Queens Passenger Injury

According to the Centers for Disease Control car accidents is the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 5-19. While teen drivers are at a higher risk of being killed in a car accident, in the majority of cases where a child is killed in a car accident the child was a passenger. Because of the speed and force that are often involved with car accidents, the injuries suffered by victims are often serious. For example, a passenger in a front see may suffer a traumatic brain injury after his or her head strikes the windshield or dashboard. A back seat passenger may suffer whiplash, a back or spinal cord injury, particularly in a rear end collision. Passengers are particularly vulnerable to side collisions where the impact is on the passenger side of the vehicle. These types of injuries are serious, requiring costly treatment and extended recovery periods. In some cases victims suffer permanent or fatal injuries. Fortunately, under New York law victims of car accidents are allowed to seek compensation from the person whose negligence resulted in the accident. If you are in need of a New York Injury Lawyer because you or a family member were a passenger injured in a car accident it is important to contact an experienced Queens Passenger Injury Lawyer who will help ensure that the person responsible for your losses is held accountable through a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

If you were a passenger in a vehicle and were injured in an accident caused you have the right to seek compensation for your medical expenses and other losses in the same way the driver of the car is entitled to seek damages. This is the case regardless of the cause of the accident—driver negligence, road hazard, or mechanical malfunction.

It is not usual for the person responsible for a car accident to be the driver of the car in which the injured passenger was riding. For example, the victim may be a spouse, child, parent or some other relative of the driver. Or, the victim may be a friend or co-worker. Filing a claim for personal injury against a friend or family member may be awkward. However, even though it may be uncomfortable to do so, passengers have the right under the law to seek compensation when they are injured because someone else was negligent. In most cases the negligent party's insurance will cover the losses.

Depending on the cause of the accident, the party legally responsible for injuries may be the driver of another vehicle, the driver of the vehicle in which you were a passenger, a government entity, or the manufacturer of the vehicle where the accident was caused by a mechanical defect. The types of compensation that you may be able to recover if you file a claim against the negligent person include:

• Medical expenses. Medical bills including bills from the hospital, your doctors, prescriptions and bills associated with medical equipment. Medical bills will include not only bills you accumulated at the time you filed your claim, but future medical bills if it is expected that your injury will require treatment well into the future.
• Lost wages. Lost wages includes not only loss of paychecks due to not being able to work, but also the value of lost benefits such as vacation and sick days.
• Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering includes not only your physical pain, but the emotional suffering that you had to go through because of your injuries.
• Wrongful death. If a loved was killed in the car accident, you may be able to pursue damages through a wrongful death action. Under New York law a decedent's representative may pursue financial compensation for emotional distress to family members, loss of income from the deceased, funeral expenses, medical bills and more.

Beware that New York law has a specific time limit for filing a claim in a personal injury case. If you do not file your claim within the time period, you will be forever barred from collecting damages even if your case has merit.

If you or a loved one was a passenger who was injured in a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation from all negligent parties, which may include the driver of the car you were riding in as well as the drivers of other vehicles involved. However, to ensure that your rights are protected it is vitally important that you are represented by someone with experience. The staff at Stephen Bilkis and Associates has years of experience successfully representing those injured in vehicle accidents. We will thoroughly investigate the accident by reviewing police reports, accident scene evidence, eyewitness accounts, cell phone records and social media postings. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your car accident.