21 Mar Settlement for Scarsdale Resident Injured in Car Crash – April 2015

Martin + Colin, P.C. announces a settlement for Westchester County resident injured in a car accident on I-287 (the Cross-Westchester Expressway) in the Town of Greenburgh.

Our client was taken by ambulance from the car accident location to Westchester Medical Center. After release from the emergency room, she continued to experience pain in her right hand and thumb and sought medical treatment. She complained of “use of hand” pain at the right thumb. Her physician diagnosed a right thumb strain and recommended physical therapy and use of voltaren gel to the right thumb. Our client followed up with physical therapy to her right hand.

The experienced car accident lawyers in our firm faced several challenges in this case. One of the most difficult: in addition to the physical pain our injured client experienced as a result of the car accident, she also sustained a serious emotional/mental health injury. Prior to the car crash, our client drove for 20 years without a single parking ticket or accident. She had never consulted with a psychologist before. After the car accident, she could not think about operating her vehicle without being overcome by a crushing anxiety that kept her awake at night and affected every aspect of her daily life. If a meeting required highway travel, our client has to cancel the appointment because she simply could not travel on highways due to the paralyzing fear. Her job required substantial driving locally, and she experienced severe anxiety whenever traveling on the highway. The car crash caused her to experience paralyzing fear and prevented her from driving on highways. She contacted a psychologist because of the extreme anxiety and insomnia she experienced as a result of the accident. According to the psychologist, the clinician who spoke with our client during the initial call noted that she appeared to be in extreme distress, with a quivering voice and crying as she requested to see a psychologist as soon as possible because she was experiencing multiple disturbing symptoms that were interfering with her daily life.

As a result of the extreme psychological stress, our client manifested painful physical symptoms such as chest pain and rapid breathing. In addition, she has developed compulsive ritualistic behavior, adding religious icons to her vehicle, praying more frequently, and having obsessional thinking that interfered with her daily functioning and caused difficulty sleeping.

The injury lawyers at Martin + Colin, P.C. applied their combined expertise handling similar auto accident cases and successfully convinced the other driver’s insurance company that a good settlement was better than an unfavorable jury verdict. In addition, our client preferred the certainty of settlement rather than the risk of trial, and during settlement negotiations, we were able to settle the case to the satisfaction of the client.

Call us now at (914) 771 7711 and let us apply our expertise to your case.