Car accidents can be extremely damaging, not only to your health but to your finances as well. Receiving compensation for your injuries is essential to help you heal and recover. If you were injured in a car accident in Newark, NJ, hiring a skilled lawyer can help you receive the compensation you need.
After a car accident in Newark, NJ, it is important to enlist the help of an experienced attorney. Even if you are not certain about pursuing litigation, hiring a lawyer can help you understand your options as a victim. Your attorney will aim to prove fault against a negligent driver and recover significant damages to compensate for your injuries.
The Newark, NJ car accident lawyers at Legal Care can help you get the compensation you deserve. Our team can represent your interests in a lawsuit against a negligent driver. For a free case review, visit our website or call the Newark car accident lawyers at Legal Care today at (732) 838-9769.
When to Hire a Newark, NJ Car Accident Lawyer
Being injured in a car accident in Newark can be frightening. Car accidents can be very dangerous and may result in severe injuries. Some car accident victims may decide to hire an attorney once they realize the high cost of their medical bills and the financial impact of their lost wages. However, hiring a Newark, NJ car accident lawyer immediately after a collision can help you understand your options as a victim.
Waiting too long to hire a lawyer after a car accident in Newark can prevent you from getting quick access to compensation. In Newark, the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit against a negligent driver is two years. If you wait too long, you might lose your right to sue.
In Newark, like in the rest of New Jersey, car accident victims are only permitted to file a lawsuit against a responsible driver if their injuries are permanent or severely debilitating. Since New Jersey is a no-fault state, victims may believe that they do not have the right to sue at all. Unfortunately, by the time they realize they can file a lawsuit, they may have become overwhelmed with the financial difficulties caused by a car accident.
Hiring an attorney, like the Newark car accident lawyers at Legal Care, can help victims understand their legal options. Waiting to hire an attorney could cause you to lose your right to sue. After a car accident, it is important to get the medical care you need without worrying about the cost. Receiving fast compensation for your injuries by quickly hiring an attorney can help you recover the damages you deserve.
How to Prove Fault with a Newark, NJ Car Accident Lawyer
It is not always simple to prove fault in a car accident lawsuit in Newark, New Jersey. Of course, if another driver acted with egregious neglect, like running a red light, it would be clear who is at fault. However, it can be hard to prove that the responsible driver is, in fact, responsible. To do so, you will need the help of a skilled lawyer.
When proving fault, your attorney will attempt to show that another driver’s negligent actions led to a collision, which caused your injuries. Responsible attorneys, like the Newark, NJ car accident lawyers at Legal Care, can thoroughly investigate the events of an accident to correctly assign blame to a defendant. It can be useful for your attorney to have access to police crash reports. While these reports may not be classified as evidence in a lawsuit, they can help your attorney gain insight into the collision. Calling the police to the scene of an accident can create documentation of an event that may be useful to your attorney in the future.
When each driver operates a vehicle, they assume a duty of care. This means that they must abide by the traffic laws and regulations of Newark, NJ. If neglect of those rules caused an accident that resulted in severe injury to you, then the responsible driver breached their duty of care. Your dedicated attorney will attempt to prove the fault of a negligent driver so that you can receive compensation for your injuries.
Recovering Damages with a Newark, NJ Car Accident Lawyer
In Newark, NJ, all drivers are required to have proper insurance. New Jersey is a no-fault state, meaning that drivers are largely responsible for covering their own medical expenses and lost wages through their own insurance. Failure to opt-in to the system and purchase insurance can bar you from suing a responsible driver. If you can sue, you may recover both economic and non-economic damages.
It is illegal to operate a vehicle without insurance in Newark, NJ. There is a no-pay, no-play rule, meaning that uninsured victims cannot recover additional damages from a responsible driver, despite the severity of their injuries. That is why it is so important to retain adequate car insurance. It can be devastating for uninsured victims when they cannot receive compensation for their injuries.
If you are properly insured, yet your required personal injury protection insurance fails to cover the cost of your injuries, you may be able to recover additional damages. According to N.J.S.A. § 39:6A-8, victims who sustain permanent or severely debilitating injuries in a car accident can sue a negligent driver for compensation. You can receive both economic and non-economic damages if your injuries qualify. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you can receive the substantial damages that you deserve.
Common Types of Car Accidents in Newark, NJ
On tight city streets or on highways like I-95 and I-78, different types of accidents can occur. The following are some of the most common ways that car accidents occur in Newark and in general, as well as some information about how these cases are often resolved:
Speeding Accidents
Accidents caused by drivers speeding down narrow streets, cars weaving between slow or stopped cars, or drivers going well beyond the speed of traffic on the highway can all be attributed to their speeding. Speeding makes it harder to stop in an emergency, and it makes it harder to react to changes in the road surface, red lights, or cars or pedestrians entering the roadway.
