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NYC and Personal Injury / Car Accident Law

NYC has its own personal injury law that also covers car accidents. Each state has its own specific regulations while the broader contexts remain the same. The personal injury law in NYC is not identical to other states and there are some consequential differences. You should be aware of all the statutes of this state law to make sure you take the right steps in case you have been injured or your property has been damaged or both.

• The first fact you should know is the statute of limitations. This is basically a provision in the law that requires every victim to file a lawsuit within a stipulated period. If you have suffered any injury, be it a car accident or at any place where you are not at fault, then you can file a lawsuit within three years. This is from the date of the accident. It is not from the date when you get treated or when you find out about your injury. There is no exception to this statute of limitations in case of car accidents or the damage directly caused by such incidents. However, there is an exception to this rule in case of medical malpractice. It is not uncommon for people to suffer injuries or some health complications resulting out of medical malpractice and the consequences may not become apparent in a year or two. Such cases will be prosecutable in a court under the personal injury law, regardless of the original cause of the accident.

• The personal injury and car accident law in NYC clearly distinguishes between at fault, no fault and shared fault cases. If you are a victim of a car accident and have suffered personal injury or damage to property or both and you are partly to blame, or you must share some fault then your claims will be proportionately reduced by the court. If you are claiming total damages, including compensation for property and medical expenses for your personal injury among others, worth fifty thousand dollars and you are to share twenty percent of the blame or fault for the accident, then your claim will be effectively reduced by the same share. You would be able to claim forty thousand dollars. While you can claim more, the court would not entertain such an amount and the other party is not legally compelled or even asked to pay fifty thousand. This is only in case of shared fault cases. When the other party is at fault, there is no such proportionate reduction of the claimed amount.

• NYC has no fault insurances. Anyone who has this type of policy would not have to deal with any other party or even insurer. One can simply contact their own insurer and claim coverage for personal injury and resulting medical expenses. Even damage to property is covered under such policies. However, if your at fault insurance coverage falls short of paying for all medical expenses, which is not unusual in case of serious injuries, then you can file a lawsuit or liability claim against the party at fault of the car accident.

In terms of lawsuits that are filed within New York City, you would have to imagine that a lot of people are going to have a lot of opinions, in terms of where you can find the most lawsuits being filed. The truth of the matter is that the Bronx is home to more filed lawsuits than anywhere else in New York City.

 

There are a number of factors that influence this compelling bit of trivia. To be sure, most people greet this fact with an element of surprise. After all, relatively speaking, the Bronx is pretty small, when you compare it to the rest of the boroughs.

 

Examining The Bronx

In terms of population, the Bronx is the second-smallest borough. Yet they are home to more lawsuits than anywhere else in NYC. For the 2015 fiscal year alone, over 7400 claims were filed. These claims pertained to both personal injury and property damage. Just to give you the opportunity to compare, the 7442 claims filed in the Bronx is 503 more claims than were filed in Brooklyn. Considering the fact that Brooklyn has about a million more residents than the Bronx, it is a staggering number.

 

What happened? Brooklyn had 4952 personal injury lawsuits in 2015. By comparison, the Bronx featured 6065 in that year alone.

 

Some experts believe it is a matter of juries. This opinion seems to suggest that if you want to hook up with a sympathetic jury, you should consider having your trial held in the Bronx. When it comes to juries that are willing to award big settlements, this is apparently where you are going to want to be.

 

Looking Into The Bronx

Studies do seem to indicate that when it comes to Bronx juries, the individuals serving on those juries are more likely to render decisions based on emotion, rather than on the evidence that is actually being presented to them. It is a well-known fact among lawyers working within the Bronx, or anywhere else for that matter, that if you can connect with the sympathies of a jury, the case is yours.

 

It stands to reason that economics is playing a significant part in why Bronx juries are so sympathetic. Generally speaking, the Bronx is considered to be a poorer part of New York City. The fact that so many people who live in the Bronx are struggling economically could play a major role in determining whether or not a Bronx jury is going to be sympathetic towards a poor plaintiff.

