In recent years, distracted driving has become the main cause of car accidents in New York. When someone is paying attention to their phone instead of the road, they make mistakes, and these mistakes can injure others. 

Dealing with the aftermath of an accident involving a driver who was texting can be overwhelming. You might face high medical bills, pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and injuries that stop you from working, or even doing normal daily tasks. Fortunately, a personal injury lawyer can help get you the compensation you need.

HOW DO YOU GET COMPENSATED IF INJURED BY A DRIVER WHO WAS TEXTING?

New York has a no-fault insurance system. That means every car insurance policy must contain at least fifty thousand dollars in Personal Injury Protection, or PIP benefits. These benefits are available to cover your car accident injuries no matter who is at fault. For minor accidents, your PIP benefits may be all you need.

However, PIP benefits have limits. The most obvious limit is the policy limit, which is fifty thousand dollars for most policies. This usually isn’t enough to cover severe injuries. Also, PIP only covers medical bills, time off work, and physical therapy bills. It does not cover pain and suffering, trauma, or disabilities, which are common after major car accidents.

For more serious injuries, you may have to file a lawsuit against the driver who caused the accident.

SUING THE DRIVER WHO WAS TEXTING

The main issue in most personal injury cases is whether the person who caused the injury was negligent. In other words, was that person acting with a reasonable level of care? Driving while texting or calling is generally considered to be negligent.

There are several ways to show a driver was distracted by a cell phone. It’s possible to get the driver’s phone records to prove they were texting or calling at the time of the accident. Eyewitnesses may be able to testify that they saw the other driver looking at their phone instead of the road. Street or store surveillance cameras may have captured the driver texting when the accident occurred. Or, the driver may admit at the scene of the accident that they were texting. Every case is different, and a good lawyer can sift through all the evidence and find the best way to prove the case.

Most cases settle rather than going to trial, but having a stronger case usually makes the other driver, or their insurer, willing to pay more in the settlement.

It’s important to note that New York usually doesn’t allow lawsuits against someone who texted or called the other driver. So, your main sources of compensation for a texting-while-driving accident will be your own PIP policy and a lawsuit against the other driver.

WHO SHOULD YOU CONTACT IF YOU’VE BEEN INJURED BY A TEXTING DRIVER

If you or a loved one have been injured by a driver who was texting, contact Rosenblum Law for a free consultation today. Our experienced personal injury lawyers will assess your case and find the best strategy to get you all the compensation you deserve.

Car accidents can be very expensive. Between damage to your car, hospital bills, time off work, physical therapy, and long-term pain and suffering or disability, the costs add up quickly.

One of the most common questions we, as personal injury lawyers, get is: “How much compensation will I receive?” Every case is different, and there’s no way to say with certainty how much a person will get for their injury. But, in this video, I’ll go over some of the factors we use to estimate how much a victim might get in a settlement.

WHERE DOES ACCIDENT COMPENSATION COME FROM?

In the vast majority of cases, someone injured in a car accident will end up dealing with a car insurance company. New York has a no-fault car insurance system, which means every car insurance policy comes with Personal Injury Protection, or PIP coverage. PIP covers your injuries no matter who was at fault.

PIP settlements are easier to calculate. PIP only covers what the law calls economic losses, which include medical bills, lost time at work, and physical therapy. So, figuring out what you would get from your PIP policy just involves adding up your medical bills and what you would have made if you’d been able to work instead of being at home or in a medical facility  recovering.

WHAT IF PIP ISN’T ENOUGH?

PIP has some limits. The default policy limit is only $50,000, meaning unless you paid for extra coverage, you can never get more than $50,000. Plus, PIP doesn’t cover things like pain and suffering, disability, lifestyle changes, or emotional trauma. This means PIP may not provide you with all the compensation you’ll need.

If PIP isn’t enough to cover your costs, you’ll need to sue the other driver and collect from their car insurance policy’s bodily injury coverage. These sorts of settlements are much harder to estimate than PIP amounts. The main factors in determining how much compensation you can get are how much fault the other driver had in the accident, how severe your injuries are, and the other driver’s insurance policy limit.

Most personal injury cases end in settlements, not trials, so we usually don’t need to prove to a jury the other driver was at fault. However, insurance companies mainly settle because they’re afraid of losing at trial. The more likely it is the other driver was at fault, the bigger the settlement will be.

The other big factor is how severe your injuries are. Usually, insurance companies measure this by medical bills. A settlement will generally be based on the dollar value of your medical bills, multiplied by a number between 2 and 5, to compensate for things like pain and suffering. The more life-changing the injury, the higher the number used as a multiplier. While insurance companies normally use software to calculate the settlements, a good personal injury lawyer can usually negotiate up from there.

Finally, the other driver’s policy limit can limit your compensation. Insurers won’t pay out more than their contract requires them to, and the other driver probably won’t have enough money to pay out of pocket.

WHO SHOULD YOU CONTACT IF YOU’VE BEEN INJURED IN A CAR ACCIDENT?

If you’ve been injured in an accident and you need help getting compensated, contact Rosenblum Law for a free consultation today. We’ll walk you through the process and make sure you get as much compensation as possible.