Common Car Accident Injuries

Car accidents really can happen in the blink of an eye.

If you live in New York, no-fault insurance provides something of a financial cushion. However, a standard policy is rarely enough to cover all the costs of a life-altering accident. If you have sustained serious injuries in a crash that was not your fault, you could be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit against the person or party who caused your collision.

Here is what you need to know about:

The Serious Injury Threshold

New York is a no-fault state.

The no-fault insurance law was designed to keep drivers out of court. If you are injured in an accident, you are typically entitled to claim benefits through your own policy, irrespective of who was or was not found at-fault. However, legislators recognized almost immediately that insurance benefits sometimes fall short. To ensure that nobody is forced to pay out of pocket for an accident that was not their fault, state law provides a critical exception to the standard no-fault rule. This is sometimes termed the “serious injury threshold.”

New York Ins. Law § 1502(d) defines a serious injury as any one or more of the following:

1. A fractured or broken bone;
2. The loss of a fetus;
3. The permanent loss of a body organ, member, function, or system;
4. Permanent “consequential” limitation of the use of a body organ or member;
5. Significant limitation of use of a body function or system, whether temporarily or permanently; and
6. A personal injury that results in death, whether at the time of the accident or as the result of accident-related injuries.

If you have sustained an injury that fits any of these definitions, you could have standing to sue the driver who caused your crash.

5 Common Accident Injuries That Could Let You File A Car Crash Lawsuit

The serious injury threshold may seem restrictive, but its definitions are not quite as rigid as they might appear. You could be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit if you have been diagnosed with any one or more of the following conditions:

1. A broken or fractured bone. Even small fractures typically involve long recovery times and entail some measure of sacrifice. You might have to take time off from work or spend months bouncing back and forth between your house, the doctor’s office, and physical rehabilitation. This can take a serious toll not only on your finances but your mental health, too.

 

2. Soft tissue damage. Soft tissue damage is a type of injury affecting your muscles, ligaments, or tendons. Some soft tissue injuries, like bruising, do not always meet the serious injury threshold, but others like a third-degree strain or sprain almost always do.

 

3. A back or spinal cord injury. Back and spinal cord injuries can be debilitating and, in a worst-case scenario, lead to permanent disability.

 

4. A traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injuries vary immensely in severity, but even a low-grade concussion could be considered a serious injury. This is because concussions, while not always painful or overtly impactful, can cause long-term neurological damage. Furthermore, sustaining a single TBI could raise your lifetime risk of getting another.

 

5. Whiplash is a chronic and potentially complex condition that can cause pain and discomfort for days, weeks, or months after an accident. Symptoms can take time to show up, but once they start to appear, they can linger for years, sometimes hounding survivors for the remainder of their lives.

If you think you could have a case, do not delay: contact the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. today to schedule your free consultation and find out how much your case could be worth.

Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at 1-716-839-3939 so that our aggressive, tenacious, and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Buffalo, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!