Motor Vehicle Litigation

If liability is contested in court, it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit. The defendant has the right to respond to the Complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, when a jury finds that you are responsible for an accident, your damages will be reduced based on your percentage of fault. There is one exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes owners of vehicles which are rented or leased by minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence lawsuit the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant owed them a duty to act with reasonable care. Almost everybody owes this duty to everyone else, but those who take the driving wheel of a motorized vehicle have a higher obligation to other people in their field of activity. This includes ensuring that they do not cause accidents in motor vehicles.

In courtrooms the standard of care is established by comparing the actions of an individual with what a typical person would do in similar situations. This is why expert witnesses are often required in cases of medical malpractice. Experts who have a superior understanding in a specific field could be held to a higher standard of care than other people in similar situations.

A person's breach of their duty of care can cause harm to a victim or their property. The victim must then establish that the defendant's breach of their duty caused the harm and damages they sustained. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the primary and secondary causes of the injuries and damages.

For instance, if a person has a red light there is a good chance that they'll be struck by a vehicle. If their car is damaged, they will be required to pay for repairs. But the actual cause of the crash could be a cut in bricks, which later turn into a deadly infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second factor of negligence that must be proved to obtain compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. A breach of duty happens when the at-fault party's actions fall short of what reasonable people would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance, has a variety of professional obligations to his patients based on state law and licensing boards. Motorists have a duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians on the road to drive safely and observe traffic laws. Any driver who fails to adhere to this duty and creates an accident is accountable for the victim's injuries.

A lawyer can use the "reasonable person" standard to establish the existence of an obligation of care. The lawyer must then demonstrate that the defendant failed to meet the standard in his actions. It is a question of fact that the jury has to decide if the defendant was in compliance with the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach by the defendant was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. For instance the defendant could have crossed a red light, but it's likely that his or her actions wasn't the main cause of your bicycle crash. In this way, the causation issue is often contested by defendants in collision cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle accident lawyer vehicle cases the plaintiff must establish a causal link between the defendant's breach and their injuries. For instance, if a plaintiff suffered an injury to the neck as a result of an accident that involved rear-ends and their lawyer could argue that the collision was the cause of the injury. Other elements that are required in causing the collision such as being in a stationary vehicle are not culpable, and do not affect the jury's decision of liability.

For psychological injuries However, the connection between a negligent act and the victim's afflictions may be more difficult to establish. It may be because the plaintiff has had a difficult past, has a bad relationship with their parents, or has used alcohol or drugs.

It is important to consult an experienced lawyer if you have been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury, commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have formed working relationships with independent physicians with a variety of specialties including expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations as well as with private investigators.

Damages

The damages that plaintiffs can claim in a motor vehicle lawsuit include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages is all monetary costs which can be easily added together and then calculated into a total, for example, motor vehicle accident lawyer medical expenses or lost wages, repair to property, or even a future financial loss, for instance the loss of earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages like pain and suffering as well as loss of enjoyment of life, which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. However these damages must be proved to exist using extensive evidence, such as deposition testimony from the plaintiff's close family members and friends medical records, as well as other expert witness testimony.

In cases involving multiple defendants, Courts will often use comparative negligence rules to determine how much of the damages awarded should be split between them. The jury must determine the amount of fault each defendant was at fault for the accident, and then divide the total amount of damages by that percentage of fault. However, New York law 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries sustained by the driver of those cars and trucks. The method of determining if the presumption is permissive or not is complicated. In general, only a clear demonstration that the owner denied permission to the driver to operate the vehicle will be able to overcome the presumption.