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Car Accident Lawyer in Queens, NY
If you were hurt in a Queens car accident, you have two clocks running at the same time. One is your no-fault claim, due in 30 days. The other is your lawsuit, due in 3 years. The first one trips up most people. I've represented Queens drivers, passengers, and pedestrians for over 20 years out of my office on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills. Rear-enders on the LIE, T-bones at Queens Boulevard intersections, hit-and-runs, sanitation truck cases, rideshare crashes. Free consultation. No fee unless we recover. Call 718-261-0546 or use the form below.
When to call a Queens car accident lawyer
If you were injured in a car accident anywhere in Queens, you may have a claim against the at-fault driver, that driver's insurer, or your own no-fault carrier. New York's no-fault system covers your initial medical bills and a portion of lost wages. To recover for pain and suffering, future medical care, or lost earnings beyond the no-fault cap, you have to clear New York's "serious injury" threshold under Insurance Law §5102(d). Rear-end, T-bone, head-on, hit-and-run, sideswipe, multi-vehicle, rideshare, MTA bus, sanitation truck, and pedestrian-struck cases all run through the same statutory framework with different procedural quirks. The free consultation costs nothing. The 3-year statute of limitations under CPLR §214(5) feels like a long time and isn't. Call early.
How New York's no-fault system actually works
New York is a "no-fault" state. Insurance Law §5103 requires every auto policy to include $50,000 of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits, payable to you regardless of who caused the accident. PIP covers necessary medical expenses and 80% of lost wages up to $2,000 per month for up to three years. It does not cover pain and suffering, future medical needs above the cap, or lost earnings beyond the wage limit. To recover any of that, you have to sue the at-fault driver under the serious injury threshold. The catch: you must file your no-fault application (form NF-2) within 30 days of the accident. Miss that deadline and you can lose PIP entirely, even if your case is otherwise strong.
The "serious injury" threshold
Insurance Law §5102(d) lists nine categories of serious injury: death; dismemberment; significant disfigurement; fracture; loss of a fetus; permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system; permanent consequential limitation; significant limitation of use; or a "90/180" limitation, meaning an injury that prevented your usual daily activities for 90 of the 180 days after the accident. Most threshold fights happen in that last category. Insurance carriers contest it hard, and most of these disputes get resolved on summary judgment under CPLR §3212. What wins is contemporaneous medical documentation: imaging, treatment notes that match the impairment, and a record that doesn't have unexplained gaps.
Types of car accident cases we handle
Rear-end collisions. The rear driver is presumed at fault under New York law. The fight is usually about damages, not liability.
T-bone and intersection collisions. Liability turns on right-of-way, signal sequence, and witness accounts. We handled a Staten Island parking lot T-bone case (corrections officer defendant, back surgery, $1,200,000 settlement). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Hit-and-run and uninsured drivers. Your own policy's uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage often pays under Insurance Law §3420(f). The claim runs through your own carrier.
Multi-vehicle crashes. Comparative fault gets argued under CPLR §1411. Multiple insurers means more leverage, not less.
Rideshare (Uber, Lyft). TNC coverage tiers under VTL Article 44-B, up to $1.25 million during active rides, less during in-transit phases.
MTA bus, sanitation truck, taxi. Government defendants trigger a 90-day Notice of Claim deadline under GML §50-e, with the lawsuit due within 1 year and 90 days. Different clock entirely.
Queens corridors
Queens Boulevard, once the "Boulevard of Death," now under Vision Zero, still a hazard zone. Long Island Expressway, Northern Boulevard, Grand Central Parkway, Belt Parkway, merge crashes, sun-glare patterns, recurring bottlenecks.
What your case might be worth
Settlements range from a few thousand dollars for minor injuries to seven figures for catastrophic ones. The NYC Comptroller reported a $15,000 median PI settlement for FY2023, but median is misleading, half of cases settle for less, half for more, and serious-injury cases live in the upper tail. If the at-fault driver carries the New York minimum $25,000/$50,000 policy, that's the ceiling against them. UM/UIM coverage on your own policy can lift it. Honest case evaluation requires looking at the medical record, not guessing from the dashboard.
