Queens Road Hazards Accident

While there are many reasons for car accidents, road hazards such as debris, potholes, and construction are fairly common. Anything that is in the path of traffic can lead to an accident since drivers may slow down unexpectedly, hit the hazard or swerve to avoid the hazard. Such an accident can cause not only extensive damage to your vehicle, but could result in you, your passenger, or occupants of other vehicles to suffer serious injuries. For example, a victim of such an accident may suffer a severe blow to the head resulting in a traumatic brain injury such as a severe concussion. In other cases a victim may suffer broken bones or a back or spinal cord injury. These types of injuries involve long recovery times, with the victim being unable to work for weeks or even months. This puts the victim and his or her family in financial jeopardy. However, under New York law victims of vehicle accidents are allowed to seek compensation from the person or entity whose negligence resulted in the car accident. If you are in need of a New York Injury Lawyer because you or a family member was injured in a car accident caused by a road hazard, it is important to contact an experienced Queens Road Hazards Accidents Lawyer who will help ensure that the party responsible for your losses is held accountable in a personal injury or wrongful death claim.

There are many different types of hazards that a driver may encounter on New York roads and highways, such as:

• Road debris. Debris in a road can be quite dangerous to vehicles and their occupants. Debris sometimes falls onto the road when a load on a truck or on top of a car is not properly secured. In other instances debris such as a tree or utility pole may end up on a road after a storm. If debris unexpectedly appears in the path of a vehicle traveling on a highway at a high speed, there is as good possibility that the driver will end up in a collision after striking the debris or after swerving to avoid the debris.
• Potholes. Potholes are a major problem in New York. Cars often swerve to avoid large potholes, and as a result collide with other vehicles, or end up off the road in ditch. In other cases cars run over a deep pothole, causing the driver and passengers to suffer injuries from the impact.
• Construction zones. Construction zones are inherently dangerous. Large, slow-moving vehicles entering in and out of traffic are hazardous to oncoming traffic. In addition, constructions workers often walk dangerously close to traffic, posing yet another hazard.

New York law gives injured victims the right to see compensation from the negligent party. Depending on the type of hazard the defendant in a personal injury claim could be another driver or a government entity. The types of compensation that you may be able to recover if you file a claim against the negligent person include:

• Medical expenses. The person responsible for the accident that caused your injuries may be required to pay for your medical expenses. This would include medical bills you accumulated prior to filing your claim as well as future medical expenses related to the treatment of your injury.
• Lost wages. Even a relatively minor accident may cause you to miss time at work. The person responsible may be required to pay the wages you lost. If you end up using earned sick days or vacation days, you may be entitled to receive compensation for those days. Furthermore, if as a result of your injury your earning potential declined, you may be able to recover damages for loss of future earning capacity.
• Pain and suffering. Another potential source of damages that you may be entitled to receive is pain and suffering. In the context of a personal injury claim, pain and suffering refers to physical pain as well as emotional distress.
• Property damage. The person whose negligence caused the accident may also be responsible for damage to your vehicle or other property.
• Wrongful death. If a family member was killed in the accident, the law allows the decedent's personal representative to seek damages through a wrongful death claim

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. In addition, if the party responsible for your injury was a government entity then there are special procedures you must follow to file a claim.

If you were injured in a car accident caused by a road hazard, it is important to contact an attorney who not only has experience representing victims of car accidents, but is also familiar with the medical issues victims of such accidents experience. The staff at Stephen Bilkis and Associates has extensive experience representing clients injured in car accidents, construction accidents, truck accidents, as well as other types of accidents. Contact us at 800.696.9529 to schedule a free, no obligation consultation regarding your car accident.