

Following a car accident, the highest priority is to receive the medical attention that you need. If you have been hit in the rear in New York State, you may be entitled to compensation. This article will look at some of the issues you may need to consider if you seek compensation.

After the Car Accident

If you have been in an accident, make sure to notify your auto insurance company. If you did not own the car, then notify the auto insurance company of the car’s owner. New York has a No Fault insurance law that entitles you to coverage for your medical expenses regardless of who was at fault. You receive your No Fault benefits through your insurance company.

If you think you need medical attention, you should seek that medical care as soon as possible. Because No Fault will cover your medical expenses, you do not need to worry about paying the bills. Make sure you get the care that you need. Seek the care as soon as possible.

If you go to an Emergency Room and they recommend following up with an orthopedist, by all means, see an orthopedist as soon as possible. I have had a patients walk out of an emergency room thinking they only had a bruise only to have an orthopedist find a broken or fractured bone. An orthopedist specializes in bone injuries and will give you the best care possible.

If your doctor recommends physical therapy, please get the physical therapy. Make your appointments and follow the directions. Physical therapy can often provide the fastest and fullest recovery. Failure to follow directions to get physical therapy can make matters worse and result in a much more difficult condition.

Seeking Compensation for a Rear End Accident

If you have been hurt in a rear end accident, you may be entitled to compensation. To receive compensation in an auto accident in New York, you need to address three issues:

• Liability by the Other Driver
• Meeting the Serious Injury Threshold
• Proving the Value of Your Injuries

Liability in a Rear End Accident

New York State law presumes that a driver who strikes to another driver from the rear bears 100 percent liability for an accident. Therefore, the onus falls on the driver who strikes from the rear to prove that he or she is not liable, which is hard to do. For example, if the driver in front cuts off the driver from behind, then the courts may shift liability.

If you have been hit from behind, unless there are unusual circumstances, the other driver will most likely bear one hundred percent of the liability.

Meeting the Serious Injury Threshold

New York’s No Fault Insurance law limits the ability for car accident victims to sue for pain and suffering. Chapter 51 of New York State’s Insurance Law – the No-Fault Insurance Law - limits the ability of victims of car crashes to sue for damages beyond the No-Fault benefits. New York State Insurance Law requires a person to have sustained a “serious injury” before that person can seek damages. This limit is known as the threshold law for serious injuries. To read an article on the serious injury threshold, click here.

In general, anyone with a broken bone meets the serious injury threshold. Yet the most common injuries in rear end accidents are soft-tissue injuries and, because of recent court decisions, it is increasingly difficult to prove that soft tissue injuries meet the serious injury threshold. Successful soft-tissue cases are those that have some or all of the following:

• Clearly documented injury (muscle or ligament tears)
• Requires surgery
• Keep a person from work for an extended period of time
• Require extensive rehabilitation and physical therapy
• Require uninterrupted treatment for an extended period of time

Each case requires an independent assessment. A lawyer reviewing medical records and consulting with medical professionals can offer the best guidance on a case. It is getting harder for soft tissue injuries to meet the serious injury criteria, but a well-documented, well-presented case can still succeed.

Proving Damages

Pursuing a claim and a possible lawsuit in a car accident case cannot undo the damage that you suffer; it can only offer your compensation for your losses. In general, the compensation for a car accident case in New York covers three areas of losses:

• Unpaid medical bills: No Fault insurance will generally cover the first $50,000 of out-of-pocket expenses. If your expenses exceed $50,000, then you can seek compensation for those medical expenses.
• Lost Wages: If you lose income as a result of the accident, you can seek compensation for the income you lost to the extent that the total economic loss exceeds $50,000.
• Pain and Suffering: This is the most variable component to an award for damages.  This category includes the value of a person’s inability to engage in activities that she enjoyed before the injury.  It includes the permanence of any injury. It encompasses the adverse effect an injury can have on a person in the past or in the future. To determine the value of an injury, an attorney needs to interview the client, analyze the medical records, consult with medical experts, review the case law and consider the evidence the attorney can offer to support the claim for damages. Court awards will vary by the county, so an attorney needs to take into account the location of a potential trial. 

If you have questions, you should consult a local personal injury attorney with experience handling car accident cases. I will be glad to answer your questions and assist you. There is never a charge for this consultation. You can call me at 1-800-660-1466 or email me. You can also visit my website or read more on my blog, New York Law Thoughts.  

 Carol L. Schlitt
New York Personal Injury Attorney
www.SchlittLaw.com

http://nylawthoughts.com 
1-800-660-1466
Carol@SchlittLaw.com

This material is intended for informational uses only. It is not meant as legal advice. To receive legal advice, you should consult an attorney. Remember, each case has a unique fact pattern. Past results do not
guarantee future outcomes.