Who Can You Sue After an Accident with a New York City Parks Truck?

People who live in New York City know that it’s not like any other city in the world. The city offers magnificent attractions, towering skyscrapers, fabulous restaurants, and beautiful public parks. But with nearly 8.5 million residents and more than 65 million visitors annually, New York City has to maintain a fleet of 25,000 city-owned vehicles to service the public’s needs.

Accidents involving the City of New York’s trucks, and other city-owned vehicles

What happens when you have an accident with a car or truck owned by New York City? Who can you sue to get your damages compensated?

An experienced auto accident lawyer really is necessary because New York’s laws are complicated.

Personal injury lawyer know how to use NY’s no-fault insurance system to your best advantage, and when normal deadlines for filing claims are shortened, like when you have a truck accident with a city-owned vehicle.

As an example, let’s say a NYC Department of Parks and Recreation truck plowed into your car as you were driving through Central Park. The State of New York enacted a law that allowed victims of public employees negligent or reckless conduct to sue the City of New York for damages. But there are special rules and shorter deadlines that apply.

Why You Need to Contact Municipal Accident Lawyer

 

Special Rules govern who can sue New York City

In the State of New York, when you are injured in an auto accident with another private passenger car, or a commercial vehicle, you usually have years to file a lawsuit to recover compensation. But suing a city isn’t the same as suing a private party.

An experienced municipal accident lawyer who knows the technical requirements needed to bring a claim against a city government for the wrongful actions of city employees is a valuable tool you can’t do without if you suffer injuries from a city vehicle collision.

Contact a qualified municipal liability lawyer right away.

The traditional law in America that we took from England said that no one could sue the King unless the King allowed them to. The theory is called “sovereign immunity.” In the United States, we consider the state government to be “sovereign.” The New York state government waived it’s right to be immune from suit, but it did so with limitations.

In the case of our example involving a NYC Parks and Recreation truck, you can sue the City if the driver’s negligence causes the accident and you suffer damages. But not all city trucks are treated the same.

City employees driving certain types of trucks, like garbage trucks, snowplows, road-construction or road repair trucks, street-sweepers, and emergency vehicles, all enjoy a higher degree of protection from lawsuits from accidents. If you have an accident with one of these vehicles, you can’t sue the city for damages unless you can prove that the operator acted recklessly. Mere negligence by the driver of the city’s truck won’t be enough. It is a much harder burden of proof to meet.

Shorter Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is the law that dictates how long you can wait to file a negligence lawsuit before you lose your right to do so. In New York, if you suffer an injury or property damage in an accident with another person’s car or truck, you have three years to sue them to recover compensation.

When you need to file a claim against the City of New York because one of the City’s trucks injured you or your property in a collision, you only have 90 days to file a claim.

If you don’t file the claim in time, you will be barred from recovering compensation from the city.

New York is a NO-FAULT state – Now What?

Twelve of the United States have adopted No-Fault Insurance laws. New York is one of them.

No-fault insurance is a system in which every driver’s own insurance company pays for financial damages suffered by their insured in automobile accidents. Your insurance will also pay for your personal injuries, up to a point, depending on the coverage you purchased in your policy.

In our example of an accident involving a NYC Parks Department truck, you would need to look to your own insurer first to pay for the damage to your car, your lost wages, your medical bills, and other financial damages.

How Can You Sue The Other Party In A No-Fault Insurance State Like New York?

Before New York’s no-fault insurance law permits an victims injured in car, truck, SUV, van, taxi, Uber or Lyft vehicle to sue the other party, you must meet at least one of the following conditions:

·       Serious Injury – defined by law as death, dismemberment, disfigurement, bone fractures, loss of a fetus, permanent loss or limitation of the use of a bodily organ or function, or medically determined, non-permanent impairment that prevents you from performing

·       More than $50,000 in economic losses in combined medical payments and lost wages.