Nassau County Car Accident Lawyer

When you or a loved one is injured in a car accident, you need to focus on rehabilitation and wellness. However, mounting medical expenses, rehabilitation treatments, and a long-term outlook can leave you feeling overwhelmed. That’s where Rosenberg & Gluck, L.L.P. comes in.

An Experienced Lawyer Can Help When You Need It Most

We can recover compensation for your lost wages, medical bills, and other incident-related expenses. We also work on a contingency-fee-basis. You don’t pay our attorney’s fees unless we secure damages for you.

Read more below to better understand car accident claims and car accident lawsuits and how the experienced car accident lawyers at Rosenberg & Gluck, L.L.P. can help.

1. How long do you have to file an auto accident lawsuit in Nassau County?
2. What damages can you pursue following a collision in Nassau County?
3. How long will it take to resolve your case in Nassau County?
4. What should you know about the financial recovery process in New York?
5. What should you do following a crash in Nassau County?
6. Call Rosenburg & Gluck, L.L.P. to Learn More

How long do you have to file an auto accident lawsuit in Nassau County?

Per CPLR §214, you generally have three years to file a car accident lawsuit. Your time to file is even shorter if you lost a loved one, as EPT §5-4.1 typically grants you a two-year period to file a car accident claim that involves wrongful death.

Notice of Claim

When the defendant is a town, municipality, or another government entity, a Notice of Claim must be filed within 90 days, and a lawsuit must be commenced within one year and ninety days, per the New York Courts.

Failure to meet these deadlines can result in the loss of an otherwise successful car accident case.

What damages can you pursue following a collision in Nassau County?

Based on the severity of your car accident injuries and the cost of your damages, you could recover fair compensation for the following:

• Medical bills
• Lost income
• Pain and suffering and inconvenience
• Loss of future earning capacity
• Emotional trauma
• Impaired quality of life
• Disability, scarring, and disfigurement

Determining the Value of Your Case

Some of these car accident losses come with inherent monetary values, while others do not. Your car accident attorney serving Nassau County can assess your damages based on the facts of your situation.

An experienced car accident lawyer can form the right attorney-client relationship with you and work with you to look at all the facts of your specific case and determine the maximum compensation you could be eligible to receive.

New York’s Negligence Laws Could Affect Your Settlement or Court Award

New York operates on a pure comparative fault system. This means that a claimant in Nassau County can be 99 percent at fault for a car crash and still recover one percent of their losses.

The court or jury will examine your percentage of fault and reduce your  recovery in accordance with this percentage. This makes establishing fault critical.

Failing to do so could cost you money, leaving you to pay for some expenses out of pocket. Your car accident attorney will work hard to calculate any potential fault as accurately as possible.

How long will it take to resolve your case in Nassau County?

There is no single timeline that applies to every car accident claim in New York. All car accidents and car accident cases on Long Island are different and require different amounts of time to resolve. You can get a basic idea of how long your case can take by working with our personal injury law firm.

Many personal injury cases in New York settle without having to go to court. In most instances, the parties will agree to settle the insurance claim instead of going to trial. Yet, this is not true for every circumstance.

If your case settles via a court award, you can expect a compensation check shortly thereafter. Personal injury lawsuits generally take longer to resolve than claims – typically, several months to several years. However, the exact timeline will depend on the specifics of the case.

What should you know about the financial recovery process in New York?

As you consider your legal options to pursue compensation, here are some things to be aware of:

You Have to Report Certain Car Accidents in New York

You’re required to report your collision to the New York Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) if:

• It caused property damage of $1,000 or more.
• Someone was hurt as a result.
• Someone passed away at the scene due to their injuries.

You must report your crash within 10 days of it happening, or else risk driver’s license suspension. If your crash resulted in less than $1,000 worth of property damage, you will only need to exchange information with the other driver.

To file your claim, someone (you, your insurance agent, or your attorney) must fill out Form MV-104 (the Report of Motor Vehicle Accident) and submit it to the DMV. This form requires information about the crash, such as its time and place, both drivers’ names and license information, both drivers’ policies, and a description of what happened.

New York Requires You to Carry Auto Insurance

The law prohibits drivers from registering or operating vehicles without proper liability insurance coverage. Failure to maintain adequate coverage can result in driver’s license and vehicle registration suspension.

