Can I Sue Over Auto Accident Shrapnel?
If your injuries are the result of shrapnel from an accident in which you were not involved, it is not always easy to identify the responsible party, but a car accident lawyer can help you recover damages.
Shrapnel or debris, in other words, parts that have come loose from other cars, can cause serious injury both to the occupants of the cars involved in the collision and to nearby motorists or pedestrians. Of course, you cannot sue a broken fender that flew through the air and landed on your car or that was lying in the road, causing you to swerve and crash to avoid hitting it. Someone must be responsible for the shrapnel, though. Even if you can identify how the shrapnel got there, it is not always easy to collect damages from the party whose better judgment would have prevented the presence of the shrapnel; sometimes the best choice is to have a personal injury lawyer negotiate for a better settlement from your insurance company. If your car accident injuries are the result of flying shrapnel or of debris left lying in the road, contact a Freehold, New Jersey car accident lawyer.
If Your Car Was in the Path of Shrapnel When the Accident Occurred
From a legal standpoint, getting hit by flying shrapnel from a nearby car accident is similar to being involved in a chain reaction collision. In other words, one person causes the original accident, but that accident causes the struck vehicle to collide with another car, which collides with another one, and so on. If car 1 hit car 2, causing car 2 to hit car 3, the insurance company will most likely decide that the accident was entirely the fault of the driver of car 1. Therefore, the driver of car 3 can sue driver 1. Likewise, if car 1 hits car 2, causing the fender to fly off of car 2 and hit car 3, the driver of car 3 also has a case against the driver of car 1. Of course, every accident is unique, and New Jersey is a comparative negligence state, so how you seek damages and how much money you can recover will vary from one case to another.
If You Swerved to Avoid Hitting Debris from an Earlier Accident
If you get injured because you swerved to avoid hitting debris that was lying in the road from an earlier accident, the path to recover damages varies according to circumstances. You might have a case against the city or county if they did not clear the debris from an earlier accident fast enough, or if they reopened the road to traffic too soon, before removing all the debris. More often, it is impossible to tell where the debris came from. In cases like these, the easiest way to recover damages is through your insurance company; your lawyer can help you negotiate for a better settlement.
Contact Lomurro Law About Car Accident Cases
A car accident lawyer can help you recover compensation after a car accident caused by shrapnel. Contact Lomurro Law in Freehold, New Jersey to discuss your case.