Manhattan Subway Accident

The New York subway system is among the most efficient and technologically advanced in the world. Millions of people travel in subway trains throughout Manhattan and other parts of New York each day. It is not surprising that given the massive size of the New York subway system and the volume of people who ride it, accidents do occur, resulting in significant injuries. Some accidents occur on the trains or on the tracks, while others occur in the stations, stairways, or on the platforms. Injuries from subway accidents can be traumatic, including injuries to the spine, back, brain, neck, and head. If you were seriously injured in a subway accident, you deserve to be compensated for your loss. Contact an experienced Manhattan subway accident lawyer to learn more about how you can obtain just compensation for your injuries.

Common causes of subway accidents

While most people feel that subway travel is safe, no form of public transportation in any city can boast a perfect safety record. There are a number of ways that a victim can be injured while in the subway, including:

• Operator error, including speeding, braking errors, and ignoring signals
• Intoxicated operators
• Poor train maintenance
• Malfunctioning subway train doors causing injury while boarding or getting of a train
• Falling from platform onto the tracks and being struck by a train or being electrocuted
• Falling in between the train and the platform. For example, Pamela Blechman seriously injured her angle when she fell into the gap between a subway train and the platform at the 14th Street-Union Square subway station. Blechman v. N.Y.C. Transit Auth., 2014 NY Slip Op 30716 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., 2014)
• Injury from the train stopping abruptly
• Poor security leading to criminal assaults
• Poor lighting in stations, on platforms, and in stairways, resulting in falls, and assaults
• Broken escalators
• Hazard on train, platform, in station or on stairs such as ice, water, or broken surface leading to falls

Pursuing a claim for a subway accident injury

Whether the accident occurred in the station, on the platform, or on a subway train, if you were injured in a subway train-related accident due to negligence or an intentional act, you have the right to demand compensation from the negligent person. In the case of a subway accident compensable losses are your past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and your pain and suffering.

• Medical expenses: All of the medical expenses related to treating your injury are compensable losses. Because you may not know the total costs of your treatment as the time that you file your personal injury claim, it is important that you demand compensation for both your past medical expenses and your estimated future medical expenses.
• Lost wages: Because serious injuries require time to recover- sometimes several months, you will not be able to return to work for some time. This means that your income will drastically decrease, causing your family to face financial challenges. Lost wages such as missed paychecks and other lost compensation are compensable losses.
• Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering compensation is meant to address the fact when a victim is injured in a subway accident, the victim suffers more than economic losses such as medical expenses and lost wages. The victim also suffers the emotional pain of facing extreme and sometimes chronic pain and permanent disability.

It is important to understand that when filling a personal injury claim that names a government entity such as the transit authority as the defendant, there are special procedures that must be followed. This makes it even more important and urgent that you contact an experienced New York subway accident lawyer to ensure that all procedural requirements are followed.

Contact the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates

Subway accident cases are extremely complicated and may involve governmental entities as well as private companies and private citizens as defendants. This means that complex procedural rules and timelines that only apply when suing the government must be followed. To make sure that your case is properly handled it is critical that you are represented by attorneys with experience handling personal injury cases where the government is involved. Contact the Law Offices of Stephen Bilkis & Associates to discuss the details of your case. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your case. We represent clients in the following locations: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, Nassau County, Queens, Staten Island, Suffolk County and Westchester County.