Car Accidents

A significant portion of our time is spent on the roads, whether as drivers, passengers, or pedestrians. Naturally, the more time we spend on the roads, the more we are exposed to various traffic risks and may find ourselves involved in a car accident. Indeed, every year, hundreds of people in Israel lose their lives in car accidents and hundreds of thousands are injured in them.

Who is entitled to compensation under the Road Accident Victims Compensation Law?

The described situation led to the enactment of the Road Accident Victims Compensation Law, a social law abbreviated as the Plat"d Law, which, contrary to traditional tort law, introduced a system of absolute liability. This means that every person injured in a car accident (with a few exceptions) will be compensated under this law regardless of their responsibility or fault for the occurrence of the accident itself.

However, the cumbersome structure of the Road Accident Victims Compensation Law and the vague and inconsistent wording of some of its definitions result in a situation where, while the injured parties claim that the incident that occurred to them constitutes a car accident as defined by the law and therefore they are entitled to claim compensation, the insurance companies, which ultimately pay the compensation, resist and attempt to argue that it is not a car accident as defined by the law.

In addition, even after it has been proven that the injured party was indeed involved in a car accident, the question of the amount of compensation to which they are entitled remains.

Compensation for minor injuries: It is understood that when dealing with minor injuries (whiplash, minor bruises, and the like), the duration of handling the proceeding will be shorter and the injured party will receive the appropriate compensation within a relatively short period of time.

Compensation for complex injuries: When dealing with significant damages that caused the injured party permanent disability, whether in the physical realm or in the mental-psychiatric field, the complexity of managing the proceeding results in it taking a longer time, at the end of which very substantial compensation amounts are received.

The lawsuit proceeding under the Road Accident Victims Compensation Law is determined and conducted according to the nature of the case, its severity, and the response of the insurance companies. The proceeding may include a demand for payment on account of the lawsuit, filing a lawsuit, a proceeding to determine disability percentages, a negotiation proceeding with the insurance company and pursuit of a settlement, and of course conducting a trial until a verdict is obtained.

Our office handled a lawsuit involving a car accident in which a young woman was injured in a car accident when she was 23 years old, in 2004.

As a result of the accident, she was left with medical disabilities at a rate of 45%, both in the orthopedic field and in the psychiatric field.

The court describes in its verdict that it was very impressed by the plaintiff's personality, her credibility, and great honesty.

The court was impressed by the plaintiff's character as a dedicated and diligent worker during the years before the accident, despite her young age, and by the fact that the plaintiff already at these ages took care of all her needs on her own and earned substantial sums through hard work.

The court set the plaintiff's functional disability at 40%, further determined that the plaintiff's earning capacity exceeds the average wage in the economy, and awarded her a high compensation amount of approximately NIS 2,300,000.

Our office filed an appeal to the District Court regarding the verdict, due to insufficient compensation in various damage categories, and the insurance company filed a counter-appeal regarding the verdict.

A verdict has not yet been issued in the appeal.

If you have been injured in a car accident, our office, which has acquired over 25 years of experience in filing lawsuits under the Road Accident Victims Compensation Law and has established its position as one of the leading offices in this field, will be attentive to your needs and will provide you, together with the array of medical experts who accompany it, with the most dedicated, efficient, and professional treatment, which will ultimately yield the maximum compensation to which you are entitled.