In New York, various state laws govern an injured person’s ability to recover compensation after getting hurt in a car accident. However, recent changes to New York’s car accident laws have altered how the state’s no-fault insurance system works, how an injured plaintiff’s fault affects financial recovery, and other restrictions on crash victims’ rights to recover compensation. As a result, Queens drivers who get into car crashes should know what these changes entail and how they could determine their rights to obtain financial compensation for injuries and losses from an accident.
The No-Fault System Remains, But Stepping Outside It Becomes Harder
Part EE of Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 altered New York’s long-standing no-fault insurance system. Under this system, people injured in car accidents must first turn to their insurance company for personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, which provides compensation for medical expenses and lost wages regardless of who caused the accident. An accident victim’s ability to “step outside” the no-fault system and sue an at-fault driver depended on specific circumstances, including suffering a qualifying injury. The recent change to the no-fault insurance system has narrowed the definition of what qualifies as a “serious injury” entitling a car accident victim to sue an at-fault driver.
The Temporary Serious Injury Category Is Gone
Previously, New York law defined a serious injury to include “a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment.” This so-called “temporary serious injury” category allowed car accident victims to sue at-fault drivers if they could not work or handle ordinary daily activities in at least 90 of the 180 days following an accident. However, the recent amendments to New York law have eliminated this category.
New York Now Has a Modified Comparative Negligence System for Car Accident Claims
The amendments to New York’s car accident laws have also changed the comparative negligence system for such claims. Traditionally, New York has used a pure comparative negligence system for all injury claims, under which an injured accident victim could pursue compensation if they shared fault for the accident, regardless of their percentage of responsibility, but such share of fault would reduce their financial recovery in a lawsuit by the same proportion. However, New York has now adopted a modified comparative negligence system for car accident claims, which bars an accident victim from recovering compensation if their share of fault exceeds the fault or combined fault of the other responsible party or parties.
A New Cap on Pain and Suffering for Uninsured or Impaired Drivers
The new changes to New York’s car accident laws have also created a cap on recovery for non-economic losses (e.g., “pain and suffering”) in car accident lawsuits for injured drivers who operate vehicles without insurance, while under the influence, or during the commission of or flight from a felony. Such drivers cannot recover more than $100,000 for non-economic losses resulting from injuries they sustain in an accident while operating a vehicle under any of these conditions.
Contact Our Queens Personal Injury Firm Today to Learn How the New Law Changes May Affect Your Case
Have you recently gotten hurt in a car accident in Queens? If so, you need to understand your rights to financial recovery for your harm and loss under state law. Contact McCann Legal, PC today for a free consultation with a personal injury attorney to learn how the recent changes to New York car accident laws might affect your case and your options for recovering compensation for injuries you sustained in a car crash in Queens.