What Happened?
On August 7th, 2021, Tom was driving in the far right lane on North Conduit Avenue. As he was approaching the 128th Street intersection, there was a private ambulance vehicle further ahead with their emergency signal turned on two lanes over. The ambulance quickly changed lanes from the left side of the street to the far right lane to turn onto 128th Street. Unfortunately, Tom had no time to slow down to the ambulance and his car struck the right back side of the ambulance! He remembered hitting his head and feeling pain immediately after the collision. Tom was taken by ambulance to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where he was evaluated, treated, and discharged home.
As a result of the accident, Tom suffered injuries to his neck, back, and left shoulder. He complained of severe neck pain with left arm numbness, tingling, and weakness. The pain in his back made it difficult to bend down and his left shoulder pain felt worse with overhead activities. His quality of sleep was poor since he had difficulty finding a comfortable sleeping position. Tom attended several sessions of physical therapy and participated in a daily home exercise program. When minimally invasive treatment offered little to no improvement to his right shoulder, Tom underwent left shoulder surgery on October 28, 2021.
Thanks to a coworker’s recommendation, Tom contacted our legal team two days after the accident! On August 24th, the same month the accident occurred, the Defendant’s insurance denied liability since the “ambulance was traveling with lights and sirens on” and they also stated that it was Tom who “failed to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle.” In a situation like this, most attorneys would throw in the towel. But The Case Handler is NOT like other attorneys. With the help of our diligent Queens ambulance accident lawyer at Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco, LLP, we obtained video recording from inside the ambulance showing the driver eating a sandwich and driving with only one hand. In the end, we took care of Tom’s medical bills and recovered a $20,000.00 settlement from the Defendant within 9 months!
Police Report Accident Diagram
