The process of filing a personal injury claim in New York can be somewhat difficult to follow, especially if you have never filed or have been involved in a personal injury claim before. Moreover, the legal terms associated with personal injury claims can be hard to understand for injury victims and their families.
Whether a case goes to trial or settles out of court depends on the details of that particular case. Generally speaking, up to 95% of cases are settled before court proceedings begin; in other words, they don’t go to trial. Most personal injury cases in New York are settled during one of the pre-trial stages, where all involved parties meet before a judicial officer, or a trial judge, or a magistrate.
If you are involved in an accident in New York, the law requires you to stop at the scene and exchange relevant details with the other driver who was involved in the crash. You will have to provide your name, address, license information, and insurance details to them and also obtain the same details from them. However, it’s vital to realize that saying anything more than this, or arguing about the accident or making any kind of a statement can cause more harm than good.
In a busy and congested city like New York, accidents are very common, and these can have devastating consequences for the victims. Of all the types of injuries though, catastrophic injuries in NYC are the ones that have life-altering and long-term effects on not just the person who suffered the injury but also on their near and dear ones.
Traffic accidents kill close to 6,000 pedestrians in the US every year. On the congested streets of New York City, pedestrian accidents are even more common and crash data indicate that about 25 percent of all traffic-related fatalities and injuries in NYC involve pedestrians. While any type of road accident can be dangerous, pedestrian accidents are often devastating because those walking on the sidewalk have absolutely no personal protection, unlike the motorists who are sheltered inside their cars.
