At The Law Offices of Sander Budanitsky, L.L.C., our dedicated team understands that being involved in a car accident can be a traumatic and confusing experience. In New Jersey, the intricacies of the no-fault insurance system and the related legal frameworks can make navigating the aftermath of a crash feel overwhelming. That's why we're here to guide you through this process every step of the way. We take pride in representing those injured in accidents across Westfield and Union County, ensuring that our clients understand their rights and options.
When you're faced with medical bills and the stress of recovery, the last thing you need is confusion about how insurance coverage works. In New Jersey's no-fault system, your own insurance, through Personal Injury Protection (PIP), will cover your medical expenses regardless of fault. However, this coverage has its limits, especially when it comes to pain and suffering claims. Our team is committed to helping you understand how to effectively navigate both your PIP benefits and potential claims against the at-fault driver.
There’s more to a car accident claim than just dealing with insurance companies. Depending on the tort option you selected when purchasing your auto insurance, your ability to recover for pain and suffering can vary significantly. We will work closely with you to determine whether your injury meets the necessary criteria to pursue a third-party claim, providing you with the clarity you need to make informed decisions.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, don’t hesitate to reach out. Our team is ready to discuss your case and help you make sense of the challenges you’re facing. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and take the first step toward securing the compensation you deserve.
New Jersey's no-fault system means that after a crash, an injured driver turns first to their own insurance, not the other driver's, for medical bills. Personal Injury Protection, or PIP, under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, pays the insured's medical expenses, and certain other losses, regardless of who caused the crash. This coverage applies early, while treatment is still ongoing, so an injured person is not left waiting for a fault determination before getting care paid for.
PIP coverage is meaningful but limited in scope. It pays medical expenses up to the policy's limit and does not compensate for pain and suffering. Recovering for those noneconomic harms requires a separate claim against the at-fault driver, and whether that claim is available depends on the tort option the injured person selected. Understanding that PIP handles the early medical bills while a separate third-party claim handles pain and suffering is the essential starting point for understanding any New Jersey car accident claim.
Will my own insurance or the other driver's pay after a Westfield car accident?
Both can play a role. New Jersey is a no-fault state, so your own PIP coverage pays your medical bills regardless of who caused the crash, while a claim against the at-fault driver covers pain and suffering and other personal injury attorney losses beyond what PIP pays, if your injury clears the verbal threshold.
When buying auto coverage in New Jersey, every driver chooses between two tort options, and the choice determines whether they can sue for pain and suffering. The limitation-on-lawsuit option, known as the verbal threshold under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8, carries a lower premium but bars recovery for noneconomic damages unless the injury fits one of six statutory categories: death; dismemberment; significant disfigurement or significant scarring; a displaced fracture; or a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, supported by objective medical evidence.
The no-limitation option costs more but preserves the unrestricted right to sue for pain and suffering. Most drivers carry the verbal threshold, often without realizing it, which makes the nature of the injury decisive: a permanent injury, confirmed by objective evidence, opens the door to noneconomic damages that a soft-tissue injury might not. The tort election binds the household and is locked in for a crash once it happens.
Establishing that an injury meets one of the six threshold categories, with objective medical evidence, is frequently the single pivotal question in a Westfield car accident claim.
If you were hurt during a prearranged rideshare trip, neither the rideshare company nor its driver can use the verbal threshold against you, and the trip must be covered by at least $1.5 million in liability coverage (N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10).
When a crash is caused by a drunk driver, punitive damages may be available on clear and convincing proof of actual malice or wanton and willful disregard (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.12). The usual cap, five times compensatory damages or $350,000, whichever is greater (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.14(b)), does not apply if the driver was convicted of drunk driving under R.S. 39:4-50 or refusal under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.4a (N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.14(c)).
New Jersey's 51 percent bar, under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1, governs how fault affects a recovery. An injured person recovers as long as their share of fault is not greater than the other parties' combined fault, meaning fifty percent or less, with the recovery reduced by their share. At fifty-one percent, recovery is barred.
A short example shows how this works. Suppose a driver's claim is valued at one hundred thousand dollars, and the driver is found twenty percent at fault for the crash while the other driver is found eighty percent at fault. The injured driver recovers, because twenty percent does not exceed fifty percent, but the award is reduced by that twenty percent, yielding eighty thousand dollars.
Had the injured driver been found fifty-one percent at fault, the recovery would be zero. This is precisely why the defense works so hard to shift fault onto the injured driver, and why the objective evidence of how a crash actually happened matters so much to the outcome.
One of Westfield's most distinctive crash settings is the traffic circle where South Avenue and North Avenue come together near the train station, where Route 28 passes under the Raritan Valley Line and several roadways converge. A traffic circle with multiple entry and exit points, heavy commuter traffic feeding the train station, and the rail underpass nearby produces the failure-to-yield and merging conflicts that lead to collisions, and a driver who enters without yielding or misjudges another vehicle's path can cause a serious crash there.
Consider a driver struck while navigating the circle by another vehicle that failed to yield on entry. The at-fault driver's insurer may argue the injured driver entered improperly or could have avoided the collision, the familiar attempt to shift fault. Answering it depends on the physical evidence, the point of impact, the vehicle damage, and any witness accounts, evidence that fades quickly.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway, about five miles from Westfield, offers urgent medical care but is not a designated trauma center. Severe trauma goes to University Hospital in Newark, the state-designated Level I trauma center for northern New Jersey and the nearest designated trauma center to Westfield, about 13 miles away. Securing the perishable evidence early is what resolves a disputed claim arising at the train-station circle.
For standard policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, the minimums are $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage. Policies issued earlier keep the prior 25,000/50,000 limits until renewal, and the basic policy is not covered by the increase; its bodily injury liability coverage is an optional $10,000.
Higher minimums help, but they can still fall short of what a serious injury costs, which is where underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage becomes important.
Underinsured motorist coverage applies only if your own UIM limits are higher than the at-fault driver's liability limits, and only after that driver's coverage has been paid out. It pays your UIM limit minus what the at-fault driver's insurer paid. With $100,000 in UIM against a driver carrying $35,000, UIM can add up to $65,000. If your UIM limit is $35,000 or less, it adds nothing.
Uninsured motorist coverage responds when the at-fault driver has no insurance or flees. Reviewing every available layer of coverage, including the at-fault driver's liability policy and the injured person's own uninsured and underinsured benefits, is an important early step after a serious crash.
Not every at-fault driver can pay for the harm they cause. Some carry no insurance, some carry only the minimum, and some flee the scene without being identified. For these situations, an injured person's own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage exists as a backstop, and it can be the most important coverage in a serious crash.
Uninsured motorist coverage responds when the at-fault driver has no insurance or cannot be identified, as in a hit-and-run. Underinsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver has insurance but not enough to cover the injuries, allowing the injured person to recover the difference up to their own coverage limit.
These claims are made against the injured person's own insurer, which, despite the existing relationship, still seeks to limit what it pays out. Therefore, the same careful documentation that supports a third-party claim is needed to support an uninsured or underinsured claim. Identifying this uninsured and underinsured coverage early can determine whether a serious injury is fully addressed or left partially uncompensated.
Car accidents trace to a recognizable set of driver behaviors, and identifying the cause points to the fault. Distracted driving, following too closely, failing to yield, running a light or stop sign, speeding, and drunk driving account for most crashes, whether at a busy intersection or on an open road. The failure to yield, in particular, drives many collisions at the kind of multi-leg junction the train-station circle represents.
