Almost everyone has access to a motor vehicle. And if you don’t own or drive one yourself, you are likely frequently the passenger in a motor vehicle. Moreover, even a pedestrian walking down the street is at risk of injury from a motor vehicle. It remains the case that many of the civil cases currently pending in our State’s Judiciary involve automobiles. A whole body of case law and a complicated, far-reaching statutory scheme govern automobiles, automobile insurance and the payment of claims to persons injured by an automobile.
In the State of New Jersey, insurance carriers offer significant discounts to your automobile insurance if you agree to something known as the verbal threshold. In granting this threshold means that you have agreed not to pursue a personal injury claim as a result of an automobile accident unless you have suffered “serious” injury. The Courts have upheld this statute, and many cases filed in the State of New Jersey are dismissed, because the claimants are covered by a policy of insurance that includes the verbal threshold. Accordingly, if you would prefer not to give up the potential right to pursue a claim for injury as a result of an automobile accident, then you need to read your policy materials carefully to make sure that you have not agreed to the verbal threshold.
The lawyers of Byrnes, O’Hern & Heugle have litigated many automobile injuries and car accident cases. Whether pursuing claims on behalf of clients injured in automobile accidents or as pedestrians, we are familiar with the procedures for securing appropriate insurance benefits as well as damages when you’re injured by another by person or vehicle.
