There is a trade-off in New York law pertaining to injuries people receive in a car accident.  If you have been injured and have not received a serious injury as that term is defined under the law, all that you may do is collect certain benefits under New York's no-fault law, explained at length here.  You may not sue the person responsible for the accident. However, if you have received a serious injury you may, in addition to collecting no-fault benefits, sue the responsible party. Unimagineable quantities of paper (we're talking forests here) have been used in interpreting just what constitues a serious injury under the law, but here goes according to section 5102 of the New York Insurance Law: *a personal injury that results in death; *dismemberment; *a significant disfigurement; *a fracture; *a loss of a fetus; *permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system; *permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; *significant limitation of use of a body function or system;  *a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing susbtantially all of the material acts which constitue such person's usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurence of the injury or impairment. One of the problems with this definition of serious injury is that certain small injuries, such as broken toe or pinky qualify, while a neck or back injury, which might be legitimate and keep you laid up for months or even years after the accident, may not.  This is because those types of soft tissue injuries may not show up on an x-ray, and are then considered subjective (translation- you are faking it, even when your not). Obviously, it is critical for you to retain the services of an experienced, qualified attorney as soon as practicable  after your accident to ensure that you are treated justly.

 

Listen to Scott's radio show, "Cannon's Law- Opening Fire" on WYSL 1040AM and FM TALK 92.1, Saturday mornings 8:00-9:00, and Sunday evenings from 6:00-7:00.

Q: I received a minor injury in a car accident.  Can I sue the person responsible for causing the accident?

A:

There is a trade-off in New York law pertaining to injuries people receive in a car accident.  If you have been injured and have not received a "serious injury" as that term is defined under the law, all that you may do is collect certain benefits under New York's "no-fault" law, explained at length here.  You may not sue the person responsible for the accident.

However, if you have received a "serious injury" you may, in addition to collecting "no-fault" benefits, sue the responsible party.

Unimagineable quantities of paper (we're talking forests here) have been used in interpreting just what constitues a "serious injury" under the law, but here goes according to section 5102 of the New York Insurance Law:

*a personal injury that results in death;

*dismemberment;

*a significant disfigurement;

*a fracture;

*a loss of a fetus;

*permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system;

*permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member;

*significant limitation of use of a body function or system; 

*a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing susbtantially all of the material acts which constitue such person's usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurence of the injury or impairment.

One of the problems with this definition of "serious injury" is that certain small injuries, such as broken toe or pinky qualify, while a neck or back injury, which might be legitimate and keep you laid up for months or even years after the accident, may not.  This is because those types of "soft tissue" injuries may not show up on an x-ray, and are then considered "subjective" (translation- you are faking it, even when your not).

Obviously, it is critical for you to retain the services of an experienced, qualified attorney as soon as practicable  after your accident to ensure that you are treated justly.


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