Heckscher State Park Accident Lawyers

injury during hikingCountless people visit the 1,600-acre Heckscher State Park every year. The park offers plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation and adventure, including trails for hiking, running, and biking and options for swimming and other watersports. Where there are opportunities for adventure, there are also dangers. Injuries are not uncommon. Many are minor scrapes or bruises, but serious injuries caused by careless or negligent park upkeep or dangerous conditions can, and do, occur.

At Goldstein & Bashner, our personal injury lawyers work with personal injury victims to ensure they can get the compensation they deserve to pay their medical bills, lost wages, and other losses. Our Heckscher State Park accident lawyers will analyze the cause of your injury and identify the liable party or parties. We can also manage all aspects of your claim against the State of New York, as well as any other parties.

Types of Accidents

Slips, trips, and falls are among the most common types of injuries that occur at Heckscher State Park. In addition, visitors to Heckscher State Park engage in a wide range of activities, including fishing, hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, disc golf, organized sports, and even cross country skiing. Each of these activities has inherent dangers, from falls and broken bones to serious collisions and drowning.

Park visitors might suffer burns due to a damaged grill or dislocate a knee falling down falling on the playground due to a shaky railing.

What Steps Should Someone Take Following An Injury in Heckscher State Park?

Your health and well-being is the top priority after an injury. Report any injury immediately to the Park Police, and seek medical treatment. It pays to see a doctor, even if you do not believe you suffered a serious injury.

This is important because injuries are not always immediately apparent. For example, traumatic brain injuries and serious soft tissue injuries are sometimes difficult to perceive right after they occur. If your injuries do turn out to be worse than you initially thought, the medical records from this treatment will play an important role in proving your case.

If possible, have someone take photographs of the scene and get contact information from any witnesses quickly. Staff may not take care to preserve important evidence or adequately document the incident. Without prompt action, you may have difficulty proving your case later.

Once you receive treatment and your injuries stabilize, it is time to give us a call. Our Heckscher State Park accident attorneys work with experienced investigators and accident reconstruction professionals to determine and prove liability for accidents and injuries. When we take your case, our team will immediately launch an investigation that includes:

  • Securing all possible evidence
  • Interviewing any witnesses
  • Looking into any prior incidents
  • Reconstructing the accident
  • Enlisting the help of other professionals, including expert witnesses

Determining Liability

In general, property owners — including government agencies — have a duty to provide visitors with a reasonably safe environment. When they fail to meet this obligation, they may be liable for injuries suffered. This is a very simplistic view of the law, however. In application, these laws sometimes favor the property owner and make cases difficult to win.

To win a premises liability case for injuries sustained at a park, you need to prove:

  • The property owner or management caused or created the danger that caused your injuries;
  • The property owner or management knew about the danger, but failed to take action to rectify it in a reasonable period; or
  • The property owner or management should have been aware of the danger and failed to repair or correct the issues within a reasonable time frame

In addition, you need the evidence to point to the danger as the primary cause of the incident and your injuries. You may face accusations that you contributed to your own injuries, especially if you were participating in risky activities such as skiing, mountain biking, or wind-surfing. If you did play a role in causing your own injuries, it will affect the amount of compensation you can recover.

You can also hold individuals liable for your injuries. This might be the case if you were assaulted or involved in a car accident at Heckscher.

Is There a Time Limit to File a Claim?

Because the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Prevention runs Heckscher State Park, the statute of limitations you must abide by is different than for private businesses or individuals. In fact, you have only 90 days to give the state notice of your injuries and a year and a half to pursue your case.

Once you give notice of your intent to file a claim, the state will begin investigating your case. This gives it a chance to determine what happened. From there, it will either make a settlement offer or deny any liability in the case. At this point, we can help you negotiate with the state’s legal team, and hopefully reach an agreement.

If you cannot reach a just and fair settlement out of court, you have a year and 90 days (from the date of the accident) to file suit against the State of New York to attempt to recover the compensation you need. Our Heckscher state park injury lawyers fight relentlessly for all our clients and can represent you in court if necessary.

Gaining the Assistance of a Heckscher State Park Injury Attorney

Every accident and injury case is different, so we will need to discuss the details of your Heckscher State Park injury before we can offer you any legal advice specific to your claim.

If we believe we can help you recover compensation for your damages, our Heckscher State Park accident lawyers will navigate the entire claims process for you. This allows you to focus on your physical and emotional health, instead of worrying about deadlines and other legal stressors. Give us a call today.

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