Have you been hurt in a autoaccident as a driver, passenger, or pedestrian? At Eisbrouch Marsh in New Jersey, our car accident lawyers have assembled an experienced team of crash investigators and medical experts who will go to work for you. Best of all, you pay us nothing unless we recover a monetary award for you.
We are dedicated to helping injured victims recover the compensation they deserve. We are very experienced with all facets relating to personal injury cases including all types of auto accidents, car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle crashes, pedestrian knock-downs, No Fault rules, and Uninsured Motorist claims. We handle all types of car accidents, including head-on collisions, rear-end accidents, vehicle rollovers, distracted driving, and accidents involving victims of drunk drivers.
We have over 30 years of experience fighting for New Jersey and New York residents. If you’ve been injured in any kind of accident, it would be our pleasure to represent you.
If you have been injured in a car accident, please call our auto accident lawyers for a free case evaluation: 201-342-5545.
- What to Do After a Car Accident
- What NOT to Do After a Car Accident
- Serious Injuries Sustained in Auto Accidents
- Filing a No Fault Car Insurance Claim
- Filing an Auto Accident Lawsuit
- Stages of a Car Accident Lawsuit
- How a Car Accident Lawyer Can Help
- Call Eisbrouch Marsh Today
What to Do After a Car Accident
It’s easy to become disoriented following a serious car accident. Yet what you do in the minutes, hours, days and weeks that follow will determine how well compensated you are in the future. Of course, the first thing you should always do is dial 911 and get the medical help you need.
What to Do at the Scene of a Car Accident
It is important to preserve as much evidence as possible in the minutes following the incident, so that the cause of the car accident and liability for your injuries can be clearly established.
While you should always cooperate with law enforcement and first responders, it is important not to admit fault to them, to eyewitnesses, or to any other parties. Doing so could cause considerable harm to your case, should you decide to file a lawsuit as a means to obtain financial compensation.
- Call for help. Call 911 to get an impartial third party on the scene and get the medical care that everyone needs.
- Call your insurance agent. They can provide you with additional tips for surveying the scene of the accident. Often the back of your insurance ID card will contain a checklist of steps to take.
- Record what happened. Because details can become fuzzy over time, it’s important to write down what happened before, during, and after the crash, including the time, place, injuries sustained, and damage to both vehicles.The police officer on the scene will usually record these details too. Make sure to get a copy of the official report.
- Take photos. If you can move, take pictures of your car and the other car involved in the crash. Try to get a long-range shot that shows the positioning of both vehicles before they are moved. If you are unable to get pictures, ask someone else to take the photos for you. At a minimum, you will need photos of your vehicle taken at the body shop for insurance claims processing. Be sure to write extensive captions for the photos to help in your explanations later.
- Exchange information. You want to get the other vehicle’s VIN number, as well as the driver’s name, address, phone number, license plate number, and driver’s license number.
- Find eyewitnesses. Look around for anyone who saw the accident, and get their names, addresses, and phone numbers as well. These people can verify in court the details you remember from that day.
What NOT to Do After a Car Accident
Don’t forget these big no-no’s when it comes to car crashes:
- Never leave the scene. Wait for help to arrive. EXCEPT if you need an ambulance. By all means, leave in an ambulance when you are severely injured. Otherwise, you should be available when police are compiling their reports on the scene.
- Don’t move the vehicles. It’s best to leave the vehicles in place unless they pose an immediate traffic hazard.
- Never rely on a “gentleman’s agreement.” Do not make an informal agreement with the other driver rather than calling 911, the police, and your insurer.
- Never lose your cool. Car crashes are emotionally taxing, but do not start yelling or blaming the other driver. Leave the legal process to us.
- Do not sign any documents.The only exceptions are for the police or your insurance company.
- Don’t forget to call your insurance. You must report the accident to your insurance carrier. There are time limits on when you can file.
- Do not discuss details of the accident. Do not talk to other drivers about what happened and do not make statements to the other driver’s insurance company. They may try to get recorded statements that could work against you in a court of law.
Serious Injuries Sustained in Auto Accidents
Every automobile collision is different, and injuries can run the gamut from cuts and scrapes to debilitating brain injuries. However, there are certain types of car accident injuries that tend to appear with alarming frequency.
Serious injuries resulting from auto accidents include:
- Spinal cord injury. Among the most profound injuries a person can sustain, trauma to the spinal cord can produce short-term or even permanent degrees of paralysis. In the event a spine injury is feared in the immediate aftermath of a crash, it is essential for accident victims to stay put until help arrives.
- Lacerations. Jagged pieces of metal and glass resulting from the moment of impact have the ability to cause serious cuts on the body that can necessitate surgery and immediate action to address heavy loss of blood.
- Back injuries. Fractures, strains, disc trauma, lumbar radiculopathy and thoracic spine damage often result from car accidents, and they have a disturbing tendency not to present themselves immediately after a crash. Unfortunately, the consequences of such injuries can be lasting and severe.
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI). When a closed head injury of this type occurs,immediate attention is vital in order to address dangerous brain swelling and stave off permanent harm. Serious injuries can occur to the brain even if an individual shows no other outward signs of cuts, bruising, or broken bones.
- Broken bones. Breaks of arms, legs, ankles and wrists are frequent car accident injuries, and when bones are fractured so severely as to protrude through an individual’s skin, the need for surgical intervention is a foregone conclusion.
