Getting hit by a car changes everything instantly. You’re dealing with injuries, medical appointments, and bills that won’t stop coming. New York law gives pedestrian accident victims the right to seek compensation for what they’ve lost, but knowing exactly what you can recover makes all the difference in how you move forward.
Medical Expenses And Treatment Costs
Your emergency room bill is only the beginning. Sure, compensation covers that initial visit, along with hospital stays, surgeries, and the follow-up appointments that seem to never end. But there’s so much more. Think about physical therapy. Those sessions can stretch on for months or even longer. Then you’ve got prescription medications, medical equipment like wheelchairs or crutches, and sometimes you’ll need to modify your home just to manage daily life while you’re recovering. And if your injuries require ongoing care down the road, those future medical expenses get factored into your claim too. A Brooklyn pedestrian accident lawyer can help you document everything properly. Insurance companies love to question whether certain treatments were really necessary. Complete records matter when they start pushing back.
Lost Wages and Earning Capacity
Missing work because you can’t physically do your job hits hard financially. You can recover the wages you’ve lost during recovery, including any sick days, vacation time, or other paid leave you had to burn through just to survive. It gets complicated when your injuries affect what you can do long-term. Maybe you can’t go back to construction work anymore. Maybe you’re stuck accepting a desk job that pays half what you used to make. These aren’t hypothetical losses. They’re real, and they count as damages you can recover. Self-employed workers face a tougher road to proving lost income, but it’s absolutely possible. Tax returns help. So do client contracts, invoices, and business records that show what you would’ve earned if you hadn’t been hit.
Pain and Suffering
Physical pain doesn’t come with a receipt, but it’s real, and it counts under New York law. So does the emotional toll. We’re talking about the daily discomfort you endure, the anxiety that follows you around after a traumatic accident, and the ways your quality of life has taken a hit. Courts look at several factors when calculating this:
- How severe and permanent your injuries are
- The pain you experienced during treatment and recovery
- Whether you’ve developed PTSS, anxiety, or depression
- Your age and how the injuries disrupt your normal activities
- Permanent scarring or disfigurement
Insurance adjusters consistently lowball pain and suffering claims. They’ll often push a quick settlement before you fully understand how your injuries will affect you years from now. Don’t fall for it.
Property Damage
Were you carrying a phone when you got hit? A laptop? Riding a bicycle? You can recover the cost to repair or replace those items. Hold onto everything that was damaged and take photos. That documentation protects you later.
Loss of Enjoyment of Life
This one’s different from pain and suffering, though people often confuse them. If your injuries stopped you from doing things you love, that’s a real loss. Playing with your kids. Running. Playing guitar. Whatever brought you joy before the accident matters, and you deserve compensation when those things get taken away.
Punitive Damages in Extreme Cases
New York allows punitive damages when a driver’s conduct was exceptionally reckless or malicious, but these don’t come up often. A drunk driver who plowed into you might face these additional penalties. Someone who intentionally hit you definitely would. Still, they’re rare in most pedestrian cases.
Understanding No-Fault Insurance Limitations
Here’s where New York gets tricky. The no-fault system covers basic medical expenses and lost earnings up to $50,000, and it doesn’t matter who caused the accident. That sounds helpful until you realize how fast $50,000 disappears when you’re seriously hurt. The good news? Serious injuries let you step outside this system entirely and go after full compensation from the driver who hit you. You just need to meet New York’s “serious injury” threshold under Insurance Law § 5102(d). Permanent injuries qualify. So do significant disfigurement, fractures, and other substantial impairments. The attorneys at The Edelsteins, Faegenburg, & Blyakher LLP know how insurance companies operate. We’ve seen where they cut corners, how they calculate settlements, and which tactics they use to pay you less than you deserve.
Getting Fair Compensation
Every pedestrian accident case is different. Your injuries, your job, and your life circumstances all affect what you can recover. Don’t sign anything or accept the first settlement offer without understanding your full rights. A Brooklyn pedestrian accident lawyer can review everything, explain what compensation you’re actually entitled to under New York law, and fight to get you what you need to move forward.