motor vehicle accident lawsuits Vehicle Litigation
A lawsuit is required when liability is contested. The defendant has the option to respond to the Complaint.
New York follows pure comparative fault rules and, in the event that a jury finds you to be the cause of an accident the amount of damages awarded will be reduced by your percentage of negligence. This rule is not applicable to owners of vehicles that are rented or leased out to minors.
Duty of Care
In a case of negligence the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed a duty of care towards them. Most people owe this duty to everyone else, but individuals who get behind the car have an even higher duty to the other drivers in their zone of activity. This includes ensuring that they do not cause car accidents.
Courtrooms examine an individual's conduct with what a normal person would do in the same circumstances to determine reasonable standards of care. Expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical malpractice. Experts with a superior understanding of specific fields could be held to a greater standard of care.
A person's breach of their duty of care may cause harm to a victim or their property. The victim is then required to prove that the defendant acted in breach of their duty and
motor vehicle accident Lawsuits caused the harm or damage they sustained. The proof of causation is an essential part of any negligence case and involves considering both the actual causes of the injury damages and the proximate cause of the injury or damage.
For instance, if a driver has a red light then it's likely that they'll be hit by a car. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll have to pay for the repairs. The real cause of an accident could be a brick cut that causes an infection.
Breach of Duty
A breach of duty by a defendant is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved in order to secure compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty is when the actions of the at-fault person are insufficient to what an ordinary person would do under similar circumstances.
A doctor, for instance, is required to perform a number of professional duties for his patients, arising from state law and licensing boards. Drivers are required to take care of other drivers and pedestrians, and to follow traffic laws. Any driver who fails to adhere to this duty and causes an accident is responsible for the injuries suffered by the victim.
Lawyers can use the "reasonable individuals" standard to prove that there is a duty of caution and then show that the defendant did not adhere to this standard in his conduct. The jury will determine if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.
The plaintiff must also prove that the defendant's negligence was the main cause of the plaintiff's injuries. This can be more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty and breach. A defendant might have walked through a red light, but that's not what caused the crash on your bicycle. The issue of causation is often challenged in cases of crash by defendants.
Causation
In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the defendant's breach of duty and his or her injuries. For example, if the plaintiff sustained an injury to the neck as a result of an accident that involved rear-ends and their lawyer would argue that the collision was the cause of the injury. Other factors that contributed to the collision, like being in a stationary car is not culpable and will not impact the jury's determination of the degree of fault.
For psychological injuries, however, the link between a negligent act and an injured plaintiff's symptoms could be more difficult to establish. It may be that the plaintiff has had a difficult past, has a difficult relationship with their parents, or has been a user of drugs or alcohol.
If you've been involved in a serious motor vehicle crash it is essential to consult an experienced attorney. Arnold & Clifford LLP attorneys have years of experience representing clients in
motor vehicle accident Lawsuits vehicle accidents as well as business and commercial litigation, as well as personal injury cases. Our lawyers have developed working relationships with independent physicians in a wide range of specialties as well as expert witnesses in accidents reconstruction and computer simulations as well with private investigators.
Damages
The damages a plaintiff can recover in motor vehicle litigation include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages includes any monetary expenses that can be easily added up and calculated as a sum, such as medical treatment or lost wages, property repairs, and even future financial losses, like a decrease in earning capacity.
New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, cannot be reduced to money. However, these damages must be proven to exist through extensive evidence, such as deposition testimony from the plaintiff's family members and close friends medical records, deposition testimony, and other expert witness testimony.
In cases involving multiple defendants, Courts will often use comparative negligence rules to determine the percentage of damages awarded should be divided between them. This requires the jury to determine how much responsibility each defendant incurred in the incident and then divide the total amount of damages by the percentage of blame. New York law however, does not allow this. 1602 exempts owners of vehicles from the rule of comparative negligence in the event of injuries caused by drivers of trucks or cars. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissive usage applies is complicated and usually only a convincing evidence that the owner was explicitly refused permission to operate the vehicle will be able to overcome it.