One of the safest choices you can make as an operator or passenger of a motor vehicle is to utilize your seat belt. The National Highway Traffic-Safety Administration estimates that seat belts save 15,000 lives a year. The public, by and large, understands that seat belts save lives. The national average of seat belt usage is approximately 89%. Apart from the fact that airbags are designed to work with seat belts, failure to wear a seat belt increases your risk of injury from airbag deployment. As a Long Island car accident attorney, I have seen firsthand the disastrous effects of not wearing a seat belt.
While seat belt safety is well known, few people understand the relationship between seat belt use and personal injury. In New York, all front seat passengers are required to wear seat belts. Rear seated passengers under 16 are also required to wear seat belts. However, adults over the age of 16 are not required to wear seat belts when seated in the back seat. Failing to wear a seat belt in New York can lead to death, injury, or a fine, but more disastrous are its effects on a personal injury case. The law in New York with respect to injuries suffered in a car accident due to failure to wear a seat belt is harsh.
Courts have ruled that it is reasonable to expect that all occupants of a vehicle wear their seat belts, including rear seated passengers, even though the law does not require seat belt usage for rear seated adults. Therefore, failing to wear a seat belt is considered unreasonable and gives rise to the defense of mitigation. Basically, this means that if it can be proven that a seat belt was not used by an occupant of a vehicle and that wearing a seat belt would have prevented the injury suffered, a jury can disregard the injury entirely and award no money.
So, basically, you can be sitting in a car stopped at a traffic light, get struck from behind, suffer serious injuries, and not receive compensation if you were not wearing your seat belt. This may seem unfair but it is the law and any competent defense attorney will try to use it in a case where an injured plaintiff was not wearing a seat belt.
There is some good news for a plaintiff injured in a car accident that was not wearing a seat belt. In order to succeed with this defense, a defense attorney must prove that the injury would not have occurred but for the plaintiff’s failure to wear a seat belt. This is often not easy to do and always requires the use of an expert witness. Further, a jury may disregard the fact that a plaintiff was not wearing a seat belt and award the plaintiff money anyway.
The bottom line is that you should always wear your seat belt. Failing to do so could lead to serious injury or death, you may not even be able to recover money for your accident. So, remember to always buckle up. For further questions, feel free to contact us at any of our six locations in Hauppauge, Patchogue, Babylon, Riverhead, Huntington and Garden City.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
If you have been injured in an accident and have a court case pending you will likely be asked to submit to an examination under oath, more commonly known as a deposition. A deposition is an under-oath statement that is given in either a courtroom or an office. During a deposition, you will be sworn in and asked numerous questions about your accident, injuries, and treatment. Since you are under oath you are required by law to tell the truth. Failing to do so could result in being charged with the crime of perjury.
A deposition is a key part of a personal injury case. Often, a case will not be resolved until after the depositions are held. It is therefore always in a plaintiff’s best interest to get the deposition done. But often, depositions get adjourned for months and months, so you may be wondering why this is happening. There are a couple of reasons behind your deposition getting adjourned. Here are some of the most common causes for adjourning a deposition.
The most common reason a deposition gets adjourned is scheduling conflicts. A deposition requires the attendance of several people. The plaintiff’s attorney and defendant’s attorney must be available, as well as the parties to the lawsuit. As a plaintiff’s attorney, I usually am always available to conduct depositions. However, defense attorneys often double and even triple book deposition dates. This is both out of necessity and is sometimes also strategic.
An insurance company’s defense attorney usually has an extremely busy caseload. They are often overworked and underpaid. This leads to scheduling conflicts that may cause an adjournment of your deposition, but an adjournment is also a delay in the ultimate resolution of the case, which of course benefits the defense attorney’s client. The longer their client can hold on to their money, the better off they are.
A court will often give a defense attorney a few adjournments before they will require them to conduct a deposition. Generally, a judge will allow at least two or three adjournments before demanding the depositions go forward.
Another reason a deposition may get adjourned would be to gather the necessary medical records for the deposition. In a personal injury case, the attorneys will want to review all the medical records before conducting the deposition. This sometimes is time-consuming if there are voluminous medicals. Also, if a medical provider is not organized it can cause delays in getting the required records.
Another reason a deposition can get adjourned is if paper discovery is not complete. For example, there may be documents such as contracts or leases, photos, or drawings that all need to be gathered and disclosed before the deposition. If this is not done in time the deposition will have to be adjourned.
While it may seem endless, your deposition will happen sooner or later. As the saying goes, the wheels of justice move slowly! But even in today’s congested court system, they do eventually move.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
As a car accident attorney, one of the most common physical ailments that my clients suffer from following a car accident is back and neck pain. This pain can occur immediately or manifest itself in the hours or days following your car accident. Also, the severity of pain that you experience may vary from minor to excruciating. Finally, the treatment you will receive, and your recovery time may vary greatly depending on the type of back or neck injury you have suffered.
If you experience back or neck pain from a car accident, it is important to seek medical attention immediately. Your healthcare provider will likely start with x-rays to ensure nothing is fractured then start you on a course of conservative treatment such as physical therapy and massage therapy. If your pain has failed to resolve in about a month, you will likely be sent for an MRI to determine if you have suffered anything more than sprains or strains.
An MRI may confirm that you have suffered a herniated disc. A disc refers to the rubbery cushions between the individual vertebrae in your neck and back. A disc is a little bit like a jelly doughnut with a soft jelly center surrounded by a hard exterior. A herniation of the disc refers to the tearing of that hard exterior shell, which in turn causes the softer jelly-like substance to escape, often causing pain.
