MTA Injury Attorney
New York residents depend on the various MTA services to maintain their busy lives — even if things don’t always arrive on schedule. While any MTA rider can expect their train or bus to be a bit late from time to time, what they shouldn’t have to expect is that they could be injured during their ride. Yet, every year, thousands of people are hurt by MTA trains, buses, subway cars, and other vehicles.
According to the MTA’s 2017 Annual Report, 2.82 subway customers and 1.37 bus customers are injured for every million passenger trips. Furthermore, the MTA bus company had 3.44 collisions with other vehicles that resulted in injuries for every million miles traveled. While that may not sound like much relatively, the fact that riders took about 1.73 billion subway trips in 2017 means that there were around 4,900 subway passenger injuries in 2017 alone.
If you have been injured by an MTA bus accident, subway accident, train accident, or another type of transit service accident, you may be eligible to reclaim your financial losses through the help of an experienced New York MTA accident lawyer. Accident victims could be eligible regardless of whether they were an MTA customer, an employee, or a bystander who was struck by an MTA vehicle.
Filing an injury claim or lawsuit is often the only way to obtain fair compensation for the full costs of your resulting injury. The strategy seems to be popular, too, considering that the MTA report lists 9,060 ongoing personal injury claims against them within their 2017 report.
TonaLaw has represented countless MTA accident victims throughout our history. We fight for victims’ rights to all forms of compensation for their injury. With every case, we pursue all available legal avenues while gathering the evidence necessary to build a strong claim.
You can learn more about your options for filing a personal injury claim when you speak to one of our MTA accident attorneys during a free, no-obligation consultation. Schedule your consultation now when you call 1-833-TONALAW or contact us online.
Common Reasons for MTA Passenger Accidents
Every MTA injury case is unique, but there are a number of recurring patterns that contribute to incidents. These common reasons for MTA passenger injuries include:
- MTA employee error, including accidents related to inexperience, operator fatigue, driving under the influence, or general mistakes
- Failure to maintain vehicles, train cars, and critical safety systems
- Failure to implement changes necessary to enhance safety
- Negligent security on a train platform or other MTA property
- Reckless/careless driving
Passenger injuries can be quite severe, depending on the nature of the incident. Plenty of MTA customers have been injured by faulty equipment, for example, resulting in broken bones, crushed appendages, and major head trauma. An MTA bus accident, subway accident, or train accident can also result in similar injuries as well as back injuries, cuts, bruises, burns, and other significant wounds.
Common Reasons for MTA Vehicle Collisions
MTA customers are not the only ones at risk of getting injured by negligence. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycle operators, drivers, and others could be struck by an MTA vehicle at any time.
Typical reasons that such a collision might occur include:
- Driver/operator failure to follow traffic rules
- Driver/operator distraction, fatigue, or inattention
- Operating an MTA vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Improper hiring practices
- Failure to adequately survey surroundings
- Driving too fast for conditions
- Faulty MTA train crossing equipment
- Failure to follow protocol for crossing
- Equipment failure from poor maintenance
These MTA pedestrian accidents and motor vehicle accidents can result in significant injury. Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), broken bones, neck and head trauma, back injuries, internal organ damage, and cuts, scrapes, or bruises may all occur. More severe MTA car accidents can cause permanent paralysis or even death.
Pursuing a Negligence Claim to Obtain Compensation for Your Injuries After Your MTA Accident
After you have been injured, you will likely be worried about how to pay for hospital bills and other costs, especially if you are forced to miss work. A personal injury claim can provide one option, and successful claims can recoup all of your losses from your accident.
Typical damages awarded in an MTA accident case include:
- Medical bills, past, and future
- Associated out of pocket costs
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Compensation for permanent disability or disfigurement
- In the event of wrongful death, funeral and burial expenses
In order for a claim to find success, the first step involves proving that an MTA employee or service entity as a whole was negligent. The legal principle of negligence states that the person or company that caused the injury (the defendant) had a duty of care to maintain safety and that that duty was breached during a negligent act, directly leading to an injury and resulting damages that can be recovered through the legal system.
Proving that negligence occurred often requires the expertise of a New York MTA accident lawyer who can gather evidence and construct a legal argument illustrating how a “reasonable person” would have exercised the necessary “ordinary care” to avoid the accident. Your attorney can also negotiate with insurers and file all the needed paperwork on your behalf, lessening the amount of stress and responsibility you have while your case is being pursued.
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Hire an MTA Accident Lawyer Before You Talk to Insurers or Attorneys Representing the MTA
Working directly with insurers and MTA lawyers is rarely your best option because these parties have a motivation to pay out as little for your claim as possible. They may give you an unreasonably low initial settlement offer, or they may try to dispute the seriousness of your injuries. In some cases, they will dispute that they are liable and force the injury victim to prove that they were negligent.
Instead, hire a personal injury lawyer in New York who has experience handling MTA injury cases. Whether your case was an MTA subway accident, train accident, bus accident, or any other type of incident, you can rest assured that your MTA accident attorney is working hard to give you the best chances at obtaining the maximum compensation available.
Explore your options for filing a personal injury claim after your MTA accident and learn what your next best steps to take might be when you speak with a New York attorney during a free, no-obligation consultation. Schedule your free case review by calling 1-833-TONALAW or by using our simple online form to contact us today.