The setting shapes the risk across Westfield. The downtown corridors of East Broad Street and Central Avenue mix turning vehicles with pedestrians, cyclists, and parking maneuvers; the Route 28 corridor and the Parkway approaches at Exits 135 and 137 carry faster commuter and truck accident traffic; and the residential streets see the backing, turning, and yielding conflicts of everyday driving. Identifying how a particular crash happened, and which driver failed in a duty of care, is the foundation of the claim.
Beyond the injury claim, a crash often damages the vehicle, and New Jersey law allows recovery for that property damage from the at-fault driver. This includes the cost of repair or, where the vehicle is a total loss, its value, and it can include the loss of use during the repair period. The property-damage claim proceeds alongside the bodily-injury claim but is evaluated separately under its own measure.
A related and often-overlooked element is diminished value: the reduction in a vehicle's market worth after it has been in a significant crash, even once it is fully repaired. A vehicle with a documented accident on its history is generally worth less on resale than one without, and that loss in value can be a recoverable component of the property-damage claim in the right circumstances. Documenting the vehicle's condition and market value, both before and after the crash, is part of pursuing the full property-damage recovery a serious crash causes.
The injuries from a car accident range from minor to catastrophic, and their nature bears directly on the verbal-threshold question. Whiplash and other soft-tissue injuries are common and can be genuinely disabling, yet they are also the injuries an insurer most readily disputes and that may not clearly meet a threshold category. More severe crashes produce fractures, herniated discs, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal injuries that more clearly satisfy the threshold and carry lasting consequences.
Because the threshold turns on objective medical evidence of a qualifying injury, the medical documentation in a car accident claim does double duty: it establishes the treatment and its cost, and it establishes whether the injury opens the door to non-economic damages. A consistent course of care, supported by objective findings such as imaging, is what connects the injury to the crash and answers the insurer's effort to minimize it. Capturing the full extent of an injury, including its likely future course and permanent effects, is essential to valuing the claim accurately.
The driver's insurer approaches a car accident claim with a clear goal of paying as little as possible, and recognizing its methods is the first defense. A common approach is to dispute fault, leaning on the comparative-negligence rule to shift blame onto the injured driver, since every percentage point assigned reduces the recovery and crossing fifty percent eliminates it. Another is to dispute the injury, arguing it is minor, pre-existing, or unrelated to the crash.
Insurers also commonly seek a recorded statement early, hoping the injured person says something that can be used to limit the claim, and extend an early settlement offer before the full extent of the injury is known. None of this is improper on its face, but it is adverse to the injured person's interest. The objective evidence of how the crash happened answers the fault dispute, and a complete medical record answers the effort to minimize the injury. A claim built on that foundation is what keeps an early lowball from becoming the final word.
The proof in a car accident claim is perishable, which makes prompt action valuable beyond the two-year deadline. The scene tells a story through skid marks, debris, and the resting positions of the vehicles, and within hours much of it is cleared. Photographs taken at the scene, or soon after, preserve what the roadway itself would otherwise lose, and the vehicles' damage patterns can support a reconstruction long after the crash if they are documented.
Other evidence is held by others and subject to loss. Video from nearby businesses or traffic cameras is often overwritten within days, and witness memories fade. A prompt effort to identify witnesses, request any available video, and document the scene and vehicles is frequently what allows a fair reconstruction of a disputed crash. Because the side that documents the evidence first holds an advantage, and because an insurer often begins its work immediately, acting promptly protects the injured person's position.
In 2025, Union County recorded 27 fatal crashes that took 29 lives, along with 4,912 injury crashes. Westfield itself saw 104 injury crashes and one traffic death. (Source: NJDOT crash data, 2025.)
A car accident can be a traumatic experience, but knowing how to respond can help you manage the situation effectively. Here's a step-by-step guide on what to do after a crash in Westfield, NJ, including valuable local context.
- Name and contact information
- Insurance company and policy number
- Vehicle identification number (VIN)
- License plate number
- Address
Don’t forget to gather information from witnesses who observed the crash.