- Neck injuries. These can be relatively mild in nature, but they can also be lifelong challenges resulting from damage to the discs, vertebrae, or the result of cervical radiculopathy. Whiplash is a particularly painful soft tissue injury relating to the neck that may take several days to emerge following an accident.
- Burns. When fiery collisions occur, disfiguring burns to the skin of victims are always a possibility, and they can cause devastating physical pain and scarring as well as significant emotional damage.
- Psychological manifestations. Car accidents are also known for producing serious emotional effects on victims that are not unlike those experienced by sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is particularly the case when an auto accident results in severe injuries or death. The psychological impact on individuals can last for an extended period of time and greatly interfere with normal life functions.
Wrongful Death Following an Auto Accident
Under New Jersey law, the surviving immediate family members of a car accident victim may be able to recover from the responsible party with a wrongful death lawsuit.
To succeed in a wrongful death lawsuit in NJ, the case must meet the same four elements explainedbelow (duty, breach, causation, and damages) to establish negligence and prove that the defendant was responsible for the death of the victim. From there, the court will award a verdict amount to compensate the family for the costs of the victim’s final injuries (if any), funeral expenses, and pain and suffering.
Filing a No Fault Car Insurance Claim
New York and New Jersey are considered “no fault” insurance states, which means that your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage will pay for your medical expenses and lost wages, regardless of who was to blame for the accident. You will need to contact your insurance provider to file a claim. You will also have to pay the deductible as stated on your policy.
Filing an Auto Accident Lawsuit
Even though most of your medical expenses will be covered by your PIP coverage, you may still need to file a lawsuit against the responsible driver to cover the damage to your vehicle and any medical expenses beyond what is included with your policy.
In New York and New Jersey, you have a limited time to file a car accident lawsuit after your accident. This time limit is helpful because it is not always apparent that the crash has caused serious injury until some amount of time has elapsed. Chronic neck or back pain and traumatic brain injuries can be particularly slow in manifesting, for example.
Car accident lawyers at Eisbrouch Marsh can help you understand whether filing a lawsuit is in your best interest to recover maximum compensation for your injuries.
Stages of a Car Accident Lawsuit
Once we file a formal lawsuit, the other motorist’s insurance company and legal team have a set amount of time to respond. The case is then in the discovery phase of the litigation, which takes over a year before any court hearing and/or trial is scheduled. During this time, we will attempt to discuss the case with the opposing party to ascertain if we can reach a pre-trial agreement to settle out of court.
Because the goal of all insurance carriers is to deny or limit as many claims as possible, it is essential that you enlist the aid of attorneys possessing vast experience negotiating with carriers, assembling key evidence, obtaining witness accounts and gathering expert testimony to build the strongest possible case on your behalf.
If no settlement can be reached, both sides will engage in the discovery process to determine all the facts and evidence surrounding the crash. Your attorney will interview eyewitnesses, examine all official documents and file a deposition. Both sides must share all information.
Car accident cases are decided under New Jersey and New York negligence law. As the plaintiff, you must prove four elements.
- Duty. In auto accidents, this element is easily proven because all drivers owe a duty of reasonable care to other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.
- Breach. The defendant breached his duty of care by committing some act or omission.
- Causation. The defendant’s breach of duty causedyour injuries.
- Damages. You must prove actual physical or financial damages that resulted from the accident.
How a Car Accident Lawyer Can Help
Once the clamor of the emergency room has died down, as a car accident victim, you are left with a mounting pile of bills, ongoing pain and suffering, impaired work ability, and a lot of questions about compensation. With the help the attorneys at Eisbrouch Marsh, you may be able to recover compensation for:
- Lost wages
- Property damage
- Physical pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Childcare and household help
- Severe emotional distress
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Funeral expenses, in the event of a fatality
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation costs
- All medical expenses – past, present, and future
Our dedicated lawyers have obtained major settlements and verdicts for our clients, including $2.5 million for burn victims and $2.9 million for motorcyclists who lost a limb due to another driver’s negligence.
Compensation for car accidents in New Jersey can vary greatly, especially when jurors must calculate an amount for “pain and suffering.” While medical bills and lost earnings are easy enough to tally, the realm of estimating a person’s emotional misery is far more uncertain.
The law provides an effective avenue for injured parties to pursue the compensation they deserve, and we stand ready to provide zealous, comprehensive representation to each of our clients to recover the maximum compensation possible. You can expect our attorneys to:
- Review police reports
- Question eyewitnesses
- Photograph the accident scene
- Confer with our team of crash reconstruction experts to understand what happened
- Evaluate injury reports
- Obtain testimony from medical experts about the extent of your injuries
- Compile background information about the person who hit your vehicle
- Negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf
- Create a compelling argument to win your court case or lead to the out-of-court settlement that you deserve
At Eisbrouch Marsh, we approach every auto accident lawsuit with an unrivaled level of compassion and understanding. Because we realize that the legal process can be confusing and intimidating, we endeavor to provide open, honest communication with our clients at every stage, helping injury victims and their families make informed decisions about their cases.
Call Eisbrouch Marsh Today
For over 25 years, the auto accident attorneys at Eisbrouch Marsh have helped car accident victims win justice for the harm that was caused them, and gain maximum compensation for their losses.
Call us today at 201-342-5545 for a no-charge, no-obligation consultation about your case. With offices in Hackensack, Newark, and New York, our lawyers welcome clients from Bergen County, Essex County and all nearby areas in New Jersey.
