Buffalo Personal Injury Lawyer NewsHow To Obtain A Copy Of Your Police Accident Report
Suppose you were involved in a car crash and need to make an insurance claim or file a lawsuit. In that case, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s top rated attorneys recommend obtaining a copy of the corresponding police report, also referred to as a police accident report. You can do this by going to the responding officer’s precinct and asking for it in person. The police department should be located in the jurisdiction where the accident occurred. However, you may be able to save yourself a trip by calling in advance to confirm. A copy of the police report will usually be provided for free. While it may be available immediately, sometimes it can take up to 30 days.
You can also request a copy online if you cannot go in person. The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) allows online requests for police reports. For electronically filed police reports, you should allow at least 14 days from the date of the accident. The DMV maintains accident reports for four years from the date of the incident. Although reports involving accidents where no one suffered injury or property damage exceeding $1,000 are not available online, you can obtain one by mailing in a Request for Copy of Accident Report (MV-198C).
What Will I Need To Retrieve My Police Report?
Suppose that you, or a family member, have been injured in an accident caused by another person’s negligence or recklessness. You may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit. Pursuing a case against the responsible party could be your only means to recover compensation. However, you only have a limited time to file your claim. The deadline is known as the statute of limitations (SOL). The statute of limitations, like a countdown, can significantly impact when or even if you can pursue your case. Regardless of the strength of your claim, when the statute of limitations runs out, your case will be considered time-barred. Meaning the defendant can assert that the statute of limitations has run out and ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit on that basis alone.
Driving is the most dangerous activity the average American performs multiple times daily. When most people get behind the wheel, the thought of getting into a car accident never even crosses their minds. Drivers are more focused on reaching their destinations quickly. However, motorists are exposed to varying risks during their commutes depending on the time of day, day of the week, and time of the year. While the last thing any driver wants is to be seriously injured in a crash, car accidents are a part of driving.
Cement trucks transport wet cement to construct foundations, buildings, and driveways. When transporting cement, these massive trucks can weigh over 60,000 pounds. Since the weight of a concrete truck is disproportionately located in the mixing drum, these vehicles tend to be highly top-heavy. As a result, cement trucks have a rollover rate ten times higher than cars. When concrete truck drivers cause accidents, occupants of other vehicles risk suffering devastating injuries or worse. Every time a trucker slams on the brakes or makes a sharp turn, they place others in significant danger. Although collisions are bound to happen, many cement truck crashes occur because trucking companies, inattentive construction companies, or negligent truckers lack oversight.
A foodborne illness, also known as food poisoning, is any sickness caused by eating contaminated food. Over 200 diseases, from diarrhea to pancreatic cancer, are spread through tainted food. Everyone involved in the food cycle, including producers, processors, wholesalers, distributors, grocery stores, and restaurants, must take every necessary precaution to keep food safe. 
Suppose you or a loved one have suffered devastating injuries in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence. In that case, you must understand all of the legal options available to recover damages. Although accident victims have the right to take their injury claims to court under New York law, most lawsuits get settled without going to trial. Contrary to what most people think, only about 3 percent of all cases go to court. 
Western New Yorkers finally get a chance to enjoy some nice weather during the summer months. Many locales flock to swimming pools to cool off as the weather heats up. Pools provide an excellent way for parents to keep their kids entertained while swimming or relaxing in the sun. Unfortunately, a lovely pool day can become a tragic nightmare when pool owners fail to provide basic safety precautions or children are left unsupervised. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around ten victims lose their lives daily in unintentional drownings. When a loved one suffers injury or drowns in a pool, the property owner can be held responsible for the damages.
We have all heard stories about collisions involving motorists driving towards oncoming traffic in the wrong lane. Wrong-way car accidents occur when a car driving in an inappropriate direction strikes another vehicle. Typically, wrong-way car accidents result in head-on collisions. These car crashes occur more often than most people would think and usually bring about devastating injuries and deaths. In a recent 8-year period, nearly 3,900 fatal injuries were caused by wrong-way crashes. 
Between 1953 and 1987, over one million Marines, military contractors, and their families living or working at Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River may have been exposed to toxic chemicals through water contamination. Military officials were aware of the tainted water as early as the 1950s. Still, they chose to ignore it and even failed to warn those on base. Although multidistrict litigation (MDL) was formed to streamline Camp Lejeune water claims, in 2016, a judge dismissed roughly 850 lawsuits under the Federal Torts Claims Act. Later in 2019, the Secretary of the Navy denied all remaining civil claims, which left approximately 4,500 plaintiffs with claims exceeding $963 billion in damages without compensation. 
In a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, the plaintiff may be eligible to obtain damages for their losses resulting from a defendant’s negligence. These damages are typically compensatory, meaning that they are designed to compensate victims for their actual injuries. Compensatory damages can be economic and non-economic, such as medical expenses, physical therapy costs, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment, and loss of consortium.