New York City Motor Vehicle Accident Lawyer

New York City streets generate more motor vehicle accidents per square mile than nearly anywhere else in the country. The density, the volume of commercial vehicles, the cyclists and pedestrians sharing lanes with trucks, the construction zones that redirect traffic into unfamiliar patterns — all of it creates conditions where collisions happen daily and the consequences can be severe. If you were hurt in one of those collisions, what happens next depends significantly on how quickly the right legal decisions get made. Cohan Law Firm has recovered over $100 million for accident victims across New York City, representing people injured in car accidents, truck crashes, motorcycle accidents, and collisions involving pedestrians, cyclists, bus passengers, and rideshare riders throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and beyond.

Why NYC Motor Vehicle Cases Are Legally Distinct From Most States

New York operates under a no-fault insurance system, which means that after most accidents, your own insurance pays your initial medical expenses and a portion of lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. That structure sounds simple until you encounter its limits. No-fault coverage caps out, and it covers nothing for pain, suffering, or long-term disruption to your life.

To recover damages beyond those limits, you must meet what New York law defines as a “serious injury” threshold. This is not a casual standard. It requires documented evidence of specific categories of harm: fractures, significant disfigurement, permanent loss of use of a body part or organ, permanent consequential limitation of a body function, a medically determined injury that prevents you from performing substantially all of your usual activities for at least 90 out of 180 days following the accident, or death. Which threshold category applies to your injury shapes how the entire case is built and what evidence needs to be preserved from the earliest days of treatment.

Insurance carriers in New York spend considerable resources contesting the serious injury threshold. They commission independent medical examinations, scrutinize gaps in medical treatment, and look for pre-existing conditions they can attribute your current symptoms to. Understanding this dynamic from the start, rather than after a claim has been mishandled, is one of the most practical reasons to speak with a motor vehicle accident attorney before communicating further with any insurer.

The Range of Collisions Cohan Law Firm Handles Across the Five Boroughs

Motor vehicle accident cases in New York City span an enormous range of fact patterns, each carrying its own liability considerations and insurance layers.

Rear-end collisions are among the most frequent on city streets and expressways like the BQE, the FDR, and the Cross Bronx. While the rear driver is often presumed at fault, that presumption can shift, and the severity of injury from a seemingly minor impact is routinely underestimated. Intersection accidents, particularly T-bone crashes at signalized intersections throughout all five boroughs, frequently involve disputed accounts of who had the light, making traffic camera footage and witness identification critical.

Truck and commercial vehicle accidents carry distinct liability structures. A delivery truck operator who causes a crash may be employed by a company, contracted through a logistics broker, or operating under a lease arrangement, and each of those relationships affects who bears legal responsibility. Tractor-trailer jackknifes, wide-turn collisions on narrow city streets, blind-spot crashes, and accidents caused by improperly maintained commercial vehicles are all cases that require investigation beyond the driver alone.

Rideshare accidents through Uber and Lyft involve insurance coverage that shifts depending on whether the driver was logged into the app, had accepted a ride, or had a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Taxi and for-hire vehicle accidents in New York City are governed by separate regulatory schemes through the Taxi and Limousile Commission, which affects how claims are filed and against whom.

Motorcycle accidents in the city frequently result in catastrophic injuries because of the lack of physical protection, and they carry a persistent insurance bias that motorcyclists were somehow at fault. Pedestrian and bicycle accidents, both extremely common in neighborhoods across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, often involve crosswalk violations, failure to yield, distracted driving, or vehicle door collisions, all of which require specific evidence to establish fault properly.

What Damages Motor Vehicle Accident Victims Can Actually Pursue

When a case clears the serious injury threshold, the damages available extend well beyond the no-fault medical reimbursement you received initially. Economic damages include the full scope of medical treatment: emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, specialist visits, and ongoing care for injuries that require long-term management. Lost wages cover both the income you missed while recovering and, in cases of permanent limitation, the diminished earning capacity going forward.

Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and the impact the injury has had on your daily functioning, your relationships, and your ability to do the things you could do before the accident. These are not abstract numbers. They are grounded in medical records, treatment notes, testimony from physicians, and documentation of how the injury has actually changed your life.

In cases involving a fatality, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim under New York law. That type of claim has its own procedural requirements and statute of limitations considerations that differ from personal injury claims, and the family’s own grief or emotional harm is addressed through a separate cause of action for conscious pain and suffering experienced before death.

New York’s statute of limitations for motor vehicle accident claims is generally three years from the date of the accident for personal injury and two and a half years for wrongful death, though claims involving government vehicles or city-owned property carry dramatically shorter deadlines, sometimes as brief as 90 days to file a notice of claim. Missing those early deadlines forfeits the right to recover entirely.

Questions Clients Ask About Motor Vehicle Accident Claims in New York

Can I still recover compensation if I was partially at fault for the accident?

New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule, which means your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you are not barred from recovering even if you were more than 50 percent at fault. If a jury finds you 30 percent responsible, you recover 70 percent of your damages. This is a more plaintiff-favorable standard than many other states use.

What should I do at the scene if I’m able to?

Document everything you can. Photograph all vehicles, road conditions, traffic signals, skid marks, and the positions of vehicles before they are moved. Get names and contact information for witnesses. Request a copy of the police report number so the report can be obtained later. Seek medical attention even if you feel only mild discomfort, because symptoms from soft tissue injuries and concussions often worsen in the days following a crash.

How does no-fault insurance affect my ability to sue the other driver?

No-fault insurance is a first-party benefit, meaning it comes from your own policy regardless of fault. To bring a lawsuit against the at-fault driver, you must demonstrate that your injuries meet New York’s serious injury threshold. Your attorney will evaluate your medical records against those categories to determine whether a third-party claim is viable and what the path forward looks like.

What if the at-fault driver had no insurance or fled the scene?

Uninsured motorist coverage in your own policy may apply. New York law requires insurers to offer uninsured motorist coverage, and it can compensate you when the at-fault driver cannot be identified or lacks coverage. Hit-and-run accidents and accidents caused by phantom vehicles have specific procedural requirements, including reporting obligations, that affect how claims must be structured.

How long does a motor vehicle accident case typically take in New York?

Cases that settle without litigation can resolve in months. Cases that proceed through the New York court system, particularly in high-volume venues like Kings County or Queens County, can take considerably longer depending on the complexity of the injuries, the number of defendants, and court scheduling. The severity of your injuries is the most significant variable, since claims involving permanent or catastrophic harm require more complete documentation of long-term medical impact before any settlement is appropriate.

Does Cohan Law Firm charge upfront fees for motor vehicle accident cases?

No. Cohan Law Firm handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning there is no fee unless the firm recovers compensation for you. Initial consultations are free and confidential.

What if the accident involved a city bus or municipal vehicle?

Claims against the City of New York or the MTA require filing a notice of claim within 90 days of the accident. This is a strict procedural requirement, and missing it bars your claim. These cases have additional complexity because of the governmental immunity rules and the specific documentation requirements involved. Moving quickly after an MTA or city vehicle accident is not optional.

Talk to a Motor Vehicle Accident Attorney Serving All of New York City

Cohan Law Firm represents accident victims throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and the surrounding areas, handling cases from initial investigation through settlement or trial. The firm’s approach is direct: keep clients informed, pursue every viable avenue for recovery, and treat each person as more than a case file. Hablamos Español. If you were injured in a motor vehicle collision in New York City, contact Cohan Law Firm for a free, confidential consultation with a NYC motor vehicle accident attorney who will evaluate your situation honestly and tell you exactly where you stand.