Motor Vehicle Litigation

If the liability is challenged, it becomes necessary to start a lawsuit. The Defendant has the right to respond to the complaint.

New York follows pure comparative fault rules and, should a jury find that you are responsible for causing a crash the damages awarded will be reduced by the percentage of negligence. This rule does not apply to owners of vehicles that are leased or rented to minors.

Duty of Care

In a case of negligence the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant had the duty of care towards them. The majority of people owe this obligation to everyone else, but those who sit behind the steering wheel of a motor vehicle have a higher obligation to others in their area of activity. This includes ensuring that there are no accidents in motor vehicles.

In courtrooms the standard of care is determined by comparing an individual's actions to what a normal person would do in the same circumstances. In the case of medical malpractice, expert witnesses are usually required. Experts with more experience in the field could be held to a greater standard of treatment.

A person's breach of their duty of care could cause harm to a victim or their property. The victim is then required to prove that the defendant acted in breach of their duty and caused the injury or damage that they suffered. Proving causation is an essential part of any negligence case which involves investigating both the primary causes of the injury damages as well as the proximate reason for the injury or damage.

If a person is stopped at an intersection it is likely that they will be struck by another vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll be accountable for repairs. The real cause of the crash could be a brick cut that develops into an infection.

Breach of Duty

A breach of duty by a defendant is the second element of negligence that needs to be proven to win compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. A breach of duty occurs when the at-fault party's actions aren't in line with what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

For example, a doctor has several professional obligations to his patients that are governed by state law and Vimeo licensing boards. Motorists owe a duty care to other motorists and pedestrians to drive safely and observe traffic laws. A driver who breaches this obligation and creates an accident is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

A lawyer can use the "reasonable person" standard to establish the existence of the duty of care and then show that the defendant did not comply with the standard in his actions. It is a matter of fact for the jury to decide whether the defendant complied with the standard or not.

The plaintiff must also establish that the defendant's breach of duty was the main cause of the injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant may have run through a red light, but that's not what caused your bicycle accident. Because of this, causation is often contested by defendants in crash cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff must prove that there is a causal connection between the breach of the defendant and their injuries. For example, vimeo if the plaintiff sustained an injury to his neck in an accident that involved rear-ends, his or her lawyer would argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors that are needed to cause the collision, like being in a stationary car, are not culpable, and do not affect the jury's determination of the liability.

It could be more difficult to establish a causal connection between a negligent act, and the psychological symptoms of the plaintiff. The fact that the plaintiff has a troubles in his or her childhood, had a difficult relationship with their parents, experimented with drugs and alcohol or experienced prior unemployment could have a influence on the severity of the psychological issues she suffers after an accident, but courts typically consider these factors as part of the context from which the plaintiff's accident arose rather than an independent cause of the injuries.

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

Damages

In motor vehicle accident law firm vehicle litigation, a plaintiff may recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages includes any monetary costs that are easily added up and calculated as a total, for example, medical expenses or lost wages, property repair and even future financial losses, like a decrease in earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering as well as loss of enjoyment, which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. The damages must be proven through extensive evidence like depositions from family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In the event of multiple defendants, courts will typically employ comparative fault rules to determine the amount of damages to be split between them. This requires the jury to determine how much fault each defendant was at fault for the accident and to then divide the total damages awarded by the percentage of the fault. New York law however, does not permit this. 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries suffered by driver of these trucks and cars. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissive use applies is complicated, and typically only a convincing evidence that the owner was explicitly was not granted permission to operate the vehicle will overcome it.