Injured in NYC Subway Accident?

This video features Michele S. Mirman, a Medical Malpractice attorney based in New York.

New York Personal Injury Lawyer Michele Mirman

Video Transcript:

Michele Mirman:

They are supposed to drive into the station slowly, keep their eyes open, step on the brakes, and it doesn't always happen the way it should. People are run over. It's a terrible tragedy.

Rob Rosenthal:

If you're injured on the subway in New York City, do you know how to get help? Well we're gonna find out right now because that's what we are going to Ask the Lawyer. Hi again everybody, I'm Rob Rosenthal with AskTheLawyers.com and my guest is New York City attorney Michele Mirman. I wanna remind you right off the top, if you'd like to ask Michele questions about your specific situation, all you need to do is go to AskTheLawyers.com, there's a button in the upper right hand corner that says Ask a lawyer, you click on that and it'll walk you right through the very simple process. Michele it's good to see again, thank you for helping us answer our questions.

Michele Mirman:

Good to see you too.

Rob Rosenthal:

So we're talking about subway accidents in New York City. How big of a problem is this? Does this happen often?

Michele Mirman:

Unfortunately, yes, there were 4 million riders a day in New York City on city subways, and there are numerous ways people get hurt and do get hurt on a daily basis. Many times, not their own fault.

Rob Rosenthal:

What are some of the more common accidents injuries that you've seen?

Michele Mirman:

Well, unfortunately, people do fall on the tracks and get hit by trains, many of the platforms are very narrow, the subways can be crowded, people fall because of over-crowding, sometimes people fall because they're pushed, sometimes they fall because they're sick and they do tumble onto the tracks, and the modern operators are supposed to be trained to keep their eyes open for this occurrence because unfortunately, it does happen often, and they are supposed to drive into the station slowly, keep their eyes open, step on the brakes, and it doesn't always happen the way it should. People are run over. It's a terrible tragedy. 

Rob Rosenthal:

So what's your advice? Someone's injured on the subway or on the rail car, obviously, get the medical attention. But then what's your advice?

Michele Mirman:

Well, clearly they should contact a lawyer as soon as possible, when you see the subway system in New York City, it's a part of the municipality, there's a 90-day requirement for filing a notice of claim, which is very, very short, that's three months. In addition, the lawsuit must be started, within in a year and 90 days. In addition to that, you wanna have an investigation done very quickly. You don't wanna delay, you wanna get all that evidence as soon as you possibly can, and that's really where the lawyer steps up to the plate and makes sure that all of that work is done.

Rob Rosenthal:

I would imagine if you wait too long, that part of that becomes much more difficult. 

Michele Mirman:

Yes. Absolutely. Much more difficult.

Rob Rosenthal:

What are some of the common reasons for these injuries that are caused by someone's negligence, is it always operator error, or what are some of the other reasons that you've seen?

Michele Mirman:

Well, a lot of times it's maintenance on the subways themselves. People fall down the steps, the steps are not properly maintained, the water leaks from the ceilings, the steps are broken, people trip and fall. In addition, I'm sure you've heard there have been railways derailments, subway derailments, people are injured because of that, that's a maintenance problem or an engineer problem, they go too fast, and those are some of the big reasons that people do get hurt.

Rob Rosenthal:

You kind of touched on it a minute ago, but if someone ends up on the tracks, whether they've pushed or or they got sick and fell or whatever it is, that's not necessarily is just their fault or maybe it is their fault, but there could be other factors involved, yes?

Michele Mirman:

Correct, correct. And then it's for a jury to sort it out, a jury will hear all the evidence about how the station was maintained, how the train was driven, what happened to the particular passenger and make a decision about how much fault is with the subway system and how much fault if any is with the subway rider. 

Rob Rosenthal:

And explain to me the difference, or is there a difference, between suits that may be against the New York City Metro Transit System versus commuter trains and that sort of thing. How do those compare?

Michele Mirman:

So there are different train systems that go through New York City. There's the New York City subway system itself run by the New York City Transit Authority, there's MTA, there's the Long Island Railroad, Amtrak. Each one is run by a different authority, and each one has to be sued separately.

Rob Rosenthal:

So that can add to some complications, I'm guessing.

Michele Mirman:

Absolutely, and again, that's why you need a lawyer to sort out the differences and make sure that you are suing the appropriate entity.

Rob Rosenthal:

If the person injured is a tourist? What's your advice? Should they wait till they get home and talk to a hometown attorney, or is it better to have an attorney in New York City, what's your advice there?

Michele Mirman:

Absolutely you need an attorney in New York City. Attorneys, New York City attorney is gonna know the courts, the law, the people involved, how to start the lawsuit, how to keep the lawsuit going, all the correct statutes of limitations, and again, New York City subways are not only difficult to navigate but the courts also are equally is difficult to navigate.

Rob Rosenthal:

Lots of really helpful information. Michele, thank you for making some time to ask our questions.

Michele Mirman:

You're quite welcome. Thank you very much too.

Rob Rosenthal:

That's gonna take care of this episode of Ask the Lawyer. My guest has been New York City attorney Michele Mirman. I'll remind you, if you'd like to ask Michele questions about your specific situation, head over to AskTheLawyers.com, click the button up in the upper right corner of the screen that says Ask a Lawyer, and you can ask your questions right there. Thanks for watching. I'm Rob Rosenthal with Ask the Lawyers.


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