Car Accident Lawyer NYC

Last reviewed: 30 October 2026. Written by the Personal Injury NYC editorial team and checked against the official New York sources linked on this page. It has not been reviewed by an attorney and is general information, not legal advice. Personal Injury NYC is not a law firm.

New York uses a no-fault system for motor-vehicle injuries. Your own policy (or the policy covering the vehicle you were in) pays basic economic loss, such as medical bills and part of lost earnings, regardless of who caused the crash. Separately, an injured person may bring a claim against an at-fault driver for pain and suffering, but generally only if the injury meets the statutory "serious injury" definition. The two tracks often run in parallel and have different deadlines.

1. Get medical care and follow the treatment plan; records made close to the crash are usually the clearest evidence of injury.
2. Get the police accident report number. Drivers involved in a crash causing injury, or property damage over $1,000, must also file their own report (form MV-104) with the DMV within 10 days (Vehicle and Traffic Law §605).
3. Notify the insurer and submit the no-fault application promptly — the 30-day rule is strict, although late notice can sometimes be excused with a reasonable justification.
4. Save photos, the other driver's details, witness names, and repair estimates. Ask nearby businesses about camera footage quickly, because many systems overwrite recordings within days.
5. Be careful with recorded statements to another driver's insurer; you are not required to give one before you understand your position.
6. If a city vehicle, bus or public road defect may be involved, note it immediately — claims against public bodies usually start with a notice of claim (see deadlines below).

Under Insurance Law §5102(d), a serious injury includes, among other categories, death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, a fracture, permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system, permanent consequential limitation or significant limitation of use, and a medically determined injury that prevents a person from performing substantially all of their usual daily activities for at least 90 of the 180 days after the accident. Whether a particular injury meets the definition is decided on medical evidence and is frequently disputed by insurers. For disc and spine injuries, see the back and spinal injury guide.

These are general rules with exceptions — for example for minors, some public authorities with their own statutes, and claims that are not ordinary negligence. The New York courts publish an overview in their statute of limitations timetable and statute of limitations guide. Read more in the New York injury deadline guide. If a deadline may be close, speak to a New York-licensed attorney directly rather than waiting.

New York applies pure comparative fault: an injured person's own share of responsibility reduces the damages recoverable but does not by itself bar a claim (CPLR §1411). New York's minimum required bodily injury liability coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (NY DFS), which can be far below the cost of a serious injury. Other coverage layers may matter — commercial or employer policies, umbrella policies and your own supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist (SUM) coverage. See how bodily injury liability coverage works, what PIP covers and, if the driver fled, the hit-and-run guide.

• Rear-end and stop-and-go collisions on bridges, tunnels and expressways such as the BQE.
• Left-turn and failure-to-yield crashes at avenue intersections.
• Collisions involving commercial trucks, rideshare vehicles, taxis and for-hire vehicles or buses, which can involve different insurers and rules.
• Passenger claims where each driver blames the other.
• Pedestrian and cyclist injuries, which generally still start with no-fault benefits from the striking vehicle's policy.

Manhattan · Brooklyn · Queens · The Bronx · Staten Island. For questions to ask when choosing a car accident attorney, see the car accident attorney questions guide; for comparing NYC and Manhattan injury lawyers, see how to evaluate NYC injury lawyers.

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