New York Car Accident Statute of Limitations: CPLR 214 and Every Other Deadline

When the New York clock starts and how it is counted

The three years start the day the crash happened. New York does not wait for a diagnosis, a surgery date, a denial letter or the end of your physical therapy.

The date of the crash, not the date you knew

Some claims start when an injury is discovered. A car accident is not one of them. The impact is the event, so the date of the accident on the police report is the date the court will use. That matters most for injuries that hide: a disc injury that becomes obvious at month eight resets nothing. It only shortens the time left to build proof, which is why the serious injury threshold and the filing deadline are worked together from the first month.

A worked example from a Brooklyn crash

A driver is rear ended on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn on March 10, 2026. Her no fault application is due April 9, 2026. Her lawsuit against the other driver is due March 10, 2029. If the vehicle that hit her turns out to be an MTA bus, a notice of claim is due by June 8, 2026 and the lawsuit is due one year and 90 days after the crash, years earlier than the CPLR 214 date. Same crash, three calendars. Our Brooklyn car accident page covers the local pattern.

Weekends, holidays and the last day

If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a court holiday, the filing moves to the next business day the clerk is open. Treat that as a safety net, never a plan. An index number bought at 11:55pm on the last night is a bad way to start a case.

New York deadlines shorter than three years

Several New York deadlines land long before the three year date. Missing one of them can end part of your case while the rest of it is still healthy.

The 30 day no fault application

New York is a no fault state. The coverage on the vehicle you were in pays medical bills and part of your lost wages regardless of fault, up to the basic economic loss limit of 50,000 dollars set by New York Insurance Law section 5102. The application is generally due within 30 days, and medical bills within 45 days of treatment. Late paperwork can be excused with a written reasonable justification, which is the fight described on our page about a denied New York no fault claim.

The 90 day notice of claim against a city or public authority

If an MTA or New York City Transit bus, a county truck, a school district van or a police car is involved, New York General Municipal Law section 50-e requires a written notice of claim within 90 days of the crash. It has to say who you are, where and when it happened and what you claim, and be served the way the statute requires. The lawsuit that follows is due one year and 90 days after the crash. A court can sometimes permit late notice, but that permission is discretionary.

Two years for wrongful death

When a crash kills someone, New York EPTL section 5-4.1 gives the personal representative of the estate two years from the date of death to bring the wrongful death action. The estate has to be opened in Surrogate's Court first, so families should not wait. The separate survival claim for the pain the person suffered before dying follows the three year rule.

Uninsured, underinsured and MVAIC notice

A claim against your own insurer for uninsured or supplementary underinsured motorist benefits is a contract claim, and the policy controls it. Most policies require written notice as soon as practicable, and written notice before you settle with the other driver. If the driver who hit you was never identified, a New York resident with no household coverage can look to MVAIC, which expects a police report within 24 hours and a notice of intention within 90 days.

Exceptions that can extend a New York deadline

A few situations pause the clock. All of them are litigated, none of them are automatic, and no New York lawyer relies on one if there is any way to file on time.

Which New York deadline applies to you

Find the line that matches who hit you. The first deadline is usually the one people miss, because it arrives while they are still in treatment.

Does an insurance claim stop the New York clock?

No. Reporting the crash, opening a claim, going to an examination and trading offers with an adjuster do nothing at all to the three year date.

Only a lawsuit filed with the court satisfies CPLR 214. No rule requires an insurer to warn you that your time is almost up, and an adjuster who has been polite for two years and eleven months is not obligated to say so. A partial payment restarts nothing. No fault benefits still being paid come from a separate contract governed by New York Insurance Law section 5106.

What happens if you miss the New York deadline

The defendant raises the statute of limitations, the court dismisses the case, and the value of the claim goes to zero no matter how badly you were hurt.

A missed deadline is not a reduction. It is an ending. What survives is your no fault claim, because those benefits come from a different contract. What is gone is the claim against the at fault driver for pain and suffering under New York Insurance Law section 5104 and for economic losses above the 50,000 dollar no fault limit. If you think you may be past the date, do not assume. A second defendant, a minor plaintiff or a death date can change the math, and that takes one phone call to check.

Why filing early matters in New York

Evidence disappears long before three years. Cameras overwrite, witnesses move, and vehicles are scrapped with the damage still on them.

Bus and subway cameras, bodega and building cameras and the recorders in commercial trucks keep footage for days or weeks, not years. A preservation letter sent in week one is worth more than a strong argument in year three. Witness memory fades the same way, and a gap in treatment is the first thing a defense doctor points to at a threshold motion. Filing early also changes leverage: an insurer that must answer a complaint and produce its driver for a deposition values a file differently than one holding an unfiled claim.