T-Bone Collisions and Intersection Accidents Lawyer in Bronx

Car Crash Lawyers Serving the Injured in the Bronx and New York City

T-bone accidents are side-impact collisions in which one car strikes the other to form a “T.” These often occur at intersections and are more likely than some types of accidents to result in catastrophic injuries or death to an occupant of the vehicle who is sitting on the side that is struck. If you have been injured in a T-bone collision or intersection accident, it is crucial to talk to a Bronx car accident attorney. At Jesse Minc Personal Injury Law, our skillful trial attorneys can evaluate your case and may be able to represent you in a lawsuit to secure compensation for your injuries beyond what no-fault insurance provides.

T-Bone Collisions and Intersection Accidents Can Cause Serious Injuries

In some accidents, the occupants of a vehicle have time to brace for the impact because they can see it coming. However, a T-bone collision usually comes as a complete shock because the striking vehicle approaches from the side, allowing very little, if any, reaction time to prepare for an impact. When a T-bone crash is caused by another driver’s negligence, and causes injuries that are sufficiently serious to clear the serious injury threshold inherent in the No-Fault Law, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to secure compensation for your injuries and any expenses that you have incurred as a result of the car accident.

Under New York law, an injured car accident victim can only recover damages if the other driver’s negligence can be proven in court. To prove negligence, you will need to show a few specific elements: the other driver’s duty toward you, a breach of duty, causation, and actual damages in the form of physical injuries and economic losses directly related to these injuries. In some cases, liability in a T-bone collision is clear. For example, imagine a situation in which a driver runs a red light and causes a T-bone crash with your car that is lawfully in the intersection with the right of way. In such a circumstance, a skilled Bronx car accident lawyer will point to New York Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1110(a), and will show that the other driver was negligent in failing to stop at the red light, thus causing the car accident. Demonstrating a violation of a statute such as the VTL can create “negligence per se”, allowing for a finding of negligence as a matter of law by a judge, rather than by a jury at trial. The advantage to a finding of negligence per se is that, at trial, the jury will be instructed that the defendant is responsible for the accident, leaving only the question of the value of your injuries for its determination.

In other situations, liability for an intersection accident is not as clear. For example, at an uncontrolled intersection (i.e., an intersection lacking a stop sign or traffic signal), two drivers may misinterpret who has the right of way, leading both to proceed into the intersection at the same time and cause a crash. In such a case, fault may be determined by weighing the testimony of the parties and witnesses, which essentially is a game of “he-said-she-said” without more evidence. In these cases, a skilled Bronx car accident lawyer will recognize that the opinion of an accident reconstruction expert is necessary to investigate what contributed to the accident and who was at fault. The accident reconstruction expert can look at the damage to the vehicles, debris, skid marks, eyewitness testimony, and other evidence to determine fault. Our firm believes in making investments in expert opinions such as accident reconstruction experts to ensure that the proper proof – beyond a mere “he-said-she-said” allegation of fault – is put before the court to ensure that our car accident clients have the best possible chance of obtaining the compensation that they deserve in their T-bone car accident case.

Sometimes both the plaintiff and the defendant are each partially to blame for an accident. A plaintiff’s negligence, if proven to have partially caused an accident, can result in their damages being reduced by an amount equal to their level of fault. For example, if the total damages awarded by a jury are equal to $400,000, but the plaintiff was found to have been 25% at fault for the accident, they will be able to recover only $300,000 from a defendant who was found to have been 75% at fault in causing the accident. This concept is known as “comparative negligence”, and our firm offers free consultations to teach you about how comparative negligence may apply to your car accident case. If we accept your case, we will work tirelessly to minimize your degree of fault and thereby maximize the compensation that you may receive if you are injured in a car accident in the Bronx or elsewhere in New York City.

Numerous serious injuries may arise as a result of a T-bone or intersection accident, including traumatic brain injuries, shoulder injuries, burns, scars, disfigurement, neck injuries, organ damage, psychological injuries such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The severity of these injuries often depends on where the victim was sitting and the speed and direction of travel of the cars at the moment of impact. Often, the injuries to a victim on the side where the car was struck are more serious and catastrophic because there is very little buffer zone between the victim and the impact, and the direct impact and force of the collision is fully absorbed by the body of the accident victim.

Damages that may be recovered in a T-bone car accident lawsuit include economic and noneconomic losses, such as medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, required household services, required medical equipment, and the costs of physical therapy and rehabilitation. When injuries are fatal, it may be possible to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the party at fault. In a wrongful death lawsuit, you can recover compensation for the decedent’s conscious pain and suffering (i.e., the pain and suffering that the deceased accident victim experienced in the moments prior to their death), funeral expenses, health care expenses associated with attempting to treat the fatal injuries, the economic loss suffered by the surviving family members (i.e., the wages and economic contributions that the deceased victim made to the family while they were alive), and the loss of love and parental guidance to any surviving children.

Contact Our Team of Expert Car Accident Lawyers Today for a Free Consultation

If you are seriously injured in a T-bone collision or intersection accident caused by distracted driving or another form of negligence, you must hire aggressive litigators who will fight for your rights to compensation so that you may attempt to put your life back together after a catastrophic crash. Our firm is selective both in the cases that it chooses and the attorneys whom it hires so that you can be sure that the proper amount and quality of resources, care and attention is being applied to your case at all times. Our success rate is more than 95% for the car accident lawsuits that we handle. When you work with us, you have direct access to our attorneys. You do not need to communicate with us solely through paralegals and secretaries, as you may at other firms. We pride ourselves on having a human touch, and in making our clients feel that they have an advocate fighting for them when they are injured. For a free consultation and no-obligation investigation of your case by our attorneys, call us at (718) 354-8000 or contact us through our online form. We represent injured people in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties.