T-Bone Accident Attorneys in Asbury Park, NJ
When you are halfway through your left turn in an intersection, that driver running a red light, coming straight at you from the opposite direction, is about to cause a T-bone accident. Aptly named for the letter “T,” the vehicles make in such a crash, the T-bone or broadside accident can send you to the hospital in a speeding ambulance. It can also kill you. In fact, the Federal Highway Safety Administration (FHSA) reports that half of all accidents happen at intersections, half of which are side-impact crashes often leading to serious injury or death. When your injuries result from another’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your financial losses and pain and suffering, especially if liability is clear. In more challenging cases, recovering damages is still a very real possibility if you have the assistance of a skilled New Jersey lawyer who frequently handles car accident cases to determine and prove who is responsible.
Our knowledgeable, accomplished T Bone accident lawyers can inform you about pursuing a personal injury claim by settling with an insurance company or litigating a personal injury lawsuit in civil court, both of which we do on a regular basis on behalf of injured clients in New Jersey. No matter what, we are prepared to fight for the best possible solution when you have been injured by a negligent driver who caused a T-bone accident in Freehold, Rumson, Belmar, Howell, Middletown, Red Bank, Point Pleasant, Manchester, Toms River, and throughout Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Contact us at (732) 303-7857 or complete our online form for a free consultation and review of your potential claim today.
How do T-Bone Accidents Happen in New Jersey?
The primary causes of T-bone collisions are inattention or lawbreaking. Either a driver fails to obey traffic signals or is inattentive when backing their car out in front of a moving vehicle, as examples of each. Some people drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol and lose control of their cars, another form of rule-breaking. And texting while driving through an intersection can cause devastating damage when the driver realizes too late that the light has turned red or they are going too fast to slow down in time to avoid a collision.
In other words, negligence or recklessness causes many of these types of crashes. But other conditions beyond a driver’s control may also contribute to side-impact crashes. For example, faulty brakes could result in a driver’s inability to stop, or road obstructions can cause drivers to swerve to avoid hitting an object in the road or a pothole. And broken traffic lights or downed stop signs can lead to chaos and confusion that cause accidents.
What Injuries Often Occur in T-Bone Collisions?
Since a side collision to the driver’s or passenger’s side creates an enormous impact with little vehicle protection, injuries tend to be more severe than other types of accidents. A vehicle’s side is structurally weak, so that tremendous impact can intrude deeply into the passenger or driver’s side of the car. And airbags may not deploy or not protect a person’s head from slamming into a side window. Some vehicles do not have airbags. So, a fast-moving SUV hitting a small sedan may cause more damage than slow-moving vehicles of the same size. And motorcycle vs. car or truck crashes typically cause serious injuries. As such, the damages to the vehicle and injuries to the drivers and passengers depend on the circumstances of the crash.
Those surviving T-bone crashes often suffer whiplash, burns, lacerations, fractures, puncture wounds, or spinal cord damage. Broken glass causes cuts to the face, head, or body, and head trauma may result in concussions, fractured skulls, and whiplash. Ear, hip, rib, and knee injuries are also common. Those injured on the impact side of the vehicle most often have severe neck, head, chest, leg, and pelvis injuries.
Moreover, some injuries are permanent, like amputations, spinal paralysis, or brain damage. They require ongoing medical treatment and therapies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorizes concussions as traumatic brain injuries that cause stretching and swelling of or around the connective fibers responsible for sending and receiving messages to and from the brain and the body. A concussion may cause headaches, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, dizziness, tinnitus, impaired vision, and memory loss, among many other symptoms. But even less severe neck and shoulder injuries can produce chronic pain.
Determining Fault in a T-Bone Accident Claim
When a two-car T-bone crash results from someone running a red light or another negligent or reckless act, claiming damages and reimbursing your losses is more straightforward than if your accident involves multiple vehicles. In addition, when you are partially responsible for causing the accident or a third party not involved in the accident is responsible, liability may be less clear. For example, a non-functioning stop light may be the fault of the municipality that maintains the traffic lights. When the city is responsible for maintaining safe road conditions and fails, the city may be a party to a personal injury lawsuit.
Sometimes, an impatient driver making a left turn can attempt to beat oncoming traffic and cause a T-Bone accident. Natural causes can also create accident circumstances, like snow, sleet, rain, or hail, obscuring vision or creating hazardous road conditions. However, everyone is responsible for taking extra precautions in such situations. No one gets a free pass from liability because the weather is bad. Those who fail to take extra precautions and end up sliding into another vehicle are still responsible for the damages they cause by not driving carefully under dangerous weather conditions.
How to Pursue Damages after a T-Bone Accident in New Jersey
Those injured in side impact accidents may go to a hospital, but others can go home. Sometimes, the effects of an accident arise long after the accident, appearing after a day or so. You need to seek medical attention right away if you are injured or suspect an injury. Delaying medical attention may worsen your condition. Additionally, an insurance adjustor or adverse party may infer that your injuries are not serious.
Regardless of their perceptions, however, the party causing the accident must compensate you for your medical bills, property damage, pain and suffering, and lost wages due to the accident. By law, you can receive compensation for damages caused by another to place you as close to your condition as before the accident. And the immediate family of an accident fatality victim may file a wrongful death action to recover medical costs, the loss of the deceased’s financial support, funeral expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium or intimacy, advice, and companionship derived from the deceased’s relationships.
Get Help with Your Case from a Skilled NJ T-Bone Accident Lawyer
If you are dealing with injuries, property damage, and suffering from a side impact accident in New Jersey, contact our exceptional personal injury lawyers to evaluate your case. We can advise you on the merit of your case based on who was at fault, the facts of the accident, and the law. Our free consultations are available whenever you need help and answers regarding your rights after a T-bone crash in Neptune, Holmdel, Tinton Falls, Hazlet, Jackson, Manasquan, Keansburg, and across the state of NJ.