Per the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), the minimum insurance requirements are as follows:

• $25,000 bodily injury for one person
• $50,000 bodily injury for two or more people in an accident
• $10,000 property damage costs
• $50,000 “no-fault” coverage

Your automobile insurance must never lapse in coverage. It has to remain in effect while your vehicle’s registration is valid, regardless of whether you drive the vehicle. Your insurance must bear the name of the vehicle registrant.

There can only be one or two names on a vehicle’s registration. If there are two names, both must appear on an insurance card.

You Have Options If You Were Hit By An Uninsured Driver

Some New Yorkers ignore the state’s mandatory minimum insurance laws or fail to carry adequate coverage. If you get into a car accident with an uninsured driver, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re stuck. The insurance policy on the car you occupied at the time of the crash, or a household policy if you were a pedestrian or cyclist, should have a minimum of $25,000/$50,000 uninsured motorist coverage (UM) and no-fault benefits coverage.

If you purchased supplemental uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance (SUM), your policy may provide even higher limits of insurance for the benefit of you and other injured passengers.

Simply put: if you were hit by an underinsured or uninsured driver, you could file a claim with your own provider to seek damages. Our Nassau County car accident legal team could assist you with this.

Who can be held accountable for the crash?

Motorists are expected to exercise a reasonable degree of caution when driving. When they fail to follow the rules of the road or otherwise pay attention to their surroundings, the likelihood of a collision increases. Per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), some causes of motor vehicle crashes include:

• Distracted driving. Texting, talking on the phone, or eating, takes attention away from the roadway. Any behavior that distracts drivers from their primary driving responsibility constitutes negligence and contributes to car accidents.
• Failure to follow road rules. Common rule infractions include failure to yield, speeding, tailgating, and ignoring traffic signals.
• Drunk driving. Driving under the influence is both negligent and illegal. The legal blood alcohol limit in New York is 0.08 percent. Anyone who causes a crash due to intoxication can face both civil and criminal penalties.

In some cases, the cause of an accident may be a car manufacturer. Parts and vehicle manufacturers can be subject to product liability lawsuits when they release unsafe products to the public.

What should you do following a crash in Nassau County?

Following a wreck in Nassau County, you should:

Seek Medical Attention

Don’t write off your injuries as minor. Even if you might feel fine at the time, that doesn’t mean you have not experienced possibly serious injuries. Even injuries as severe as a traumatic brain injury might not be immediately apparent. Visit a healthcare provider to ensure your health and well-being. Do not tell the police you’re not injured if you’re unsure. This can hurt your chances of recovery later.

While receiving treatment, get copies of your imaging scans, lab test results, and other supporting information. All of these items can bolster your claim.

Call Your Insurance Company

New York has no-fault car insurance laws. This means that regardless of who caused the accident, you start your case by filing a claim with your own insurance company. Your medical treatment for car crash-related injuries must be billed to no-fault. Our accident law firm can assist with your no-fault application.

Collect Evidence of Your Collision and Resulting Damages

There is no such thing as knowing too much about a collision. From the beginning, collect as much information as you can. This includes the driver’s name and insurance company, license plate numbers, date and location of the crash, and photographs of the scene, property damage, and your injuries.

Call Rosenburg & Gluck, L.L.P. to Learn More

A car accidents lawyer serving Nassau County can manage your case. To begin your free case review with our staff, call us. We can assist clients in Spanish if needed.

Results for Our Past Clients

We fight for our clients to get fair compensation for their losses. We’re proud of our past case results including some of the largest injury recoveries on Long Island, such as:

• $25.4 million for a 17-year-old who was severely injured by a drunk driver
• $9.5 million for a wrongful death verdict in Nassau County, which was three times as much as the defense offered at deliberations
• $2.5 million for a 16-year-old victim of a car crash involving multiple cars
• $2.39 million for a 51-year-old who was injured in a rear-end collision and had injuries that prevented them from returning to work
• $900,000 for a car accident victim who lost their hearing

Call today for a free consultation with a Nassau County car accident lawyer to discuss the details of your car or motorcycle accident and find out the value of your case. We’re ready to help you get real results and seek compensation you need and deserve with aggressive representation from our experienced car accident lawyers.