Head-On Car Accident Lawyers Helping Victims in the Bronx and New York City
Among all of the various types of car accidents, head-on collisions are quite rare. When this type of accident does occur, however, it almost always results in serious injuries that leave car accident victims disabled for life. Head-on collisions are also more likely to be fatal than many other types of car accidents, and are often caused by reckless or grossly negligent conduct such as falling asleep at the wheel or passing another vehicle by crossing over a double-yellow line. Head-on collisions can also be the result of dangerous roadway designs such as by a failure to provide adequate traffic control signals or failing to properly mark the roadway so as to maintain and protect traffic in a safe manner. If you are injured or a loved one is killed as a result of a head-on collision, the experienced Bronx car accident attorneys at Jesse Minc Personal Injury Law are standing by to help you obtain the compensation that will be needed to put your life back together after such a catastrophic accident.
Take Legal Action to Protect Your Rights After a Head-On Collision
Reasons for the occurrence of head-on collisions vary, but often include driving while texting, driving while drunk, driving at a recklessly high speed, falling asleep at the wheel, or trying to pass in a no-passing zone or by crossing over a double-yellow line. The severity of a head-on collision is always greater than that of other types of car accidents due to the “force multiplier” effect. For example, when a rear-end accident occurs between a stopped vehicle and one approaching it from behind at 50 miles per hour, the total amount of force involved in the accident is the mass of the moving vehicle multiplied by 50 miles per hour. However, in a head-on crash wherein two cars are driving toward each other at 50 miles per hour and collide head-on, the force of the collision is multiplied by 100 miles per hour, rather than 50 miles per hour, because both cars are moving towards each other at the moment of impact. A head-on collision wherein each vehicle is moving at 50 miles per hour generates a force similar to a rear-end accident in which one driver is stopped and the other driver is moving at 100 miles per hour. For this reason, the injuries that result from a head-on collision are often catastrophic, leading to injuries such as paralysis and traumatic brain injuries and leave victims totally disabled and unable to take care of themselves. These injuries will almost always exhaust the no fault insurance benefits that may be available, and will require a car accident lawsuit to obtain compensation as no-fault will not be sufficient.
As with any car accident case, you will need to prove a defendant’s negligence to obtain compensation, no matter how serious your injuries may be. Negligence is established by proving that it is likely that the defendant owed you a duty of care, breached this duty, and caused your injuries and damages. In New York head-on collision accidents, negligence is often established by demonstrating that the defendant driver violated a section of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (the “VTL”). In some cases, perhaps most cases, liability for a head-on collision is clear. For example, if a drunk driver turns the wrong way on a one-way street and collides head-on with your vehicle as you proceed down the same street in the correct direction, a jury is almost certain to find that the defendant is negligent and 100% responsible for the crash. In such a case, an experienced Bronx head-on car accident lawyer would point to the defendant’s violation of VTL Section 1127(a), a statute that provides that drivers must only drive on one-way streets in the correct direction, to prove negligence and ensure entitlement to compensation for this egregious head-on collision. In addition to the VTL, there are often applicable local rules and ordinances such as the New York City Department of Transportation’s Highway Rules, violations of which can serve as evidence of negligence, rather than negligence per se as with violations of the VTL.
Sometimes a head-on collision is a result of improper traffic signals or markings. Dangerous roadway design can result in a serious head-on collision because the drivers on the roadway cannot tell whether or not a roadway is a one-way street, or cannot tell whether or not there is a dividing line between lanes of traffic, due to the absence of appropriate traffic signals or lane markings on the roadway. In these cases, it may be possible to hold the owner of the roadway – usually a governmental entity such as the City of New York – liable for the accident. To learn more about how dangerous and defective roadway designs may entitle you to compensation if you are injured in a head-on collision, contact our firm today for a free consultation.
Types of compensation that may be available to you if you are injured in a head-on collision often depend on the severity of your injuries. For example, the types of damages available after suffering spinal cord injuries may be different from those available for burn injuries. Generally, head-on collision accident damages include medical expenses, lost income, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, lost enjoyment of life, expenses for required household services, expenses for necessary medical equipment, and the costs of therapy and rehabilitation.
If a loved one was killed in a head-on collision, it may be possible to recover wrongful death damages. Among other things, you may be able to recover damages for your loved one’s conscious pain and suffering and fear of impending death as the other car approached head-on, in addition to the economic loss suffered by all next of kin as a result of the death of a family member in a head-on car accident.
Hire Expert Head-On Car Crash Lawyers in the Bronx and New York City
If you are seriously injured or a loved one is killed in a head-on collision in New York City, you should hire an experienced trial attorney. Choosing the right law firm is key to success in obtaining compensation that is rightfully yours. Our firm is extremely selective in the cases that we pursue because we want to ensure that every case receives the proper amount of time, attention and resources necessary to make our clients whole after a catastrophic accident. We hire lawyers from Top 20 nationally-ranked law schools who are nationally recognized and honored for being at the top of their field, and our reputation among car accident lawyers in our area is impeccable. Our success rate in head-on collision accident lawsuits is greater than 95%, and we attribute this success to our attention to detail and a willingness to risk our own money to ensure that our clients’ cases are properly proven. For a free consultation and no-obligation investigation of your case, call us at (718) 354-8000 or contact us through our online form. Jesse Minc Personal Injury Law represents injured residents of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties