Manalapan Township Car Accident Lawyers

Car accidents can be traumatic and lead to long-lasting and devastating consequences for years to come, especially those resulting in injuries. As in any other city or town, Manalapan Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey is no stranger to high-volume traffic and car accidents.

As one of the busiest counties in the state, Monmouth County is also home to some of the state’s most dangerous roads, including State Routes 36 and 34, County Route 537, and Route 18, all of which see multiple serious and fatal car accidents every year. In addition to two-vehicle accidents, one-car accidents involving the following are also common in Manalapan Township:

• Motorcycles: Motorcycles can be difficult for drivers of passenger vehicles, buses, and tractor-trailers to see, especially if the motorcycle driver weaves in and out of lanes or passes between vehicles.
• Trucks and buses: Public transport and delivery trucks are a part of daily life in Manalapan Township and make frequent stops, sometimes in lanes of traffic. Distracted motorists strike these vehicles or are hit when a bus or truck are making lane changes.
• Bicycles: Those riding bicycles are expected to follow the same road rules as cars, and serious accidents can occur when they do not. Cyclists who do not stop at intersections or red lights, dart in and out of lanes, or travel on narrow roads with no bicycle lane pose a great danger to themselves and those driving cars.
• Pedestrians: Just as bicyclists, pedestrians who ignore signs, road rules, and walk or cross traffic in undesignated areas put themselves and motorists at risk.

Weather is also a frequent contributor to car accidents. Manalapan Township experiences weather in all its forms, rain, hail, snow, ice, along with hot and freezing temperatures, all of which impact the area’s roads.

What Types of Injuries Are Common in Car Accidents?

One of the leading causes of all injuries in the United States are car accidents. The severity of the injury depends on the force of impact and location of the collision. Injuries of any kind can be traumatic and life-changing, the most common being:

• Head and spine: The most serious injuries involve the head and spinal cord, often affecting the nervous system and resulting in traumatic injury, permanent disability or paralysis, or death.
• Neck and chest: Whiplash is the single most common injury caused by the force of impact forcing the head one direction and immediately back, causing severe muscle and ligament damage. Injuries to the chest are also common, typically stemming from impact with the steering wheel, force of the airbag, or sudden seat belt restraint.
• Limbs, hands, and feet: Nearly all collisions result in some degree of cuts, lacerations, strains, fractures, broken bones, and bruises, most commonly to the limbs, hands, and feet, along with most other areas of the body.

A car accident also commonly affects a driver’s emotional well-being, regardless of the severity of the collision or whether physical injuries resulted. While crashes often occur only mere seconds to minutes, car accidents have a tremendous emotional impact, causing PTSD, anxiety, depression, panic, and fear.

When you are injured by the negligence of another driver, a Manalapan Township car accident lawyer can help.

How Does New Jersey View Fault in Car Accidents?

New Jersey is one of a handful of states with no-fault insurance and comparative negligence laws that assign a percentage of negligence on each driver and award damages based on that percentage. If you are injured in a car accident in Manalapan Township, the laws pertaining to the fault and damages you may be awarded are as follows.

No-Fault Insurance

After a car accident, in most cases, each driver would file a claim with their own insurance company, no matter who is at fault. In such instances, receiving compensation is much quicker than filing a claim for damages against the other driver’s insurance carrier. Only in certain circumstances can you sue the at-fault driver.

You can either choose a basic or standard option when purchasing auto insurance. The type of insurance you have will affect your options after a car accident.

A basic policy has the limited right to sue. This means that you are limited in pursuing legal action against the at-fault driver; you would have to meet certain criteria, such as a catastrophic injury. Qualifying conditions include:

• Loss of a body part.
• Significant scarring or disfigurement.
• Loss of a fetus.
• Permanent injury or disability.
• Displaced fractures.
• Death.

It also means that you can only seek monetary damages unless you have a qualifying injury. This threshold is difficult to meet.

A standard policy has both a limited and unlimited right to sue option. With the unlimited option, you can seek both non-monetary and monetary damages. You are also able to sue the at-fault driver if your losses exceed the limits of your policy. However, this option has a higher premium.

Comparative Negligence

Along with no-fault insurance, New Jersey also follows the legal principle of comparative negligence, meaning compensation is determined by the percentage each driver is at fault for the accident. For instance, if it is determined you contributed 30 percent of fault for the accident, the maximum compensation you can legally receive is 70 percent of the final award. If your percentage is more than 50 percent, you cannot seek any damages from the other driver.

What Types of Compensation Can I Seek?

The effects of a car accident can impact an entire family for years to come. Mounting medical bills alone can be financially devastating. In certain cases, you may be able to collect compensation for the following:

• Medical costs: By far, the highest financial expense related to a car accident is medical care, and the bills add up quickly. If you sustained serious injuries, the bills could total hundreds of thousands in a matter of weeks for emergency room care, diagnostic testing, surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, therapies, in-home care, and more.
• Income loss: Time off from work to recover is almost always required, even if your injuries are minor. Extensive injuries can require weeks or months of recovery, and debilitating conditions can leave you unable to work permanently.
• Ongoing treatment: After immediate medical care, some injuries may require ongoing treatment, such as follow-up or recurring surgeries, rehabilitative therapies, nursing home stays, in-home car, home modification, and medical equipment.
• Property damage: Regardless of the accidents severity, your vehicle will sustain some type of damage, incurring costs to tow the vehicle, repair or replace it, and higher insurance costs.

One of our Manalapan Township car accident lawyers will meet with you personally, advise you of your rights and options, will communicate and negotiate on your behalf, and answer your important questions.

Manalapan Township Car Accident Lawyers at Mikita & Roccanova Advocate for Clients Injured in New Jersey Collisions

A car accident can have a devastating impact on your life, with injuries, property damage, medical care, and loss of income that all too often create financial and emotional hardships. Speak with one of our Manalapan Township car accident lawyers at Mikita & Roccanova for legal assistance today. Call us at 732-705-3363 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation. Located in Hazlet and Highland Park, New Jersey, we serve clients throughout Ocean County, Sussex County, Neptune, Middlesex County, and Pennsylvania.