Syracuse, New York: School Zone Accidents

Jed Dietrich, Esq., Recognized as a Best Lawyer in America and an America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorney, Has Spent His Entire Career Fighting for Families in Syracuse and Throughout Upstate New York. If Your Child Was Injured in a School Zone Accident That Was Not Their Fault, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. Could Help You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit Against a Reckless Driver, Negligent School District, or Irresponsible Road Construction Contractor.

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In Syracuse, you will often see a sign, with bright yellow lettering or a flashing light, telling drivers they are about to enter a school zone and need to reduce their speed.

The concept of school zones makes sense. However, school zones can only help keep kids safe when everyone on the road makes a good-faith effort to follow the rules. Sometimes this means running into yet another red light or getting to work a few minutes late, minor inconveniences that mean protecting children from the chance of being injured in a pedestrian accident.

Unfortunately, respect for the rules of the road is not universal.

In fact, study after study has shown that, in towns and cities across the United States, rates of pedestrian accidents are actually higher in active school zones than they are inside inactive school zones. For children, the consequences of speeding or inattention can be catastrophic. Even at speeds as low as 15 or 20 miles per hour, there is a risk of serious injury or wrongful death.

Parents cannot change the past, but they do not have to bear the full weight of another person’s mistake. If your child has been injured in a school zone accident that was not their fault, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. could help you obtain the compensation you need to reclaim your family’s financial independence. A recognized U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firm, we have recovered more than $250 million in damages for our clients in Syracuse and throughout Upstate New York. We could help you, too. Please send us a message or call us at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a school zone accident lawyer and schedule your 100% free, no-obligation consultation.

The Most Common Causes of School Zone Accidents in Syracuse

School zone accidents have many of the same causes as other types of collisions.

In urban Syracuse and more rural parts of Onondaga County, some of the most common of these causes include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Speeding. Going over the speed limit does not just increase the chances of a school zone accident. As a general rule, higher speeds also correlate with more serious injuries, some of which may be life-threatening.
2. Distracted driving.Distracted driving is a broad term that encompasses almost any activity that takes a driver’s attention away from the road. Today, texting and driving, and talking on the phone while driving are two of the most common contributing factors in distracted driving-related accidents.
3. Driving under the influence. Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol is one of the single most significant risk factors for causing or being involved in an accident. Even though drunk driving rates are highest at night and on the weekends, DUI-related crashes can happen at all hours.
4. Reckless driving. In New York, reckless driving simply means performing any action that “unreasonably interferes with the free and proper use of the public highway or any parking lot, or unreasonably endangers users of the public highway or any parking lot.”
5. A combination of risk factors. School zone accidents can be caused by a combination of different factors. In some cases, they can also be caused by people or parties who were not directly involved in the accident but had a legal responsibility to prevent it. A personal injury lawyer near Syracuse could help you identify all of the right defendants for your case.

You should never have to pay the price for somebody else’s negligence.

Do not forfeit your right to a fair recovery: please send the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. a message online or call us at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a school zone accident lawyer near Syracuse and schedule your free, no-obligation consultation as soon as possible.

Your Potential Damages in a School Zone Accident Lawsuit

Lawyers, courts, and insurance adjusters use the term “damages” to describe compensation for various types of accident-related loss and hardship. Your damages will be unique to your case and dependent on the extent and severity of your child’s injuries, but they will most likely fall within the following categories:

Economic Damages

Economic damages, sometimes termed special damages, compensate verifiable financial losses, like the money you have toward your child’s hospital bills, the costs of anticipated care, and any income you have lost as a result of the accident.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages, or general damages, compensate subjective forms of hardship, pain, and suffering. This includes financial relief for physical pain and suffering, emotional pain and suffering, disfigurement, scarring, and diminished earning potential.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are not compensatory. Instead, they are a form of punishment imposed on particularly negligent defendants. New York law sets very strict, very specific standards for punitive damages and when they may be awarded. Talk to a personal injury lawyer about whether your case could be eligible.

How the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. Could Help Your Family After a Serious School Zone Accident

You do not need a lawyer to obtain a police report, submit an insurance claim, or file a personal injury lawsuit. However, school zone accidents almost always involve very high stakes, not just for you but also for the defendants. Even if a bus driver or at-fault motorist cannot afford the best defense attorney in town, their multibillion-dollar insurance company may have an entire legal team that does nothing but poke holes in cases like yours.

Any mistake, oversight, or omission could prove costly. In a worst-case scenario, making the wrong move or saying the wrong thing could lead to your own words being used against you, leaving you and your family without enough money to break even, let alone support your child through a long and difficult recovery.

You do not have to take chances with your rights.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. has spent decades helping families in Syracuse and throughout Upstate New York push back against bullies and stand up to predatory insurance companies. We could help you:

1. Investigate the causes of your child’s school zone accident;
2. Identify the right defendants for your claim;
3. File the right paperwork and meet rigid court deadlines;
4. Initiate contact with insurance companies, police departments, and potential eyewitnesses;
5. Assess your economic and non-economic damages;
6. Determine if your case could be eligible for punitive damages;
7. Prevent critical evidence from being destroyed or becoming lost;
8. Lead insurance negotiations, giving you more time to spend with your family;
9. Develop a strong, experience-based plan to take your claim to trial; and
10. If we cannot reach a fair pre-trial settlement, we will take the defendants to court and argue your case before a judge and jury.

Since we work on a contingency-fee basis, we will never ask you or anyone in your family to pay upfront for our services. Instead, we will only take compensation as a percentage of your eventual settlement. We take on the costs of litigation, and we would not send you a bill for our time and effort if we cannot win. Please call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a school zone accident lawyer, schedule your free consultation, and find out how much your case could be worth.

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Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at 1-866-529-5334 so that our aggressive, tenacious, and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Syracuse, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!

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