New Jersey Car Accident Lawyers

Quick Answer: If you were injured in a New Jersey car accident, get medical care, report the crash, preserve evidence, notify your insurance company, and speak with an experienced car accident lawyer before giving detailed statements or signing insurance documents. New Jersey car accident claims can involve PIP benefits, liability insurance, uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, and lawsuit threshold issues.

Reviewed by Bryan H. Mintz, Certified Civil Trial Attorney
This page was reviewed by Bryan H. Mintz, a New Jersey Certified Civil Trial Attorney and personal injury lawyer at Mintz & Geftic.

Mintz & Geftic represents people seriously injured in car accidents throughout New Jersey, including Elizabeth, Union County, Newark, Essex County, Middlesex County, and surrounding communities. Our attorneys help accident victims understand their rights, deal with insurance issues, and pursue compensation for injuries caused by negligent drivers.

Call or text 908-352-2323 for a free consultation.

Injured in a New Jersey Car Accident?

A car accident can create immediate problems: pain, medical treatment, missed work, vehicle damage, insurance calls, and uncertainty about what to do next. In New Jersey, these issues are often more complicated because auto accident claims are affected by the injured person’s own insurance policy, PIP benefits, liability coverage, and the right-to-sue option selected on the policy.

Mintz & Geftic helps injured drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and families after serious crashes. We investigate what happened, identify available insurance coverage, communicate with insurance companies, collect medical evidence, and pursue claims against the responsible parties.

Our firm also handles broader personal injury claims involving serious accidents, negligence, insurance disputes, and long-term injuries.

What to Do After a Car Accident in New Jersey

The steps you take after a crash can affect your health, your insurance claim, and your legal rights. After a New Jersey car accident, you should:

Call 911 if anyone is hurt or if the crash creates a dangerous condition.
Report the accident to local police or the appropriate law enforcement agency.
Exchange information with the other driver, including name, insurance carrier, policy number, license plate, and vehicle information.
Get names and contact information for witnesses.
Take photos of the vehicles, damage, roadway, traffic signals, skid marks, weather conditions, and visible injuries.
Get medical attention as soon as possible, even if symptoms seem manageable at first.
Tell medical providers about every area of pain or injury.
Notify your own auto insurance company.
Avoid admitting fault at the scene.
Do not sign insurance documents or give detailed recorded statements without understanding your rights.

Some injuries become worse after the adrenaline wears off. Neck pain, back pain, headaches, shoulder injuries, numbness, dizziness, and symptoms of concussion may not be fully obvious at the scene. Prompt medical treatment helps protect your health and creates documentation of the injuries caused by the crash.

How New Jersey Auto Insurance Affects Your Claim

New Jersey car accident claims are not only about which driver caused the crash. Your own auto insurance policy can affect your medical benefits, your ability to recover money for pain and suffering, and the available sources of compensation.

PIP Benefits

Personal Injury Protection, often called PIP, is part of New Jersey auto insurance. PIP is sometimes called “no-fault” coverage because it may pay medical expenses for covered people injured in an auto accident regardless of who caused the crash.

PIP issues can become complicated when there are questions about deductibles, coverage limits, health insurance, pre-certification, treatment approvals, unpaid bills, or whether a particular medical expense is reasonable and necessary.

Limited Right to Sue and Unlimited Right to Sue

New Jersey drivers with a standard auto policy generally choose between a Limited Right to Sue and an Unlimited Right to Sue. This choice can affect whether an injured person can bring a claim for pain and suffering after a crash.

The Limited Right to Sue option, often referred to as the lawsuit threshold or verbal threshold, may restrict pain-and-suffering claims unless the injury falls into certain legally recognized categories. These may include death, loss of a body part, significant disfigurement or scarring, displaced fracture, loss of a fetus, or permanent injury.

The Unlimited Right to Sue option generally preserves broader rights to pursue pain-and-suffering damages after an accident.

Because these insurance choices can affect an injury claim, it is important to have an attorney review the applicable policies, medical records, and facts of the crash.

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims

Some car accident cases involve drivers who have no insurance or not enough insurance to cover the injuries they caused. In those situations, uninsured motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage may become important.

Mintz & Geftic reviews all available insurance coverage, including the at-fault driver’s policy, the injured person’s own policy, household policies, and other possible sources of recovery.

