When dealing with expensive medical bills and other damages from a truck accident in Mamaroneck, victims may recover those losses and more by filing compensation claims.
You will have three years from the accident’s date to file a lawsuit in Mamaroneck and likely no later, as tolling rarely applies to these cases. To prepare your case and file it by the deadline, our lawyers will quickly assess your injuries against the tort threshold for auto accident lawsuits in New York. We will also review the evidence to gauge if the defendant might utilize a comparative fault defense. If so, we can make a plan to address or undermine their arguments so your ultimate recovery is as unaffected as possible. When preparing your lawsuit, we will do so with the standard of proof in mind, whether you settle your case or go to court. In New York, claimants must show juries that it is more likely than not a defendant caused their injuries and resulting damages. We can do this by establishing that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care but breached it, directly causing the plaintiff’s physical injuries and financial and emotional damages.
Call The Martello Law Firm, PLLC at (914) 685-6950 for a confidential and free case analysis from our Mamaroneck truck accident lawyers.
Legal Terms and Concepts to Know Regarding Truck Accident Cases in Mamaroneck
When approaching your case in Mamaroneck, first familiarize yourself with the statute of limitations. Our lawyers will then determine if comparative fault might factor into your case and explain the tort threshold for truck accident injury lawsuits in New York. We can then prepare your case to meet the standard of proof that applies to civil claims so you get the damages you need.
Statute of Limitations
The first thing to do is ascertain how long you have to bring a claim. Under C.V.P. Law § 214(5), that is typically three years from an accident’s date in Mamaroneck. Based on the accident’s date, our truck accident lawyers can draw up a timeline for gathering and organizing evidence and other necessary tasks before officially filing your complaint with the court.
Victims who do not file claims within three years lose their opportunity to recover damages against negligent parties, so do not delay initiating your case following a truck crash.
Comparative Fault
New York follows a pure comparative fault standard, according to § 1411. Victims who contribute to truck accidents can sue others for negligence in causing a crash, but their damages will be lowered proportionally. For example, if a jury finds a passenger car driver 15% at fault for an incident, the truck driver and their employer may only be liable for paying 85% of the victim’s damages. When a higher percentage of fault is attributed to a victim, their recovery might be even lower.
Victims typically need to recover all damages associated with an accident, making addressing comparative fault defenses important. Preserving physical evidence at the scene by photographing it, like skid marks left from tires on the road, can give experts essential images to review when aiding with accident reconstruction, which can undermine arguments of comparative fault. Furthermore, evidence might indicate that the defendant had the last clear chance to avoid the accident but failed to, making them wholly liable for the victim’s damages.
Tort Threshold
Since many drivers understand that New York is a no-fault state, they might automatically expect that they cannot sue and that, instead, their only option is to file a claim with their personal injury protection insurance. In reality, victims who sustain serious injuries, including but not limited to fractures, significant disfigurement, dismemberment, and any temporarily incapacitating injuries that meet specific criteria laid out in I.S.C. Law § 5102(d), can file injury lawsuits against negligent trucking companies and drivers.
Confirming if you meet the tort threshold for truck accident lawsuits requires careful examination of your medical records. To cement your case, our lawyers may enlist medical experts to testify or give statements explaining to the court how your injuries meet New York’s definition of serious.
Standard of Proof
Our attorneys can prepare your case to meet the standard of proof for personal injury lawsuits, which is a preponderance of the evidence standard. In short, if your case goes to trial, we must show the jury that your injuries were more likely than not due to the defendant’s negligence. Even if our lawyers reach a fair settlement on your behalf out of court, having enough evidence to meet the standard of proof during negotiations is important. Our lawyers can ultimately use this evidence as leverage to negotiate a good settlement that compensates you for the appropriate damages in Mamaroneck.
To meet the standard of proof, we must establish four elements: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. The duty of care is the legal responsibility the defendant or defendants owe you. A breach is a negligent act that injures a victim. In terms of truck accident cases, the breach of duty could be that the truck driver was speeding, driving recklessly, or making an illegal or improper turn when they caused the accident.
After we establish that you were owed a duty of care and the duty of care was breached, we need to link the breach to your injuries. We can show through evidence, like eyewitness statements and photos from the scene, that you were hurt during the accident because of the defendant’s negligence.
The final step is showing that the accident made you incur real damages. To do this, our lawyers will submit evidence of medical bills, lost wages, and any additional out-of-pocket expenses from the truck crash in Mamaroneck.
Call Our Attorneys About Your Truck Accident Case in Mamaroneck
Call (914) 685-6950 for a free case assessment from the truck accident lawyers of The Martello Law Firm, PLLC.
