New York Car Accidents

Welcome to the New York Car Accident Law Firm of Leandros A. Vrionedes, Esq. We have offices in New York City, and serve clients in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, and Westchester. For over fifteen years, our lawyers have provided legal representation and advice to individuals and their families in New York involved in auto accident cases, including no fault benefits, and uninsured/underinsured claims. This is a firm dedicated to providing the finest legal representation to the injured public throughout New York.

We provide expert and individualized service for your specific car accident law needs. The cornerstone of our success is the quality relationship, which we maintain with our clients and/or their families. Our New York Law Firm focuses on intelligent legal representation and pledge to listen to and communicate with clients. As New York Lawyers, we treat our Clients with integrity and respect for their needs, goals and objectives.

An automobile accident occurs approximately every five seconds in the United States. You may need a lawyer to help you deal with the complexities of insurance coverage. There are issues involving no fault benefits, uninsured motorist claims and underinsurance claims.

• No Fault Benefits
• Uninsured/Underinsured Claims
• Defective Products in Automobiles

No-Fault Benefits:
These are benefits paid by the insurance company of the car you were driving, was a passenger in or were struck by as a pedestrian, regardless of fault as to the cause of the accident. These benefits include payment of medical bills, prescription drugs, lost wages, housekeeping and/or transportation to and from medical providers, all as the result of the accident. There is a very short time, only 30 days from the date of the accident, in order to file an application for these benefits.

Uninsured/Underinsured claims:
Most people do not know, for example, that often your own insurance policy may cover an accident which did not even involve your vehicle. For example, if you were a pedestrian who was struck by an uninsured vehicle, your automobile insurance policy or that of someone in your household, would step into the shoes of the uninsured vehicle and provide coverage up to the uninsured limits of your policy.

If you or someone in your household did not own a vehicle at the time of the accident, then New York State, through the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC) would provide uninsured benefits including No Fault benefits. The accident must be reported to the police within 24 hours of its occurrence and notice must be given to MVAIC within 90 days of the occurrence.

Underinsured claims against your own policy arise when the offending vehicle has a limited insurance policy. There are special rules which apply to these claims. You should consult an attorney about them.

After an accident it is always a good idea to:

• Call the police and wait for them to arrive at the scene of the accident.
  
• Exchange the following information with the other driver: name, address, telephone number, driver's license number, name of insurance company, and policy number;
  
• Take down the names of passengers, including their address and phone number;
  
• Take down the names of witnesses with address and phone number;
  
• Find out the name of the owner of the offending vehicle, if not the driver, including address, phone number, insurance company, and policy number.
  
• Contact an attorney as soon as possible.
  
• Obtain a copy of the police report from the precinct of the responding officers. You should do this within 30 days of the accident, otherwise, the report is filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles in Albany and it becomes very difficult to procure a copy.

As the number of automobiles on the road steadily increases, so do the number of car wrecks, particularly in New York. With millions of car accidents occurring in the United States every year, your chance of being a victim of a car accident in New York increases every time you get into the car. Car accidents in the United States result in more than 2 million permanent injuries and 40,000 deaths per year with more than 75,000 occurring in New York alone. Many of these collisions are not, in fact, “accidents” at all, but are actually the result of negligence, including reckless driving, driver distraction or impairment, mechanical failures or defective products due to manufacturer negligence, and various road conditions.

Defective Products in Automobiles

There are three main categories for defective product cases. They are 1) Design defects, flaws in the design of the product; 2) Manufacturing defects, specific defects that occur during the manufacturing process of a product; and 3) Failure to warn consumers of the potential dangers and risks of the product.

Automobiles and Other Motor Vehicles

Motor vehicle defect claims may be based on defects in the body and frame, brakes and braking system, cooling and temperature control system, electrical system, engine assembly, exhaust system, fuel system, lubrication system, passenger compartment, steering and suspension systems, transmission and drivetrain, and other parts and accessories.

A vehicle manufacturer or seller's liability for a car defect is controlled by the doctrine of strict liability. Regardless of what steps a manufacturer or dealer says it takes in designing, assembling, or handling a motor vehicle, you can make a strict liability claim based on a motor vehicle defect -- without making any showing as to negligence-- if all three of the following conditions exist: 1) The vehicle or one of its components had an "unreasonably dangerous" defect that injured you. The defect can come into existence either in the design of the vehicle, during manufacture, during handling or shipment (i.e. delivery from the manufacturer), or through a failure to warn consumers of a dangerous aspect of the vehicle. 2) The defect caused an injury while the vehicle was being used in a way that it was intended to be used. 3) The vehicle had not been substantially changed from the condition in which it was originally sold.

Motor vehicle defects include:

• Airbags - Defective airbags include those that deploy with too much force, deploy in minor collisions when they are not otherwise needed, or fail to deploy under circumstances in which they should.
• Sudden unintended acceleration - occurs when a vehicle uncontrollably accelerates when a vehicle is shifted into drive or reverse.
  
• Tires – Poor tire shoulder design can lead to tread separation causing a serious accident.
  
• Rollovers - The high center of gravity and relatively narrow wheelbase of SUVs increase their susceptibility to rollover.
  
• Seatbelts - Some automatic shoulder belts are poorly designed and have been known to decapitate or otherwise seriously injure occupants when not used properly. Some seat belts have even been known to separate from their base upon impact, thus providing no protection to the occupant.
  
• Passenger ejection – A passenger can be ejected due to faulty seat belts, collapsing seat backs and rollovers.
• Crashworthiness and design – Several examples are exploding gas tanks and design flaws that fail to properly protect passengers during a crash.