 

Interestingly enough, 27, 321 tort claims were filed last year. This is down approximately six percent from the year prior.

 

However, while more claims are filed in the Bronx than in Brooklyn, the payout amount is a different story. In the Bronx, as mentioned before, approximately 7442 suits were filed. However, the payout figure was 176 million. While Brooklyn may have experienced a lower number of filed suits, but their total payout is a good deal higher, coming in at 219 million, suggesting that the reputation of friendlier juries might be overblown.  Manhattan saw 5053 suits filed for the 2015 fiscal year. The payout came to eighty-five million. With Staten Island, the 1389 lawsuits offered a total payout figure of eighteen million. Queens experienced 4871 lawsuits, and the payout came to about sixty-one million.

 

Nonetheless, the Bronx retains its legal reputation. It is highly unlikely that this figure is going to see anything in the way of a significant drop any time soon. Meanwhile, the payouts for the entire city continue to experience an upwards trend. The total figure for the fiscal 2015 year was 586 million, which is up more than four percent from the 561 million that was paid out for 2014. It may or may not surprise you to also discover that the number of malpractice claims against the New York City hospital system has climbed, as well. In 2014, the number of claims that were filed against the system was four hundred and eighty-five.

 

As time goes on, it stands to reason that these figures are going to continue to rise across all of the boroughs. Barring some dramatic change, the Bronx will likely remain on top. The economic conditions that create the current state of the Bronx are likely to endure, even with the increased gentrification that the entire city is going through. Trial lawyers will always look for sympathetic juries, and as of now, that means the Bronx.

If you ask any New Yorker, they will tell you that the real beauty of New York is the 24/7 subway. You do not need a car in New York, whether you plan on using the subway or cabs, you will always get around with relative ease. Take that context with a city like San Diego, where the nightlife options are plentiful, but where the city is spread out and fails to provide reasonable public transportation. It affects more than the vibe in the two places. It also can have an effect on the number of people who drink and drive. San Diego is consistently the city in the United States with the most arrest and convictions for drunk driving offenders, while still being far from one of the nation’s largest cities. What is the reason for this disconnect? Some say that the high level of training that San Diego’s officers undergo in order to prepare for aggressive DUI violation enforcement are to blame, but the lack of public transportation is just as likely a legitimate reason. Larger cities such as New York have a significantly lower number of drunk driving arrests, and one of the reasons that this might be is because of New York’s excellent public transportation system–something that San Diego sorely needs.

Overly-Aggressive DWI/DUI Enforcement

While some county officials note that the DUI enforcement in California cities such as San Diego and San Jose could be called “overly-aggressive”, the fact remains that whether or not they are caught, these individuals are indulging in a pastime that kills a significant number of people every single year in the United States. High enforcement levels also cause problems at the county level as those who are arrested have to be contained somewhere, swelling the jails to overcrowding levels at the same time.

The Role of Public Transportation

Instead of blaming the police for doing their job and catching the people who are driving while intoxicated or under the influence, instead let’s take a look at some different places around the world where the rate of impacted driving are much lower and why. Significantly larger cities such as London have a culture where catching a drink after work is almost expected, however the drunk driving rate is incredibly low because there is a corner bar within walking distance or within the distance of easy public transportation no matter where you are. The same holds true for cities such as New York. According to DUI Lawyers, even though New York has nearly double (possibly triple) the population that San Diego boasts, the citizens of New York are half as likely to be arrested for DWI and one of the key reasons that this is because of the advanced public transportation system that is in place in New York City.

Laws v. Public Transportation

Unfortunately, San Diego, like many other cities its size are in a conundrum. How can citizens enjoy themselves with a drink once in a while by going to a bar that is quite a ways away from them due to zoning laws – far enough away, in fact, that in order to get there the resident must drive their vehicle to the bar (and back!) after indulging? This paradigm is doomed to failure and makes little sense, for many reasons including the problem of drunk driving and the lack of community that a society that stays home experiences. There are some recent analyses in Texas showing that DWI arrests in counties that serve alcohol are lower than those counties which do not serve alcohol. Why? One potential reason might be because in a dry county you have to drive in order to reach an alcoholic beverage while in a non-dry county there’s a possibility that you can take readily-available public transportation to get there safely and home again!