If you’ve been diagnosed with a herniated disc as a result of a car accident, aside from dealing with your injury, there are some important legal steps that you should take. First, consult with an experienced car accident attorney. Insurance companies often try to argue that your herniated disc is not related to your accident but was rather a pre-existing degenerative issue. It’s a good idea to hire an attorney early on to protect you from this tactic.
Also, there are many different treatment outcomes for people that have suffered from herniated discs in car accidents. Sometimes all it takes to recover physically is some physical therapy and in other instances back or neck surgery is the only treatment option that will help. The type of treatment that you undergo will greatly affect your potential personal injury recovery. For example, a person that undergoes a few months of physical therapy and makes a full recovery will likely receive less money in a settlement than a person that needs to have surgery since your settlement is largely based upon pain and suffering.
The most important thing to understand about herniated discs and car accident cases is that there is no one size fits all solution and it can often be hard to predict a person’s prognosis. This is why it is so important that your car accident attorney wait until you have fully recovered from your injury before resolving your case. An early resolution to your case may negatively affect your overall recovery since you are being compensated in part for your pain and suffering.
So, if you’ve been diagnosed with a herniated disc from a car accident, you should consult with an experienced car accident attorney and remain patient while you undergo the various treatment options your doctors recommend, your attorney can then work towards the final resolution of your case when you fully recover.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
Patchogue has seen tremendous growth over the last several years. What was once a struggling downtown area is now alive and well. There are chic new apartments, great trendy restaurants, and cute shops lining Main Street. Restaurants and nightlife have once again returned and it’s all been great for the Patchogue economy. A recent Newsday article noted that Patchogue has seen a 700 million dollar economic boom from 2000 to 2017.
While this is all good news, there are some issues with Patchogue’s exploding economic scene, many of the local restaurants transition to pubs and bars late at night. Often, these restaurants remove tables to create extra space to fit more bar patrons and accommodate dancing. This has led to overcrowding which in turn has led to safety issues. When you mix alcohol into any equation you have a recipe for disaster.
Often in situations like this, we see dangerous conditions such as wet slippery floors develop. This presents a slipping hazard and can lead to a visit to the Emergency Room. Another issue we see in situations like this is the overserving of alcohol which can lead to several more issues; violent behavior increases when a person is intoxicated, resulting in more assaults, and there is an even greater chance of slipping, tripping, and falling when you are intoxicated as your coordination is diminished.
To combat the issue of overcrowding, the Town of Patchogue has recently passed a new ordinance making it illegal to remove tables from a restaurant without a permit. This is aimed at cutting down on crowds.
Another issue that arises when a town has an active bar scene is drunk driving. In one recent incident, a drunk driver was arrested for driving the wrong way on Main Street. In another incident, a drunk driver crashed into a building. As you can see, drunk driving is a danger to everyone, not just other drivers, so it’s important to always be vigilant of automobile drivers.
Another issue in Patchogue is increased criminal activity. With the influx of people into the area, there has been a rise in certain crimes, including car break-ins. So, always be sure to take all valuables out of your car and lock your car doors. It’s also best to park your car in well-lit areas.
The economic growth in Patchogue is something that we all should enjoy, however, it’s always a good thing to exercise a little caution.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
As a Long Island car accident lawyer, I have represented hundreds of car accident victims and seen a wide array of injuries, but there are certain injuries that I see over and over again. Some of these injuries entitle you to financial compensation while other less severe injuries will not. Here is a list of the most common types of injuries and an explanation of which will and won’t entitle you to receive financial compensation.
Back and Neck Sprains and Strains: This type of injury refers to injury to the muscles surrounding your back and neck. Even a low impact car accident can cause sprains and strains. However, these types of injuries rarely entitle you to financial compensation in New York due to our Threshold Law. However, it is possible this injury will meet the serious injury threshold, thus entitling you to financial compensation if you are unable to carry out a substantial percentage of your normal activities for any 90-day period within the first 180 days of your car accident.
The courts will generally look at your work history first. If you have not missed 90 straight days it is extremely unlikely you will qualify for financial compensation. If you have missed 90 straight days, the court will next look at your other activities to make sure you were unable to substantially and effectively perform all of them. Ultimately, this is a judgment call that will be made by a judge.
Herniated Discs: A herniated disc is another type of injury that is very common following a car accident. A disc refers to the rubbery cushions between each vertebra in your back and neck. A disc is a little bit like a jelly doughnut with a soft center surrounded by a harder exterior shell. A herniation of the disc refers to the tearing of that harder exterior shell, which in turn causes the softer jelly-like substance to escape, often causing pain.
If it can be related to your accident, a disc herniation can entitle you to compensation if you have long-lasting loss of range of motion or nerve damage. Only a doctor can substantiate this type of injury.
Fractured Bones: A fracture is a medical term for a broken bone. There are many types of fractures ranging from a hairline fracture to a comminuted fracture. A fracture meets the threshold for serious injury in New York and does entitle you to compensation. The amount of compensation you will receive will depend on the severity of the injury.
Torn Cartilage, Tendons and Ligaments: Soft tissue tears are common in car accidents, especially tears of the shoulder and knee. If this type of injury can be related to your car accident, it will often meet the threshold for serious injury.
The best way to determine if your specific injury meets the threshold for serious injury is to have an experienced car accident attorney review your case. The consultation is usually free.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.