Serious Injuries After a Car Accident

Car accidents can cause injuries that interfere with work, family life, mobility, and long-term health. Mintz & Geftic handles serious injury claims involving:

Neck and back injuries
Herniated discs and bulging discs
Spinal injuries
Shoulder, knee, and joint injuries
Fractures
Head injuries and concussions
Mild traumatic brain injury
Nerve injuries
Scarring and disfigurement
Injuries requiring injections, surgery, or long-term treatment
Permanent injuries
Wrongful death claims

If your doctor has told you that your injury may be permanent, you may also want to read our guide to permanent injury after a car accident in New Jersey.

Insurance companies often try to minimize injuries, question medical treatment, or argue that a condition was pre-existing. Our attorneys work to document how the crash happened, how the injuries developed, what treatment was required, and how the accident affected the injured person’s life.

Car Accident Cases We Handle

Mintz & Geftic represents people injured in many types of motor vehicle accidents, including:

Rear-end collisions
Intersection accidents
Side-impact crashes
Head-on collisions
Highway crashes
Multi-vehicle accidents
Hit-and-run accidents
Distracted driving crashes
Crashes involving uninsured or underinsured drivers
Rollover accidents
Passenger injury claims
Pedestrian accidents
Motorcycle accidents
Bus accidents
Truck accidents

If another driver’s carelessness caused your injuries, you may have a claim. Even if fault is disputed, you should not assume you have no case. New Jersey accident claims often require investigation, witness statements, police reports, photographs, medical records, insurance review, and legal analysis.

Why Choose Mintz & Geftic After a Car Accident?

Mintz & Geftic has decades of experience representing seriously injured accident victims in New Jersey. Our attorneys understand the medical, legal, and insurance issues that arise after serious motor vehicle crashes.

Clients choose Mintz & Geftic because we offer:

Experienced representation in New Jersey car accident claims
Personal attention from a local Elizabeth law firm
Knowledge of PIP, lawsuit threshold, and insurance coverage issues
Strong advocacy against insurance companies
Investigation of all responsible parties and insurance sources
No fee unless we recover compensation for you

Our prior results include substantial recoveries for clients injured in motor vehicle accidents. Every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The value of a car accident case depends on the facts of the crash, the available insurance coverage, the injuries, the medical evidence, and the impact on the injured person’s life.

Car Accident Lawyers Serving Elizabeth and New Jersey

Mintz & Geftic is based in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and represents car accident victims throughout Union County, Essex County, Middlesex County, and across New Jersey.

We regularly help clients injured in crashes involving local roads, intersections, highways, commercial areas, and major New Jersey roadways. Whether the accident happened in Elizabeth, Newark, Linden, Rahway, Union, Roselle, Jersey City, Edison, Woodbridge, or another New Jersey community, our attorneys can review your case and explain your options.

Call or text 908-352-2323 for a free consultation with a New Jersey car accident lawyer.

FAQS

What should I do after a car accident in New Jersey?

After a New Jersey car accident, call 911 if anyone is injured, report the crash, exchange insurance information, take photos, identify witnesses, get medical care, notify your insurance company, and avoid signing insurance documents before understanding your rights. If you were injured, speaking with a car accident lawyer early can help protect your claim.

Who pays my medical bills after a New Jersey car accident?

In many New Jersey car accident cases, medical bills are first submitted through Personal Injury Protection, also known as PIP. PIP may apply regardless of who caused the accident. The details depend on the insurance policy, coverage limits, deductibles, health insurance selections, and the facts of the case.

Can I sue for pain and suffering after a New Jersey car accident?

It depends on the injuries, the insurance policies involved, and whether the Limited Right to Sue or Unlimited Right to Sue applies. If the Limited Right to Sue option applies, the injured person may need to prove that the injury falls within a legally recognized category, such as permanent injury, displaced fracture, significant scarring, or another qualifying injury.

What is the verbal threshold in New Jersey?

The verbal threshold is another name often used for New Jersey’s Limited Right to Sue option. It can limit the right to recover pain-and-suffering damages unless the injury meets certain legal requirements. This issue is one reason New Jersey car accident cases should be reviewed carefully.

How long do I have to file a car accident lawsuit in New Jersey?

Many New Jersey personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years, but different deadlines may apply depending on the facts, the parties involved, and the type of claim. You should speak with an attorney as soon as possible so important deadlines are not missed.

Should I talk to the other driver’s insurance company?

You should be careful. The other driver’s insurance company may contact you quickly after a crash. Before giving a detailed recorded statement, signing authorizations, or accepting a settlement, it is usually wise to speak with a lawyer who can explain how your statement or paperwork may affect your claim.

What does it cost to hire Mintz & Geftic for a car accident case?

There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you. Mintz & Geftic offers free consultations for car accident injury claims. Call or text 908-352-2323 to discuss your case.