Creating a complementary strategy to the tactic of ongoing arrests for DUI in San Diego would include defining a way to enhance and expand the overall public transportation within the city to a level that would allow individuals to cross the different areas of the city without needing to take their own vehicle. This not only benefits the safety of all drivers, but also helps keep individual’s costs lower through reduced gas requirements and overall contributes to a cleaner environment. Improving the public transportation in San Diego can help support a number of different positive initiatives for the city.

When you think of what’s hot and what’s not in New York City nightlife, you think about the Zagat Survey and Yelp as well as Google ratings to help you find something fun and exciting to do. If you are new in town, and have no locals to show you the way, your best bet is the trusted and crowd-sourced ratings system that Zagat includes. Zagat was purchased by Google in 2011 to round out Google’s local recommendation engine, but continues to be strong today.

 

New Yorkers Love to Eat (Out)

It’s a proven fact, New Yorkers eat out significantly more than the national average, and tend to spend more at each meal–again, over and above the national average by over $10 ($48.44 in NYC v. $36.30 for the national average). Why is this? The abundance of excellent food and nightlife choices in New York give its residents a never-ending playground of options that appeal to every possible taste. In the current year alone, nearly 120 new restaurants opened while only around 50 of the restaurants closed. People who know restaurants know that if they can make it in New York, they can make it anywhere and are excited to test out their luck in the Big Apple.

Change In Trends

New York was previously known for splashy and fancy high-end restaurant openings and galas, however in the past few years the trend has been more towards high-quality, yet casual style dining options. Smaller and less-prestigious openings in the New York City scene included any number of Raman and sushi houses–with an omakase sushi restaurant winning the coveted Top Newcomer Restaurant award. Restaurants that specialize in coffee, ice cream, dumplings and tacos continued to flourish as did those focused on the “small bite” or appetizer-size options.

Late Night Options

Sometimes, when you’re out late at night all you want is to grab a quick bite at a local eatery and know that you’re going to get good, hearty fare that is simple and quick–and served after midnight! This seems like a tough combination to meet in the big city of New York, but fortunately there is a growth spurt going on around casual dining restaurants that offer extended hours in the evening on into the wee early morning. If you’re looking for food after midnight, here’s a quick list of options and where you can find them.

* The Greenwich Village area is well-known for being fun after dark, so it only makes sense that you’ll find some good eats in this area. Check out Bar Sardine, which is open until 2:00 am,, if you’re looking for a great sports bar that has something for everyone. A nice mix of hearty and healthy tempts the palate, while a gorgeous view out into the West Village Streets keeps you engaged.

Another great option for this area is Dell’anima, with their final seating at 1am. The full menu of inventive Italian food includes everything from bruschetta to pastas and more substantial entrees. The Minetta Tavern serves a special menu after 11pm up until 1am, but you can still get a hefty steak at the bar along with options like roasted bone marrow.

* Soho includes some great pizzerias such as Prince Street Pizza, which is a piece of NYC pizza history as home of the original Rays, where you can get arguably the best slices in town. Raoul’s offers an eclectic mix of tourists, fashionistas and locals and has a chill, bohemian vibe that can really make your evening. The Blue Ribbon Brasserie is a friendly and accommodating late-night option for oysters from the raw bar or a hanger steak with onion rings–your choice.

* Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village area has superstars like a rotisserie duck with chive pancakes or dry-aged ribeye, but don’t forget to try the octopus escabeche at Booker and Dax while you’re in in the area! Veselka offers a Ukranian good time with filling Eastern European flair.

No matter where you find yourself in New York City, you are certain to find a good option for a good time after midnight–whether you’re looking for food, drinks, dancing or just a little local culture. It truly is the city that never sleeps.