NEW YORK CITY NECK INJURY ATTORNEY
Neck injuries are one of the most common injuries from traffic accidents, and the symptoms are not always present right away. That’s why you need an experienced New York City neck injury attorney to represent you. After a car, bus, truck, or bicycle accident, it’s a good idea to check to see if your neck has a full range of motion. Gently moved your down and around in a circle and notice if there is any pain with this movement. Our necks are less protected than other parts of the body, and what might feel like a slight twinge initially could be a herniated disc, a torn ligament or even a slight fracture. This is all the more reason you should seriously consider taking an ambulance to the hospital directly from the scene of an accident.
It’s also a good idea to call an expert New York City Neck Injury Attorney to find out what you might need to do right away to preserve your rights. At Wittenstein & Wittenstein, we’ve been holding client’s hands through their cases for over 60 years. Let us work on the legal aspects of your situation, while you focus on returning to full health. Please call us for a free consultation at 718-261-8114.
Strains and Sprains (Whiplash)
Whiplash is the lay term for mild traumatic injuries to the neck. Sensitive tendons, muscles, and ligaments work together in your neck. A strain of the neck is when the muscle or tendon is suddenly contracted or stretched. A sprain is when the ligaments are stretched or torn. It is very difficult to diagnose a neck problem with any certainty without Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) films. With an MRI, a doctor can determine the extent of your neck problem and recommend the best treatment.
Herniated Disc
The neck (cervical spine) is made up of discs with a hard shell and a soft gel filled interior. This works to absorb force and protects the spine. When the gel inside the disc protrudes, due to trauma or degeneration, this is known as a herniated disc. Symptoms include a shooting pain that radiates down the arms, numbness or tingling and muscle weakness.
A herniated disc is usually diagnosed with an MRI and clinical testing of reflexes, range of motion and pain level. Treatment is usually a combination of physical therapy, chiropractic treatment, pain relievers and muscle relaxants. Rarely, surgery is necessary to relieve the pain.
These are the most common types of traumatic neck injuries from traffic accidents. If you have sustained an injury to your neck, you should seek medical treatment and consider suing the negligent party for compensation. Please call Wittenstein & Wittenstein for a free consultation at 718-261-8114
Do I Have a No-Fault Case?
“No-fault laws” have been in effect throughout most of the United States since the 1970’s, so most people are aware of these laws, but there are many misconceptions about how they operate. The purpose of “no-fault” legislation was to reduce the number of lawsuits for personal injuries arising from traffic accidents, but it has actually resulted in an increase in litigation. It’s ironic that personal injury attorneys are now sometimes called no-fault lawyers and people injured in traffic accidents ask, “Do I have a no-fault case?” Let me set the record straight! Prior to no-fault laws, personal injury cases for traffic accidents were like all other types of personal injury cases. If a person was injured [...]
How to Avoid Accidents on U-Turns
Driving in cities with heavy traffic is always challenging, so it’s important to always drive defensively and take the road conditions into account. For example, making a U-turn always requires an abundance of caution, but it’s especially dangerous on crowded urban roadways. NYC has many restrictions on making U-turns, so it’s important to make sure that your turn is legal to avoid getting ticketed for a moving violation. The best accident attorney in Forest Hills have put together some tips to help you make safe and legal turns. Wittenstein & Wittenstein is the most trusted Queens accident attorney, serving the community for more than sixty years. Call 718-261-8114 for a free consultation. Follow the Law Always [...]
What Is Whiplash?
Everybody knows the cliché about car accidents and whiplash, with the victim wearing a neck brace as a visual statement about their pain and suffering. Neck injuries are the most common injury sustained in a traffic accident and can vary greatly in severity. Whiplash injuries can range from mild stiffness that lasts for days to catastrophic injuries that cause permanent paralysis from the neck down. Most whiplash injuries are not very severe, but it’s important to speak to an experienced Queens, Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn personal injury attorney to have the best understanding of the value of your case. What Causes Whiplash? Whiplash is an injury to the cervical spine that is usually caused [...]
How Policy Limits Impact Accident Claims
You’d be hard-pressed to drive anywhere in town without encountering billboards with Queens car attorneys, and other personal injury lawyers in NYC, boasting about their multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts. This advertising is intended to not only give people the impression that you can get big money for minor injuries but also that having a big injury means you’ll collect astronomical sums. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The harsh reality is that even if you sustain injuries, you’re almost always limited to collecting the full policy limits of the applicable insurance. New York Insurance Law In New York state you are required to carry a minimum of $25,000/$50,000 of liability insurance in order to register [...]
Oh No! – I Had an Accident While Driving a Taxi (Uber, Lyft, Livery)
TAXI ACCIDENT NYC - WE CAN HELP When you have an accident while you are working, your case has two parts. The first part is to establish how your first party benefits (medical care, lost earnings, out-of-pockets expenses, etc.) will be paid. In most cases those benefits will be paid by Worker's Compensation, but in some circumstances they are paid by "no-fault" under the car insurance policy of the car you are driving. Since this is not always crystal clear at first, we always file for no-fault benefits as well as referring our clients to a Worker's Compensation attorney to file a claim there. There are also situations where it is not clear that you [...]
Queens Is the New Brooklyn
Brooklyn used to be where artists went because it was cheap, flexible, and unpoliced. That version of Brooklyn is gone. What’s left is a real-estate brand with a cultural afterimage—galleries designed around sales, neighborhoods shaped by marketing decks, and an art scene that feels increasingly managed. Queens is where the work actually happens now. You can see it across the borough—in Ridgewood, Sunnyside, Forest Hills, Astoria, and Long Island City—not because there’s a single “scene,” but because artists here are still allowed to work without being pushed into a look, a market, or a lane. Queens hasn’t flattened itself into a style. It doesn’t need to. That range showed up clearly at the Queens Says [...]
Bronx Still Plagued by Lead Paint Poisoning
Lead paint was banned in New York City in 1960, but has no been removed from many homes, especially in the Bronx. The New York Times reported that Mayor Deblasio is planning to "eradicate" lead paint from public housing, but it seems like it's too little, too late. When walls are painted over without stripping the lead paint underneath, small children can still peel off the paint and ingest it, causing the high lead levels known as "lead poisoning." Lead poisoning can cause severe neurological problems for children that ingest it, including intellectual disabilities. If your child shows these symptoms and you may have lead in your home, you should have the child tested and [...]
The Great Mystery of Liability Claims and Policy Limits
There is a great deal of confusion about the different types of liability claims and the insurance coverage that applies. People wonder why there was full medical coverage for their friend’s accident, while they are paying out of pocket for their doctor’s bills. People wonder why they can only collect $25,000 as compensation on their liability claim, even though they have catastrophic injuries, while somebody else collects $50,000 for much less serious injuries. We are going to solve this mystery for you, right here and right now, so you won’t keep asking your Queens, Bronx, Manhattan or Brooklyn personal injury attorney questions about this until the wee hours. What is a Liability Claim? A liability claim [...]
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I’M INJURED IN A BICYCLE ACCIDENT DURING THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC?
The NYPD is reporting that bicycle accidents are up close to 50% this March. This is because more people are using bikes to get around now that public transportation is so unsafe. There’s no reason to stop biking. In addition to being good exercise, it’s also a social distancing method of transportation. But if you’re going to be riding in NYC during this crisis, you should know what to do if you’re injured in an accident because the usual procedures may not apply. It’s important to speak to a NYC Covid 19 bicycle injuries attorney as soon as possible after your bike accident to get specific advice for your situation. NYC COVID 19 BICYCLE ACCIDENT ATTORNEY [...]