New York personal injury tragedy

According to new reports, 45 year old Gloria Aguilar was crossing the street at 50th Street and 10th Avenue when a New York City Transit bus, a part of the MTA, ran over her. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital and had to have part of her left leg amputated. However, infection set in and she later had to have her entire left leg amputated. She now wears a prosthetic leg and has not been able to work since. She sued the MTA and a jury awarded her $27.5 million. It is only one in a string of jury verdicts rendered against the MTA in recent months.

A string of NY personal injury awards

There have been many jury verdicts involving accidents with New York City busses and subways lately. Here are three that occurred in the past two months:

• February 2009: Man awarded $2.3 million after being hit by a NYC subway train which resulted in one of his legs being amputated.
• March 2009: Man awarded $7 million after also being hit by a NYC subway train which resulted in one of his legs being amputated and the loss of one eye.
• March 2009: Man awarded $1.8 million after being hit by a NYC Transit bus.

NY comparative negligence

New York follows comparative negligence laws when it comes to personal injury, which means that you will still be compensated for your injuries even if you were somewhat at fault. In Aguilar’s case, the jury found that the MTA was 100% negligent. However, in the other cases listed above, the plaintiffs were found to be somewhat negligent – yet each was compensated for his or her injuries to the percent they were not at fault. Here’s a simple example of how comparative negligence works:

A man is injured after being hit by a bus and sues the bus company. A jury finds that the man wasn’t paying full attention to where he was going and decides that he was 20% at fault for the accident. The jury awards him $10 million. However, because he was 20% at fault, he will collect $8 million.

If you’ve been injured by in a car, truck or bus accident, contact an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss your situation and evaluate your options. Consultations are free, so you won’t spend a dime to find out whether you might have a case.