Car accident lawyer in DUMBO

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Car Accident Lawyer in DUMBO

DUMBO sits directly under the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge approaches, and the crash mix follows the geography. Bridge-approach traffic feeds onto Jay Street and Sands Street; the cobblestone streets between Front, Water, and Plymouth produce slow-speed conflicts that nonetheless put cyclists and pedestrians in the path of turning vehicles. I have practiced personal injury law for twenty-two years out of my Forest Hills office in Queens and I file Brooklyn cases at Kings County Supreme Court at 360 Adams Street, a five-minute walk from DUMBO. Call 718-261-0546.

Where DUMBO car accidents happen

Jay Street and Sands Street carry the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge approach traffic, and they are the first concentration. Jay Street runs north from York Street, feeding the Manhattan Bridge approach, and the cross-streets at Front, Water, Plymouth, and York produce turning-vehicle and pedestrian-struck cases. Sands Street runs east-west along the Manhattan Bridge underpass and carries heavy commercial truck and bus traffic exiting the bridge into Brooklyn. The signal-timing conflict at Sands and Jay, Sands and Gold, and Sands and Navy produces a steady file.

The cobblestone streets along Front, Water, and Plymouth between Main Street and Bridge Street are the second concentration. Belgian-block paving creates a low-traction surface that makes braking distances longer and turning conflicts more dangerous, particularly for cyclists. Pedestrian-struck cases at Water and Main, Front and Main, and Plymouth and Main come up regularly, especially during the heavy weekend tourist volume. The intersection at Old Fulton Street and Furman near the East River and the Brooklyn Bridge Park entry produces high-volume pedestrian conflicts.

The bridge bike paths themselves run through DUMBO. The Brooklyn Bridge bike path lands at Old Fulton Street and Tillary Street to the east; the Manhattan Bridge bike path lands at Jay Street and Sands Street. Cyclist crashes at the bike-path landings and on the cross-streets where vehicles fail to yield are recurring. The Manhattan Bridge bike path in particular has produced a series of cyclist-on-vehicle and cyclist-on-pedestrian cases since the bike path opened.

The F train station at York Street and the A/C station at High Street put commuter and tourist foot traffic across Jay and York. The NYC Ferry East River route lands at Old Fulton, and the ferry-to-bridge pedestrian corridor along Old Fulton and Front pushes high-volume pedestrian traffic across Adams Street and Tillary. Tillary Street and Flatbush Avenue Extension just east of DUMBO is the highest-volume pedestrian-strike intersection in New York City, and DUMBO cases regularly tie back into that corridor.

NY no-fault and the serious injury threshold

New York is a no-fault state. Your own auto policy carries $50,000 of Personal Injury Protection benefits under NY Insurance Law §5103, paying your initial medical bills and a portion of lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. PIP does not cover pain and suffering or future medical care above the policy cap.

To recover for those losses, you have to sue the at-fault driver, and the lawsuit gateway is the serious-injury threshold under NY Insurance Law §5102(d). The statute defines the threshold across nine categories: death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, fracture, loss of a fetus, permanent loss of use of a body organ or member, permanent consequential limitation, significant limitation of use, and the 90/180 daily-activity limitation. Insurance Law §5104 is the gateway statute that bars non-economic recovery unless your injury falls into one of those nine.

The 30-day deadline for the NF-2 no-fault application is the most common reason cases lose PIP. There is no extension in most circumstances. File the NF-2 with the carrier within 30 days of the accident. If you were a pedestrian or cyclist struck by a vehicle, the striking vehicle's PIP pays your medical bills, including for visitors and tourists who do not have NY auto coverage of their own.

What to do after a car accident in DUMBO

1. Get medical care. NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn (the closest full-service Brooklyn hospital, further south) is the option for serious injuries within Brooklyn. NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge is the option for crashes near the bridge approaches that are closer to the Manhattan side. The Brooklyn Hospital Center on DeKalb is the inland Brooklyn alternative. Tell intake this is an auto accident so billing routes through no-fault.
2. Photograph the vehicles, the position on the cobblestone or paved surface, the bridge approach, the bike-path landing if relevant, and any visible injuries. Get the police report. NY MV-104A is the standard.
3. Identify witnesses. DUMBO has the densest concentration of business security cameras in Brooklyn (Etsy HQ at Dumbo Heights, the tech tenants in the converted lofts, the restaurants and retail on Water and Main). Pull names and photograph any visible camera. NYC Ferry terminal cameras at Old Fulton are also a source. Retention is typically 30 days or less.
4. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance carrier. Refer adjusters to my office in writing.
5. Call 718-261-0546. The 30-day no-fault clock starts the day of the accident.

Cases I take

• Pedestrian-struck cases under the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge approaches
• Cyclist crashes on the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge bike-path landings
• Tourist pedestrian strikes on cobblestone Water, Front, and Plymouth Streets
• Commercial-truck crashes on Sands Street and Jay Street
• Hit-and-run and uninsured driver cases (your UM/UIM coverage applies)
• Uber and Lyft passenger injuries
• Turning-vehicle crashes at Old Fulton Street and Brooklyn Bridge Park entries
• Bus-on-pedestrian and bus-passenger injuries on B25 and B67
• Pedestrian strikes at the F (York Street) and A/C (High Street) station entries
• Out-of-state tourist crashes (the striking NY vehicle's PIP applies)

Talk to Nick

Call 718-261-0546. Free consultation. Office: 102-11 Metropolitan Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375. The Kings County Supreme Court at 360 Adams Street is a five-minute walk from DUMBO. Spanish-language intake available.

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