Were You Hurt in an Intersection Accident?
Get an attorney who builds winning cases.
New York City has well over 12,000 intersections, and every one of them can turn dangerous without so much as a moment’s notice. Intersections can be confusing and chaotic places where it’s not always clear who has the right of way, even with traffic signals. When drivers don’t navigate them safely, others can be seriously hurt, and if you were injured, you may be looking at a tough legal battle to get the compensation you need.
You don’t have to go through that fight alone. Keogh Crispi, P.C. has a strong track record of results for New Yorkers injured in car accidents, including six-figure recoveries for people injured at intersections. We know how to build a winning strategy and advocate for your rights from start to finish. Schedule your free consultation today.
How do intersection accidents happen?
The legal term for the most common cause of intersection accidents in New York is “inadequate surveillance,” which just means “not looking where they needed to look.” New York City intersections are always jam-packed with cars, trucks, pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users, not to mention whatever is happening on the sidewalk. Still, motorists have a legal responsibility to check their mirrors and blind spots before proceeding through the intersection, turning, or changing lanes. When they don’t, serious injuries follow.
There’s a natural connection between intersection accidents and distracted driving. Some motorists think they can pull out their cell phone while stopped at a red light and then put it away and be safe to drive through the intersection. The problem is that even after putting the phone down, the driver’s mind remains distracted by a form of “inattention blindness” that makes it possible to miss things that are right in front of the car. These drivers are particularly dangerous to vulnerable road users like motorcyclists and pedestrians.
Other intersection accidents are caused by drunk drivers, speeding and aggressive drivers, or fatigued drivers who may nod off or fall asleep at the wheel. Still others are caused by problems other than driver error, such as mechanical issues with vehicles, traffic lights, or the road surface itself. However, in most intersection accidents, our goal is to determine which driver’s negligence caused the crash – and because intersection can be confusing places, that may be difficult.
We have the experience to cut through the confusion.
Some types of crashes that happen at intersections, such as rear-end accidents, have relatively clear-cut liability. Many, though, are more complicated. If you were T-boned, for instance, the other driver’s insurance company may argue that they had the right of way and you were in the intersection illegally. That claim can be tough to prove one way or another if physical evidence is inconclusive or witnesses disagree on what they saw. What color was the traffic light? Which vehicle arrived at the intersection first? A difference of a split second can have huge implications for your case.
In short, there’s a lot of confusion around many intersection accidents, and the insurance company will use that confusion to their advantage. Your accident is exposure to their bottom line, especially if you have a serious or permanent injury, such as a traumatic brain injury. They have every incentive to view the evidence and interpret any confusion in a way that serves their interest — which is to say, paying you less, or nothing at all.
We know how to fight back. Our legal team has extensive experience investigating car accidents. We pore over accident reports, review physical evidence from the scene, and cross-reference witness statements to piece together what happened. Often, we hire accident reconstruction experts to help us prove fault. Our job as your attorney is simple: to figure out who caused your crash and hold them accountable.
Get a law firm that fights for full value for your intersection accident.
The crash itself may have been over in a few painful seconds, but the consequences can stretch on for years. You might need extensive medical treatment or be out of work for a long time. If you have a permanent injury, your life may be dramatically altered by disability or disfigurement. Your life and relationships are changed, too. Under New York law, you have the right to be financially compensated for all these losses, but you must prove it.
We’ll listen to your story to get a sense of how the accident has affected your life. Then, we’ll go to work to determine the full value of your accident. You deserve full compensation for past and future medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other costs. If necessary, we’ll hire experts to help us prove the full extent of your losses. Most importantly, we know how to combine all this information into a narrative that we know a jury will find compelling – and the insurance company will see it, too.
This is what we mean when we say we’re always prepared to go to trial. When our cases do settle out of court, that is because of our trial preparation, not in spite of it. When the insurance company sees that we have clear evidence that their client caused your injuries and that you have sustained serious losses, they’re willing to offer a fair settlement. If they won’t, we’re ready to take them to court.
We have the experience to guide you through the whole process.
Again, we understand how confusing car accidents at intersections can be. When you come to our office, we immediately start thinking through our strategy to make sense of the situation and guide you to a successful outcome. We know the path to take through investigation, negotiation, and litigation to get you a recovery, and we’ll make sure you’re prepared for every step in the process. While we handle the day-to-day interactions with the insurance company, we also keep you informed and include you in strategic discussions. This is your case: you know what happened, and your story is the key to the whole process. Our job is to help you tell it the right way.
We do all this on a contingency fee basis, which means you don’t pay us anything out of pocket. If we win your case, our fee is a percentage of the money we recover for you; if we don’t win, we don’t get paid at all. In other words, we’re deeply invested in each case we handle, and our only goal is to get you a win. The contingency fee arrangement also means you don’t have to worry about whether you can pay. You can afford the right lawyer, no matter what.
It’s important to act quickly, though. Over time, evidence fades. Witnesses forget what they saw. Camera footage is lost or overwritten, sometimes within days. We need to start investigating quickly. Contact us today to speak with an experienced intersection accident attorney about your potential case.