New York Auto Accident Lawyers

Smiley & Smiley, LLP has successfully represented well in excess of 1,000 clients injured in traffic accidents in the past 30 years. We have the legal expertise, financial resources and commitment to handle each client's case in the most effective manner.

Motor vehicle collisions cause extraordinary suffering and loss to motorists, passengers and pedestrians. Injured victims face medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. Family members suffer economic loss, mental anguish and loss of companionship. In the event of death, families are torn apart without warning. At Smiley & Smiley, LLP we will promptly investigate a crash, determine fault and seek to recover all legal damages.

Regardless of who was at fault in the accident, victims should seek the counsel of an experienced lawyer. To protect your legal rights following severe injury or the wrongful death of a loved one involved in a serious motor vehicle collision, it is generally wise to consult an experienced personal injury law firm as soon as possible. Within the first week, important physical evidence can be lost and witnesses may become hard to find.

Call Smiley & Smiley, LLP at 1.866.SMILEYLAW, toll-free, to begin protecting your rights and advising you right away.

Important Issues to Consider About Automobile Accident

Certain injuries may not manifest themselves until sometime after an accident. By not seeing a doctor, you risk delaying your treatment and further injury. Even minor soreness can be an indication of a more significant injury.

Things You Should Do After an Accident Has Occurred

• Insist that a report be filed with the police, sheriff or highway patrol.

• Obtain the name, address, insurance information, vehicle license number and driver's license number of any and all other persons involved in the accident. Also get the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all witnesses.

• Photograph the accident scene, including all vehicles involved (before repairing) and any visible injuries (e.g., cuts, bruises).

• Talk to no one about the accident or injuries other than your doctor or lawyer, especially not an insurance adjuster.

• Sign nothing without consulting a lawyer. Truthful statements made in an attempt to be helpful can easily be misinterpreted and turned against you.

• Seek medical attention and tell your physician or surgeon exactly how the injury occurred and describe all symptoms and complaints.

• Be sure to report memory problems, confusion or disorientation, however minor these things may seem at the time.

Automobile Accident Case Results

Examples of Results Obtained by Smiley Law in Automobile Accident Cases

• $14.3 Million verdict against the City of New York on behalf of a ballerina in the Harlem Dance Theater who was rendered paraplegic after the car in which she was riding with a New York Yankees baseball player as driver crashed into an abutment on the West Side Highway. We proved that the city's negligence in failing to post required warning signs was the cause of the accident.

• $1.6 Million for city employee injured by United Parcel Service delivery truck. For several years now, United Parcel Service has been causing injuries to innocent people by refusing to install back-up alarms and special rear-view mirrors on their ever-present delivery trucks. One of their more recent victims was our client, a 50-year-old administrator for the NYC Department of Human Resources. On the morning of the accident, the driver of the UPS truck had passed his scheduled address and, instead of going around the block, backed his UPS truck the wrong way down a one-way street. The truck did not have special rearview mirrors (such as those found on FedEx trucks), so the driver could not see anyone or anything directly behind the truck. The UPS truck also neglected to have a back-up alarm, which would have provided warning to those behind it. As a result, our client was run over by the truck and caused to sustain multiple serious injuries, including fractures of his pelvis, a crushed urethra and four fractured ribs. Prior to jury selection, senior partner Guy I. Smiley settled the case on behalf of our client for $1.6 Million. Mr. Smiley has been working with other attorneys around the nation in an effort to prevent further “back-up” injuries caused by UPS trucks.

• $1.3 Million Settlement for the family of a 57-year-old woman who was struck and killed by a New York City Transit Authority bus.

• $1.3 Million Settlement for a man who suffered crush injuries to his leg and arm necessitating multiple surgical procedures after he was struck by a speeding van.

• $871,000 for the family of a single 26-year-old man who was attending a conference on the 106 th floor in the North Tower at the time of the World Trade Center attacks.

• $1.2 Million settlement on behalf of a 35-year-old freelance writer who was severely injured when the car in which he was a passenger in (driven by his sister) was involved in a head-on collision in upstate New York. Our client sustained severe head trauma, causing him to suffer from vision and hearing deficits as well as a fractured sinus and subdural hematomas. This settlement was obtained within just one year from the date the lawsuit was started.

• $950,000 for a 30-year-old pedestrian who suffered multiple fractures of both legs when he was struck by a hit-and-run drunk driver.

• $750,000 for a 55-year-old school crossing guard who sustained leg fractures and cognitive impairment after she was struck down by a speeding vehicle. Although the driver had a green light, our client had her hands in the air indicating that traffic should stop so that she could safely escort children to the curb. Smiley & Smiley, LLP proved that at the time of the accident, under New York law, our client was the controlling traffic signal at that intersection.

• $800,000 settlement for a 64-year-old forensic psychiatrist who sustained permanent pulmonary injuries when her disabled auto with flashers on in the right lane was rear-ended by a speeding National Car Rental vehicle. Her car rolled over twice and, after being removed by the “jaws of life” and taken by helicopter to the hospital, she spent eight days in a coma on a ventilator.

Informative Links: Automobile Accident

Auto accident and safety-related links.

4Insurance.com
http://www.4insurance.com/auto/coverage.asp?RLID=0

U.S. Department of Transportation
http://www.dot.gov

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
http://www.cpsc.gov

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Crashtest.com
http://www.crashtest.com/default.htm