White Plains Car Accident Lawyer
When you have been injured in a car accident, you may experience physical, mental, and financial difficulties that seem unending. The medical bills may be piling up, and you may be unable to return to work. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel—our White Plains car accident lawyers can help you get your life back.
- Why Hire Our White Plains Car Accident Lawyers
- Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle in White Plains
- How Much is a Car Accident Claim Worth?
- How Do Car Accident Claims Work in White Plains?
- Possible Liable Parties in Car Accidents
- How An Attorney Can Help Prove Fault in a Car Accident Lawsuit
- Representing Car Accident Victims in Neighboring Cities to White Plains
- Contact a White Plains Car Accident Lawyer Today
Why Hire Our White Plains Car Accident Lawyers
From 2017 to 2019, traffic accidents in Westchester County caused an average of 33 deaths, 375 hospitalizations, and 6,428 emergency room visits per year, according to state accident records. If you have been injured in a car crash in White Plains, Lever & Ecker can help.
Case Results
Over the years, we have recovered more than $100 million in compensation for our clients—including millions of dollars for car accident victims. We have obtained the following settlements and verdicts, to cite just a few examples:
Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle in White Plains
Our firm represents clients in various types of car accident cases, including
- Car accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Rideshare accidents
- Drunk driving accidents
- Rear-end accidents
- Bicycle accidents
We handle accidents caused by negligence, reckless driving, intentional misconduct, distracted driving, and product failure/manufacturing defect.
We are selective about the cases we take and only handle a certain number at a time to give each client the full attention they deserve. Everything we do is in your best interest.
Negligence that causes a car accident can involve texting, eating, breaking traffic laws, driving under the influence, tailgating, or simply not paying attention while driving. If another driver’s negligence caused a collision that has injured you, you likely have a case against them.
“Without question, drivers have more distractions than ever before, even though cars supposedly are getting safer and safer. If you pull up to an intersection and you look to your right or your left, invariably, more than half the time, someone is looking at a device. These distractions only increase the likelihood of an accident, which we see every day.” – Founding Partner Daniel G. Ecker
How Much is a Car Accident Claim Worth?
You can recover several types of damages in a car accident claim. Economic damages cover the medical expenses, lost income, and other quantifiable financial losses resulting from the accident. Non-economic damages compensate for the more subjective impacts on your life, such as pain and suffering (including surgeries). If you were involved in a drunk driving accident or other incident caused by egregious behavior, you may also be entitled to receive a punitive damages award.
In some cases, your no-fault insurance policy may cover all your medical expenses and lost wages—but if your injuries are serious, the cost of your treatment and lost wages may far exceed your no-fault policy limit. Further, no-fault does not provide compensation for pain and suffering and additional damages other than medical expenses and lost wages. That’s when it becomes particularly important to consider pursuing a personal injury lawsuit to recover those damages.
How much money you can recover depends on multiple factors, including the following:
- The severity and extent of your injuries and surgeries
- The length of your recovery
- Whether you’ll need ongoing medical care
- Whether you have suffered permanent disabilities
- How your pain and suffering affect your life
- How much income you’ve lost
- The effects on your future earning capacity
- The strength of the evidence you have against the at-fault driver,
- Aggravating factors against the at-fault driver like intoxication and willful misconduct
- The at-fault party’s insurance policy limits
Additionally, New York is a pure comparative negligence state. You can recover damages even if you partially to blame for the accident. However, your share of the blame will affect your recovery—any damages will be reduced in proportion to your fault for the accident.
How Do Car Accident Claims Work in White Plains?
New York’s No-Fault law requires all drivers to have insurance covering the reimbursement of medical expenses, loss of income (with certain limitations), and other incidental non-medical expenses for any personal injuries they suffer from a motor vehicle accident, regardless of who was at fault. The minimum no-fault coverage required in New York is $50,000 per injured person, though vehicle owners can purchase additional no-fault coverage.
However, while New York is a no-fault state, injured people are not prevented from pursuing legal action against other drivers who caused their injuries. Therefore, in addition to what you recover through no-fault, you may be able to file a lawsuit to recover compensation for your pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost wages not covered through no-fault, property damage, and other losses.
To be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit for a car accident, you or a loved one must have suffered injuries that legally qualify as “serious.” Under New York’s serious injury threshold, as set forth in Article 51 of the New York Insurance Law, these injuries include the following:
- Death
- Dismemberment
- Significant disfigurement
- Loss of a fetus
- A fractured bone
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system
- Permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or member
- A significant limitation of the use of a body function or system
- A “medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature [that] prevents the injured victim from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment.”
Possible Liable Parties in Car Accidents
Liability for injuries caused by car accidents in White Plains varies case-by-case. If you suffer a serious injury, the driver who caused the accident should be held liable to compensate your for your pain and suffering and other damages arising from the accident.
“There are a number of different individuals who could be held liable for a car accident in New York. First and foremost, it would be the driver that hit you and caused the accident. It could also be the owner of that vehicle, or perhaps even a third party that was also involved in the accident.” – Lever & Ecker Partner Adam C. Weiss
Some accidents result from equipment malfunctions, such as brake failures, tire blowouts, or loss of steering. In those cases, automobile manufacturers can be held responsible for product defects, and auto shops can be held liable for improper repairs.
How An Attorney Can Help Prove Fault in a Car Accident Lawsuit
After an accident occurs, your thoughts may be racing a mile a minute trying to figure out what to do, especially if you were injured. Car accident claims can be complex, and pursuing compensation without legal representation may be challenging. Consulting with an attorney can help reduce the stress and frustration of dealing with medical bills and insurance negotiations, and it’s the best way to fully recover damages for all your losses.
To prove that the other party is at fault in a car accident lawsuit, you must prove the following:
- The other party owed you a duty of care.
- The other party breached that duty.
- The breach caused your injuries.
- You suffered financial and other losses directly because of the accident.
An experienced and knowledgeable White Plains car accident attorney can establish all of those elements of negligence to pursue the maximum compensation you deserve. Our attorneys will investigate and examine all the details of the accident, including:
- Police reports
- Videos
- Surveillance footage
- Photographs
- Witness statements
- Medical records, and more
Our attorneys will use all of the available information to help build your case and prove the fault of the other party.
In addition, we will handle all the legal work for you, including:
- Filing suit against the at-fault driver
- Protecting your interests throughout litigation
- Negotiating with insurers to get you the monetary compensation you deserve
- Advocating for you at trial, if necessary.
Representing Car Accident Victims in Neighboring Cities to White Plains
Our convenient White Plains office location allows our firm to serve car accident victims who live in neighboring cities throughout Westchester County, including Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Scarsdale, Port Chester, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Tarrytown and more. We are dedicated to ensuring individuals from these cities receive the legal support they need to protect their rights and secure the compensation they deserve after a car accident.
Contact a White Plains Car Accident Lawyer Today
If you have been injured in a car accident, our White Plains attorneys will go above and beyond to secure the compensation you are entitled to. We will be there through every step of the process, explaining all available legal options and advising you on the best path to recover compensation. We will fight to secure a just verdict or settlement, leveling the playing field against insurance companies and holding those responsible for your accident accountable.
Our White Plains car accident lawyers can answer any questions you have about your crash, the process of filing a complaint, or our firm. We are available to meet with you wherever and whenever is most convenient for you. We can meet you at home, in the hospital, or by phone. We can even meet with you after hours or on the weekend.
With top-tier legal representation and an open line of communication, Lever & Ecker will fight to recover the compensation you deserve and get your life back on track. Contact us today by calling 914-288-9191 or filling out our online contact form.
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