When a driver is speeding, they are often at fault for the crash. Of course, many drivers go beyond the technical speed limit, but slight speeding might not factor too heavily into the question of fault when one driver is going well over the speed limit.
Running Red Lights and Stop Signs
Sometimes traffic lights and stop signs are not easy to spot, especially for drivers from out of town or drivers unfamiliar with the area. Nonetheless, traffic signals must be obeyed, and drivers who enter an intersection when it is not their turn can be held liable for any crashes they cause in the process.
Drivers who make a right on red before fully stopping, drivers who make rolling stops at stop signs, and drivers who simply ignore these traffic control devices are each similarly at fault – legally speaking – if they cause an accident.
Drunk Driving
Whether on a city street, the highway, a back road, or even a parking lot, drunk driving is dangerous. Drugged driving and drunk driving are both illegal, and any accident a driver contributes to while committing a DWI is likely to be their fault.
Many drivers are seriously injured every year in DUI/DWI accidents, but the drunk driver often walks away unscathed. There are theories as to why this is the case, but for our purposes, our car accident lawyers will focus on the injuries you faced and the driver’s actions leading up to the crash that make them liable.
In drunk driving accidents, you might also be able to file a claim against the bar or other establishment that overserved the driver who ultimately crashed into you. Overserving a bar patron or restaurant patron is dangerous, and NJ’s Dram Shop Law can help you get compensation from the negligent business. This also allows lawsuits when bars serve minors alcohol and they later cause a crash.
Tailgating Accidents
Generally, a driver following too closely is liable for a crash that results from that action. In most cases where a driver does end up crashing into you from behind, it will be clear that they were ultimately too close behind you. If a car backs out of a parking space or backs up in the middle of a street and crashes into you, that will also be their fault.
The more confusing situation that can occur is when a “brake check” crash occurs because a driver intentionally hit the brakes to draw you into a crash. If you were following too closely to be able to stop in time, the accident could be partially your fault, but the other driver’s intentional or reckless actions would make them contributors to the crash as well.
Proving Another Driver’s Fault in a Newark Car Accident Case
If you are trying to pursue damages in a lawsuit or an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance, you will ultimately need to show that they were at fault in order to get compensated. When assessing fault, courts (and insurance companies) look at who committed a violation or otherwise did something unsafe on the road to cause the accident.
This is, legally speaking, known as “negligence.” To prove this, you must show that the driver violated a legal duty they owed you, which resulted in injuries/damages to you. If any of the elements of negligence are missing, then you cannot hold that driver accountable. For example, if they did not actually do anything wrong but a crash happened anyway, you cannot say they were at fault. You also cannot hold them responsible if the accident was unavoidable or if their violation happened a few miles back and did not actually cause this crash.
In a court case, you must prove the case “by a preponderance of the evidence.” This means you must produce evidence to show that it is more likely than not that your claim is true and the other driver is at fault. This evidence can come in the form of your testimony about what happened as well as photos of the damage, video footage of the crash, medical records, and other evidence you can collect at the scene and in the days after the accident.
Calculating Damages in a Newark Car Accident Case
When you file a claim, you need to know how much your case is worth to know how much to accept in a settlement or how much to ask the jury for. This means understanding the cost of your medical care and any other bills related to your treatment. It also potentially means speaking with a financial expert to understand how much your ongoing lost wages will be worth if you face a disability after the car crash.
Our lawyers can also help you understand how much to claim for pain and suffering and other non-economic damages by applying various computation methods to estimate these damages.
Ultimately, it is important to calculate damages yourself with the help of a lawyer rather than relying on insurance to get the calculations right. Insurance companies are interested in saving money and paying out as little as they can or denying your claim outright.
Accepting payment for some of your medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses from your own insurance company can help you pay many bills and expenses in the meantime while you pursue a lawsuit. If you are offered settlements by the other driver or their insurance company, it is important to review these offers with a lawyer, as accepting any money from them could function as a settlement that ends your claim and blocks you from getting further damages in court. Always have a lawyer negotiate your settlement to avoid accepting a settlement that is too low to cover your damages.
Call Our Lawyers If You Were Injured in a Car Accident in Newark, NJ
Navigating the aftermath of a car accident in Newark can be difficult to do independently. For a free case review with the Newark, NJ car accident lawyers at Legal Care, visit us online or call our team today at (732) 838-9769.
