As one of the busiest states in the nation, the New York highway system sees millions of people every day. Accidents are bound to happen. Many times, accidents are caused by someone being negligent or even careless in their driving habits.
Many accidents in New York happen during merges. Entering or leaving the highway, changing lanes, these are common ways that even the safest drivers can end up misjudging an opening and causing a collision. Another frequent issue is the person in the traffic flow speeds up or slows down to prevent the merge. This sort of aggression is frequently seen.
I-278 is a 34-mile long highway that runs through New Jersey and into the Queens and Brooklyn areas. It is frequently heavily congested and is up to 6 lanes wide in each direction at some points. As it runs through different areas it has many names, and many of those portions are also toll roads. I-278 is famous for being one of the most congested highways in the entire NYC metro area. All of this means very simply that Interstate 278 through New York has an enormous volume of car crashes, particularly while merging or changing lanes.
New York is one of only a dozen states or territories that adhere to a “no-fault” insurance system. This means that unless your case meets certain “thresholds” of either value or verbal description, you cannot bring suit against the other party. With that in mind, New York does use comparative negligence. So even if you were partly to blame, you may still be eligible to collect damages.
If you are eligible to file a personal injury claim based on your circumstances, then you should do so quickly, as New York has a 3-year statute of limitations, or even just 90 days, if a state or government employee caused them.
While your legal counsel will let you know exactly what you will need to produce for a strong claim, some ideas for what paperwork and evidence that may help you are:
Only hiring an experienced local attorney will give you access to expert legal advice, evaluate the total damages, and negotiate the terms. They can help you understand your full rights and assist you in receiving the compensation you deserve.
Still have questions or want to know what to do next after an accident? Contact us using the button below and we’ll walk you through the entire process of filing a claim and getting the compensation you deserve.
