Pedestrian Accident Lawyer in New York

Who pays after a pedestrian accident in New York?

New York's no fault system covers pedestrians. Under Insurance Law 5103, the no fault coverage on the vehicle that struck you pays your medical bills and part of your lost wages regardless of fault, up to the 50,000 dollar basic economic loss cap in Insurance Law 5102. The application is generally due within 30 days of the crash under 11 NYCRR 65-1.1, and missing that deadline is one of the most common ways pedestrians lose benefits they are owed.

No fault pays bills. It does not pay pain, suffering or scarring, or wages above its cap. Those come from the driver's liability insurer, and recovering them requires meeting the serious injury threshold defined in Insurance Law 5102(d): a fracture, permanent limitation of use, or a significant limitation, among other categories. For lawsuits filed on or after May 26, 2026, the old 90 of 180 day category no longer applies. A fracture from a pedestrian strike clears the threshold automatically.

If the driver had no insurance or fled the scene, and you have no household auto policy of your own, the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation, MVAIC, can provide both no fault benefits and a path to recover for a serious injury, though MVAIC has its own short notice deadlines that we handle immediately.

How much is a New York pedestrian accident claim worth?

Pedestrian injuries in New York are frequently severe because a person on foot has no protection from the impact of a vehicle. Fractures of the pelvis, hip, leg and ankle, traumatic brain injury, and spinal injury are common. Value is built from medical costs above the no fault cap, future treatment, lost wages above the no fault benefit, earning capacity, and pain and suffering once the serious injury threshold is met.

Severity and permanence drive the number more than anything else. A fracture requiring surgical fixation, a traumatic brain injury with lasting cognitive effects, or a spinal injury affecting mobility is valued well above a strain that resolves in weeks. Insurance limits set the practical ceiling, and we pursue every available policy, the driver's, the vehicle owner's, an employer's if the driver was working, and MVAIC if there is no traceable coverage.

Venue affects value as well, since a Bronx or Kings County pedestrian case is evaluated differently than one in Westchester or Nassau. We do not quote a number before treatment and prognosis are documented. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Cases involving children struck near a school or a crossing guard, or older residents struck in a crowded shopping corridor, often carry additional weight with a jury because New York law expects extra care from drivers around vulnerable pedestrians. A spouse's loss of consortium claim, and a parent's claim for a child's medical and care costs, are separate categories of recovery we evaluate in every family's case.

Value is best understood in tiers. At the low end, soft tissue injuries and minor fractures that heal without surgery in a few months produce claims built mainly around medical costs above the no fault cap and a modest pain component. In the middle tier, injuries requiring surgical intervention, a fractured ankle fixed with hardware, a torn meniscus repaired arthroscopically, or a herniated disc treated with injections and possibly a fusion, produce claims that rise with the invasiveness of treatment and any documented permanent limitation. At the high end, catastrophic injuries, a traumatic brain injury with measurable cognitive deficits, a spinal cord injury, an amputation, or multiple fractures requiring several surgeries, reflect a lifetime of altered earning capacity and care needs, typically supported by a life care planner and a vocational expert.

A concrete comparison shows the range. A pedestrian clipped at low speed in a parking garage who suffers a wrist fracture that heals with a cast presents a claim centered on a few months of care, limited missed work and a modest pain and suffering component. A pedestrian struck at higher speed on a wide arterial like Queens Boulevard who suffers a fractured femur requiring surgical fixation, months of physical therapy and a permanent limp presents a very different claim, one built around a surgical component, an extended wage loss period, potential future care, and a substantially larger pain and suffering claim tied to the documented permanency.

New York law holds a negligent driver responsible for aggravating a pre existing condition, so a pedestrian with a prior back injury who suffers a new disc herniation can recover for the aggravation. Insurers routinely try to attribute new symptoms entirely to old injuries or normal aging, so we work closely with your treating physicians to document exactly what changed after the crash.

What if the insurance company denies or lowballs your New York pedestrian claim?

Expect the insurer to argue you crossed against the signal or stepped into traffic unexpectedly. For lawsuits filed on or after May 26, 2026, CPLR 1411 applies modified comparative negligence to motor vehicle injury claims, so your recovery is reduced by your fault percentage and you can be barred if you are found more at fault than the driver. A pedestrian found 25 percent at fault still recovers 75 percent of the damages.

We answer fault arguments with the police report, camera footage from the city's extensive network, signal timing data, and, where needed, a reconstruction of the crossing and sightlines. Do not give a recorded statement to the driver's insurer, a casual sentence about where you were walking becomes the fault argument used against you.

On the serious injury threshold, the insurer's doctor will argue your limitation is not significant or that your imaging shows pre existing degeneration. We answer with your treating physicians, objective measurements and, where needed, a narrative report tying the injury to the crash. If the insurer will not pay fairly, we file suit in the Supreme Court of the appropriate county.

Insurers in New York also argue that a pedestrian struck mid block, away from a marked crossing, has a weaker claim. That is not the law. A driver's duty to keep a lookout for pedestrians applies on every city street, and a driver who was speeding or distracted when they struck a person crossing mid block still bears substantial responsibility under the comparative fault rule.

Common insurance company defenses in a New York pedestrian case and how we answer them

New York insurers defending a pedestrian claim tend to run through a predictable set of arguments, and preparing for them from the first week is part of how we build a case.

The visibility defense claims the pedestrian was hard to see, in dark clothing at night or obscured by a parked car or a turning bus. We answer with lighting conditions documented as close to the incident as possible, photographs, and the driver's own account of when they first saw you, which often reveals inattention rather than a genuine visibility problem given New York's well lit commercial corridors.

The sudden appearance defense claims there was no time to react. We answer with speed evidence from the damage pattern, and with witness accounts and camera footage showing how long the pedestrian was actually visible before impact, since a driver traveling at a lawful, attentive speed on a city street almost always has adequate time to react.

The comparative fault defense claims the pedestrian jaywalked, crossed against the signal, or was on a phone. Under CPLR 1411, New York's modified comparative negligence rule for motor vehicle injury claims (lawsuits filed on or after May 26, 2026) means this defense reduces recovery and, if the pedestrian is found more at fault than the driver, can bar it, so we focus on maximizing the driver's documented share of fault through speed evidence, phone record subpoenas where distraction is suspected, and the driver's independent duty of care regardless of exactly where the pedestrian was crossing.

The pre existing injury defense claims your symptoms stem from an old condition or normal aging. We answer with a clear before and after medical timeline and, where needed, a treating physician's opinion distinguishing aggravation from an unrelated finding.

The insurer's own independent medical examination is where many of these defenses get built. The examining doctor is selected and paid by the insurance industry, and in our experience these reports understate injuries more often than they accurately describe them. We prepare clients for the exam and counter a weak report with detailed records from your own treating physicians.

How long do you have to file a pedestrian accident claim in New York?

New York gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit under CPLR 214. A wrongful death action must be brought by the estate's personal representative within two years of the death under EPTL 5-4.1.

If a city bus, an MTA or New York City Transit vehicle, a police car, a sanitation truck or a dangerous roadway or crosswalk maintained by a municipality was involved, General Municipal Law 50-e requires a notice of claim within 90 days. Many pedestrian cases involve exactly these public entities, since crosswalks, signals and sidewalks are municipally maintained, so this shorter deadline comes up often.

No fault deadlines are the shortest of all, generally 30 days for the application. MVAIC claims for hit and run or uninsured drivers require a police report within 24 hours and a notice of intention within 90 days. Call as soon as you can so nothing is missed.

What should you do in the first 72 hours after a New York pedestrian accident?

See a doctor the same day even if you feel able to walk. Concussions and internal injuries from a fall to the pavement often do not show symptoms immediately. Bellevue, NYU Langone, Jamaica Hospital, Kings County Hospital, Elmhurst and Jacobi are the city's Level I trauma centers.

Make sure a police report exists and get the report number. Photograph the crosswalk or the location where you were struck, the vehicle, the signal, skid marks and your injuries. Collect the driver's information and the names and numbers of witnesses, who are often plentiful at busy city intersections.

Look for cameras immediately. New York has an extraordinary number of them, Department of Transportation traffic cameras, MTA buses, storefronts, building lobbies and doorbells, and most footage is overwritten within days. Tell us the exact location so we can send preservation letters right away.

Open the no fault claim by notifying the striking vehicle's insurer, or your own if you have a household policy, that a crash occurred. Do not give a recorded statement to the driver's insurer and stay off social media about the crash.

What evidence proves a New York pedestrian accident case

New York pedestrian cases are frequently won on evidence that exists only briefly, which is why speed in gathering it matters as much as the medical treatment itself.

Crosswalk and traffic camera footage is often decisive, and New York has more of it than almost any American city, Department of Transportation traffic cameras, MTA bus and subway station cameras, and private cameras on storefronts, building lobbies and doorbells throughout the five boroughs. Most footage is overwritten within days to a couple of weeks, so we send preservation letters to every identifiable camera owner immediately upon being retained, following with a subpoena if a camera owner does not respond and suit becomes necessary.

Traffic signal timing records establish right of way at a signalized intersection. New York City Department of Transportation maintains signal phase data, and cross referencing that data against camera timestamps can resolve a disputed question of whether a pedestrian entered on a walk signal or against a countdown.

Witness canvassing goes beyond the names an officer happened to collect at the scene. We return to busy intersections, often at the same time of day, to find delivery workers, doormen, shopkeepers and regular commuters who saw the crash but were not flagged down by police in the immediate chaos. A witness account of a driver looking at a phone, or of how long a pedestrian was visible before impact, frequently resolves a disputed fault question.

Vehicle damage patterns and any available event data can establish approximate impact speed, directly relevant to both the visibility and sudden appearance defenses. We retain an accident reconstruction engineer when the physical evidence is contested in a case of significant value.

Detailed medical documentation of the mechanism of injury, not just the diagnosis, strengthens the case. A treating physician's note specifically tying a fracture pattern or a head injury to a pedestrian strike carries more weight than a generic diagnosis code.

What Your Claim Can Cover

• Medical benefits from the driver's policy where no fault applies
• Full pain and suffering claims for serious injuries
• Fault rules explained for people on foot
• Claims against city agencies for dangerous crossings
• Hit and run recovery through uninsured motorist coverage