Motor Vehicle Litigation

When liability is contested then it is necessary to start a lawsuit. The Defendant has the right to respond to the complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that should a jury find that you are responsible for an accident the amount of damages you will be reduced according to your percentage of blame. This rule does not apply to the owners of vehicles that are rented out or leased to minors.

Duty of Care

In a case of negligence the plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed a duty of care towards them. The majority of people owe this obligation to everyone else, however those who take the steering wheel of a motor vehicle are obligated to others in their area of activity. This includes ensuring that they don't cause motor vehicle accidents.

Courtrooms evaluate an individual's behavior with what a normal person would do under similar conditions to determine a reasonable standard of care. This is why expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical negligence. Experts with more experience in the field could be held to a higher standard of medical care.

A breach of a person's duty of care may cause injury to a victim or their property. The victim then has to demonstrate that the defendant did not fulfill their duty and caused the harm or damage they sustained. Proving causation is a critical element in any negligence case, and it involves considering both the actual basis of the injury or damages and the proximate reason for the injury or damage.

If a driver is caught running an intersection, they are likely to be hit by another vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll be responsible for the repairs. But the reason for the crash might be a cut on a brick that later develops into a deadly infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second element of negligence that needs to be proved in order to secure compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of the person at fault do not match what an ordinary person would do in similar circumstances.

For instance, a physician has several professional obligations to his patients that are governed by laws of the state and licensing boards. Drivers are bound to protect other motorists as well as pedestrians, motor vehicle accident and to follow traffic laws. When a driver breaches this obligation of care and creates an accident, he is accountable for the injury suffered by the victim.

Lawyers can rely on the "reasonable person" standard to prove the existence of the duty of care and then demonstrate that the defendant did not satisfy the standard through his actions. The jury will determine if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the defendant's breach of duty was the primary cause of the injuries. This can be more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty or breach. For instance, a defendant may have run a red light but it's likely that his or her actions wasn't the main cause of your bike crash. The issue of causation is often challenged in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In motor vehicle-related cases, the plaintiff must prove a causal link between the breach of the defendant and their injuries. For instance, if the plaintiff sustained an injury to the neck as a result of a rear-end collision and their lawyer would argue that the collision was the cause of the injury. Other factors that contributed to the collision, like being in a stationary vehicle are not considered to be culpable and won't affect the jury's determination of the fault.

It can be difficult to establish a causal relationship between a negligent act, and the psychological symptoms of the plaintiff. The fact that the plaintiff suffered from a a troubled childhood, poor relationship with his or her parents, experimented with alcohol and drugs or prior unemployment could have a impact on the severity of the psychological issues he or she suffers after an accident, however, the courts typically view these elements as part of the background circumstances from which the plaintiff's accident occurred, rather than as an independent reason for the injuries.

If you've been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident it is crucial to speak with an experienced attorney. The attorneys at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury, commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent physicians in many specialties as well as expert witnesses in computer simulations and accident reconstruction.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a person can recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages is any monetary expenses that can be easily added up and calculated as a sum, such as medical expenses and lost wages, property repair, and even future financial losses such as diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment of life which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. These damages must be established through extensive evidence such as depositions from family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, courts will often use comparative fault rules to determine the amount of damages that should be divided between them. The jury will determine the proportion of fault each defendant is accountable for the incident, and divide the total amount of damages awarded by the percentage. However, New York law 1602 excludes vehicle owners from the rule of comparative negligence in the event of injuries suffered by drivers of trucks or cars. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption that permissive use applies is complicated, and typically only a clear evidence that the owner has explicitly did not have permission to operate his vehicle will be able to overcome it.