Auto accidents often result in major if not catastrophic injuries that may keep a victim away from work for an extended period of time. If you have been injured in a car accident while you were on the job – be it in a company-issued vehicle or in your own vehicle – you may have a few different options when it comes to seeking compensation for your losses.
Millions of American workers drive or ride in a vehicle as part of their jobs, and car accidents are the leading cause of work-related deaths in the United States. Whether you drive light or heavy vehicles or whether driving is your main or incidental job duty, all workers are at risk of getting involved in a car or truck crash while on the job.
Danger of Driving on the Job
According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), from 2003 to 2016, there were more than 25,000 work-related motor vehicle deaths in the United States. The Census for Fatal Occupational Injuries found that in 2016, 1,252 U.S. workers driving or riding in a motor vehicle on a public road died in a work-related crash. Truck and auto accidents account for nearly 25 percent of all work-related deaths. The highest proportion of roadway fatalities involved large trucks (39 percent) followed by 13 percent in pickup trucks and 10 percent each in delivery trucks, vans and other vehicles.
What Types of Compensation Can You Seek?
If you have been injured in a car or truck or bus accident on the job, please understand that you can seek workers’ compensation benefits, which compensates injured workers for medical expenses and a portion of their lost income. It is important to understand that an auto accident on the job may be treated as both a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury claim. In addition to seeking workers’ compensation benefits, an injured worker may also file a car accident claim against a third party, who most likely in these cases is a negligent driver who caused or contributed to your accident.
It is crucial to take all the necessary steps soon after the car or truck or bus accident. This means you should inform your employer and/or supervisor about the car accident and your injury and file a workers’ compensation claim as soon as possible. In addition, you should file a police report, obtain pertinent information from other parties involved in the incident, get prompt medical attention for your injuries and gather as much evidence as possible from the scene including photos, video, and contact information for eyewitnesses. It is also important to show that the incident occurred during the course of your employment.
By filing a personal injury claim, apart from medical expenses and lost wages, you can also seek compensation for damages such as rehabilitation costs, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Workers’ compensation claims often do not fully reimburse workers for all their losses. This is why it would be in your best interest to file a third-party lawsuit if appropriate, if you have been injured in a work-related car, truck, or bus accident so you can receive maximum compensation for your losses.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car, truck or bus accident, or if you have lost a loved one in a motor vehicle accident caused by a negligent driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
For over 46 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com