If you live in or commute through New Jersey, you know that car accidents are common. With traffic flowing into Northern and Central New Jersey from New York City and other densely populated areas, the chances of getting into an accident are unfortunately high.
When another driver causes an accident that results in you being injured, our team of lawyers can help you get compensation through a legal case. It is important to act quickly and get our lawyers involved soon after the accident so we can help navigate critical issues and begin building your case. We will begin investigating your case immediately and gathering evidence to prove your injuries were caused by the accident as well as the extent or seriousness of your injuries. This ultimately allows us to recover the maximum compensation for your injuries and win your case. Our lawyers know how to organize the evidence so the other driver’s negligent acts are clear and a direct line can be drawn from their conduct to your injuries and other damages.
Our goal is to alleviate your stress immediately following the accident by handling all communication with the insurance companies, paperwork, property damage, medical bills and guiding you along the legal process so that you can focus on what is most important – receiving medical treatment with doctors and beginning your road to recovery.
Call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. at (201) 777-1111 for a free consultation and case review with our highly experienced car accident lawyers today.
How Long You Have to File a Lawsuit for a Car Accident in New Jersey
How long you have to file a lawsuit in New Jersey will depend on whether you have a right to file one in the first place. New Jersey uses “no-fault” insurance system that can limit victims’ right to file a lawsuit unless they elect a different type of policy. If your car insurance policy limits your lawsuit options, you can only sue if you suffered “serious injuries,” according to N.J.S.A. § 39:6A-8(a). Fortunately, numerous injuries can qualify as serious under this law. This will not be an issue if you choose to have no limits on lawsuits in your insurance policy, as per § 39:6A-8(b).
If one of these two exceptions allows you to sue, then the “statute of limitations” will give you two (2) years from the date you were injured to file a lawsuit, according to § 2A:14-2(a). Missing the deadline can mean forever losing your right to file a lawsuit for your injuries related to the accident.
Proving a Car Accident Lawsuit in New Jersey
When fighting for compensation in a lawsuit, you will need to prove that the other driver was negligent. In general, negligence is the failure to act with reasonable care. The law breaks this down into four distinct elements: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and damages. If any of the following factors are not satisfied, you will not legally be able to prove the defendant was negligent and responsible for your damages:
Duty of Care
Proving the first element, “duty of care,” is usually not too challenging in a car accident claim. Driving responsibly and following traffic laws are part of the privilege of driving. Thus, all drivers have a general duty to drive as other reasonable people of ordinary prudence would. Drivers also have to follow the specific duties imposed by traffic laws.
Breach of Duty
When deciding whether the person who injured you breached their duty of care, we will determine if they were negligent per se, meaning they breached a duty by violating a particular traffic law. For instance, the driver might have run a red light or merged into you without yielding. Many other accidents are caused by the driver texting or talking on the phone. The fact that they violated the law is evidence that they breached their duties.
In other cases, the driver might not have broken the law but was still acting unreasonably, such as cleaning up a spill while driving instead of pulling over. If the evidence shows that their conduct fell below what a reasonable driver would have done under similar circumstances, we can prove a breach of duty.
Causation
Next, we must link the negligent conduct with your injuries by proving that the breach of duty that led to the accident actually caused your injuries. In some cases, causation might be obvious from the type of accident and injuries involved in the claim. For example, if you are seeking compensation for neck or back injuries after a rear-end accident, common sense would agree and medical evidence can support that the rear-end accident likely caused your injuries.
Causation can be much more challenging to prove if you have other accidents and injuries in your past. Insurance companies and defendants’ attorneys will be sure to look over your past medical treatment to try and escape liability. It is important to seek medical treatment right after your accident and follow your doctor’s treatment plan for you. If you had prior injuries, your treating doctor in many cases can distinguish them from your current ones. However, you can still show causation if your car accident aggravated previous injuries or conditions.
Damages
The last element to prove is damages. The most common way to prove your damages is with your medical records, medical bills, lost wages, and testimony about how the accident affected your life.
Our car accident attorneys will make sure all of your damages are accounted for in your claim. We will calculate your lost wages if you missed work after the accident and the out-of-pocket expenses you paid for handling your case and getting treatment.
We will also include your “pain and suffering” in your lawsuit’s request for damages. Remember, though, that victims can only claim pain and suffering from a car accident if they have serious injuries, as per § 39:6A-8(a). These are the intangible losses you have experienced because of your injuries, like living with physical pain and emotional anguish. While these damages are non-economic, they are just as real to the court as economic losses and often a focal point of your case.
Evidence that Can Help Prove a New Jersey Car Accident Case
You will need enough evidence to show that the defendant was likely responsible for the accident and that the accident caused injury. This is known as a “preponderance of the evidence.” To win a case, you generally need evidence of how the accident was caused and the injuries you suffered.
Evidence of liability often comes from several places. For example, you can take photographs at the scene of the accident to show the damage to the vehicles and elements of the scene, including stop signs and traffic lights. We can also help to obtain the police report, which contains important information and can help us locate witnesses.
Your medical records will be used as evidence to help prove the nature and extent of your injuries caused by the accident. In many cases, we will also secure medical experts or liability experts to issue reports or offer testimony to help strengthen the case.
Our New Jersey Car Accident Attorneys Are Here to Help You Get the Compensation You Deserve
For a free case evaluation and consultation with our car accident attorneys, call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C. at (201) 777-1111 today.