Long Island Distracted Driver Accident Lawyer

Why Victims of Distracted Drivers Hire Attorneys

You will not be the first victim of distracted driving to hire a personal injury attorney. There are common reasons for victims to hire a lawyer for their case, including:

• The victim’s lack of legal experience: Victims of distracted drivers may need to file a lawsuit, or at least negotiate a settlement. Those without experience negotiating for fair compensation—let alone completing a lawsuit—may be more comfortable with a lawyer leading their case.
• A concern for their rights: Accident victims may understand that insurance companies and attorneys for defendants can cause them harm. These parties may misrepresent the victim’s words, pressure them to accept a settlement, and violate their rights in other ways. Hiring a lawyer is one way to protect your rights.
• A respect for their own health: Those who want to recover take the time to do so. By hiring a lawyer, you may have more time for your recovery. You may be able to visit the doctor when you need, get ample rest, and recover properly because your lawyer is handling your case.
• A desire for help: You can hire your lawyer simply because you want help. Our firm’s knowledge of laws and legal practices, experience handling motor vehicle accident cases, and team of lawyers and support staff may be a benefit to you.

In addition to these general benefits, our firm goes out of our way to please our clients.

How the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP Defends Its Clients

Our team is serious about satisfying our clients. If you have any particular requests for our team, we will hear you out every time. We will also aim to please by:

• Listening attentively to your account of the accident and your life following the collision
• Considering the accounts of loved ones who have seen you suffer, or have also suffered because of your accident
• Providing you direct access to your attorney
• Clearly and thoroughly answering your questions and responding to your concerns
• Keeping you abreast of your case’s progress
• Providing warmth and empathy in every interaction that we have

The Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP is dedicated to accident victims on Long Island. We have obtained substantial case results for many clients, with recoveries including:

• $1.5 million for the victim of a rear-end accident
• $1.3 million for a victim who suffered multiple serious injuries in a motor vehicle accident
• $1.2 million for the victim of a collision in which they suffered a fractured skull
• $1 million for a client who suffered knee and head injuries in a rear-end collision

Our team is prepared to seek the recovery you deserve. We exhaust all possible ways to secure compensation for you. When we get resistance from insurance companies or other attorneys, we don’t back down—we fight harder.

Our firm can hire parties that can help your case, including experts. We spare no expense because we care deeply about the cases we handle.

Common Types of Driver Distractions

While distracted driving has always been a significant car accident risk, the danger has grown exponentially with the advent of mobile phones and other digital devices. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that 18 percent of all fatal distracted driving accidents are caused by cell phone use.

Mobile phone use while driving is a particularly dangerous distraction because it affects drivers mentally, physically, and visually. A cell phone is a mental distraction regardless of how a driver is using it. A driver may use a smartphone for phone calls, text messaging, web surfing, email, and a myriad of other purposes. Each of those purposes divert a driver’s full attention from driving.

The use of a cell phone or other electronic devices while driving poses a twofold risk. First, the fact the driver’s attention is on the phone means that the driver will have less time to react to a potential hazard, and is more likely to get into an accident. Secondly, drivers involved in car accidents while using a cell phone also tend to experience more serious injuries.

Drivers using small handheld electronic devices face a 400 percent higher risk of being involved in a crash that causes injury. The scope of the risk is more fully illustrated by a study conducted at the University of Utah, which revealed that text messaging while driving slows drivers’ reaction times even more than a blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit of 0.08 percent. Young drivers are at the greatest risk: drivers under age 20 made up the largest proportion of distracted driver deaths.

In New York, you can be ticketed for driving while talking on a cell phone even if you are not violating any other law. Text messaging while driving is also prohibited, but the law is only a secondary violation, so a driver may not be pulled over or ticketed solely for a text-messaging violation.

Further, smartphones’ capacity has increased so substantially that there are many other uses of these devices while driving that are not yet prohibited under New York law. Cell phones also pose a substantial risk of being a physical distraction when drivers attempt to manipulate the keys while driving. The dangers associated with diverting one’s eyes from the road to look at the screen or buttons of a mobile phone are numerous.

While mobile phones have been most responsible for the significant increase in distracted driving accidents, many other distractions may cause a serious car accident, including:

• Reading a Kindle, newspaper, or book
• Brushing one’s hair, shaving, putting on makeup, or completing other grooming activities
• Reaching for an object in the glove compartment, on the floor, or elsewhere in a vehicle
• Adjusting or programming a navigation device
• Watching or adjusting multi-media on a portable TV or in-dash DVD player.
• Adjusting the radio, CD player, or other audio device
• Eating food or drinking a beverage
• Talking with others in the vehicle

Establishing Liability for a Crash Caused by Distracted Driving

If you are involved in a car accident on Long Island with a driver who was distracted and not focusing their full attention on driving, that driver may be liable for your losses.

If someone violates a public safety law and injures someone who is in the group that was to be protected by that law, the violator is liable for injuries that his or her violation causes. Our Long Island accident lawyers at the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP have successfully represented many victims of distracted drivers.

How Our Long Island Car Accident Lawyer Can Help

If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident caused by a distracted driver, the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP is ready to help you. We have the resources necessary to investigate the accident and find out what really happened. We can look for cell phone records and other evidence of distracted driving.

At the Law Office of Cohen & Jaffe, LLP our concern is your right to full and fair compensation. We have collected millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. We are ready to put our experience to work for you.

There is no charge for a claim evaluation and consultation. It costs you nothing to discuss your case with us, and there are no strings attached. Call us or fill out our online contact form to discuss your case with our team. We can even visit you at your home, workplace, or in the hospital if you prefer.