Many crashes involve more than two vehicles or more than one negligent driver, and New Jersey's allocation rule then governs how responsibility is divided. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.3, a defendant found sixty percent or more at fault can be required to pay the full award, while a defendant below that threshold pays only its proportional share. In a multi-vehicle crash, sorting out each driver's share is central to the claim.
This allocation matters for recovery as well as fairness. Because a serious injury can exceed the coverage available from one driver, identifying every driver at fault, and every applicable policy, can be what allows the full harm to be addressed. A chain-reaction crash on a Parkway approach near Exit 135, or a multi-car collision at a busy downtown intersection, often turns on a careful reconstruction that establishes the sequence of impacts and assigns fault accurately among the drivers. Getting that fault allocation right protects both the existence and the ultimate size of the recovery.
The rules governing car accident claims are statewide, but a crash happens on a specific road, and a contested claim is heard in a specific court, and familiarity with both adds value. Knowing how crashes occur in Westfield, at the South Avenue and North Avenue circle by the train station, along the East Broad Street and Central Avenue downtown corridors, and on the Route 28 and Parkway approaches at Exits 135 and 137, helps in understanding how a particular crash happened and in anticipating the defense.
Local knowledge also extends to the institutions a serious case runs through. As we have mentioned before, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway, about five miles from Westfield, offers urgent medical care but is not a designated trauma center. Severe trauma goes to University Hospital in Newark, the state-designated Level I trauma center for northern New Jersey and the nearest designated trauma center to Westfield, about 13 miles away. Contested claims are heard at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth, in the Union Vicinage. Pairing command of New Jersey's no-fault and verbal-threshold law with attention to the specific facts of a Westfield crash is what allows the claim to be handled on its real circumstances.
Generally yes. New Jersey is a no-fault state, so your PIP coverage pays medical expenses regardless of who caused the crash, up to your policy limit.
It depends on your tort option. If you carry the verbal threshold, you can recover noneconomic damages only if your injury fits one of six statutory categories.
You can still recover as long as your share of fault is not more than fifty percent. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault.
Under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2, claims generally must be filed within two years of the crash. For injured minors, the period generally starts at age 18. Claims involving a public vehicle, employee, or dangerous road condition require written notice within 90 days. Missing the deadline bars the claim unless a Superior Court judge permits late notice within one year due to extraordinary circumstances and no substantial prejudice. You must wait six months after notice to sue, but still file within two years. Pain-and-suffering claims against public entities require permanent bodily-function loss, disfigurement, or dismemberment, plus medical expenses exceeding $3,600.
For standard policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, the minimums are $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage. Policies issued earlier keep the prior 25,000/50,000 limits until renewal, and the basic policy is not covered by the increase; its bodily injury liability coverage is an optional $10,000.
A first conversation about the crash costs nothing, and because the evidence that answers a fault dispute is perishable and the two-year deadline is running, there is little reason to wait. You can contact the firm to talk through what happened and how the rules above apply to your situation.
The Law Offices of Sander Budanitsky, L.L.C. represents people injured in car accidents throughout Westfield and Union County, with staff who speak Spanish, Russian, and other languages spoken across the community. Attorney Sander Budanitsky has represented injured New Jersey clients since 1996 and is admitted in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Call us today at 908-241-3445 today and start your legal journey towards recovery.
Last reviewed: June 2026. This page was reviewed by Sander Budanitsky, licensed in New Jersey since 1996. It is provided for general information and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed New Jersey attorney for guidance specific to your situation.
The Law Offices of Sander Budanitsky, L.L.C. welcomes calls from potential clients and from attorneys looking to refer or co-counsel a matter. Whether it is an injury claim, a civil dispute, a criminal charge, or an immigration question, the first conversation is free and there is no obligation to hire the firm afterward.
Call the Roselle, New Jersey office at (908) 241-3445 or the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania office at (215) 545-2300. You can also send the details through the contact form and someone from the office will get back to you. Calls are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