Time limits, in plain English
- 3-year general statute of limitations under CPLR §214(5) for private-driver cases.
- 30-day no-fault notice (form NF-2) under 11 NYCRR 65.
- 90-day Notice of Claim under GML §50-e for cases involving the City, MTA, NYCHA, or NYC DOE, and the lawsuit itself is due within 1 year and 90 days.
- 2-year wrongful death under EPTL §5-4.1.
When in doubt, treat every case as if a shorter deadline might apply, and call a lawyer in the first week.
Habla español
Tenemos servicios completos en español. Llame al 718-261-0546 para una consulta gratuita.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do right after a car accident in Queens? Call 911 if anyone is injured. Get medical attention even if you feel okay. Photograph the vehicles, the scene, your injuries, and the other driver's license and insurance. Get witness names and numbers. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company. Call a personal injury attorney before signing anything.
Adjusters usually call within 24 to 72 hours, while you're in pain and short on information. The right script: "Please send any communication in writing to my attorney." File your NF-2 within 30 days. Save medical records, bills, and photos. The first 30 days drive case value more than any later strategy.
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in New York? Generally 3 years from the date of the accident under CPLR §214(5). If your case involves an MTA bus, NYC sanitation truck, or NYCHA vehicle, you must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days under GML §50-e, and the lawsuit itself is due within 1 year and 90 days.
The 90-day deadline is non-extendable in most circumstances. Wrongful death cases run on a 2-year clock under EPTL §5-4.1.
How much is my case worth? It depends on severity of injury, medical treatment, lost earnings, future medical needs, the at-fault driver's policy limits, and the venue. The NYC Comptroller's FY2023 median PI settlement was $15,000. Serious-injury cases settle into six and seven figures.
Insurance policy limits cap recovery in many cases. UM/UIM coverage on your own policy can lift the ceiling when the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured.
Should I talk to the other driver's insurance company? No. Politely decline and refer them to your attorney. You aren't required to give a recorded statement, sign a release, or share medical records before consulting a lawyer.
Adjusters are trained to use early statements against you. They ask how you "feel" so they can quote you saying "I'm fine." They offer quick settlements before the injury extent is known.
What if the other driver had no insurance or fled the scene? Your own UM/UIM coverage usually pays under Insurance Law §3420(f). UM applies when the at-fault driver had no insurance or fled. UIM applies when the at-fault driver had insurance but not enough.
The claim is structurally first-party. Filing it doesn't make your premium go up the way an at-fault claim might.
Talk to Nick
Call 718-261-0546. Free consultation. No fee unless we recover. Office: 102-11 Metropolitan Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375.
Related reading: Slip and Fall | Premises Liability | Construction Accidents | Case Results
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The information on this page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Common questions.
New York's no-fault law (Insurance Law §5102(d)) limits pain-and-suffering claims to cases involving a 'serious injury', fracture, significant disfigurement, permanent loss of use, significant limitation of use of a body function, or a medically-determined non-permanent injury that prevents your usual daily activities for at least 90 of the 180 days after the accident. Below the threshold, you can still claim economic losses through your own no-fault carrier under PIP, but you cannot sue for pain and suffering.
Three years from the date of the accident under CPLR §214(5). If the at-fault party is a city or state agency (MTA bus, NYC Department of Sanitation, NYC Transit), you must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e or Public Authorities Law §1276, and the lawsuit must be filed within one year and 90 days. Miss the 90-day Notice and most municipal cases are gone forever.
New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §603 requires you to file an MV-104 report with the DMV within 10 days for any accident involving injury, death, or property damage over $1,000. The police report itself is filed by the responding officer. For your case, the police accident report is critical evidence; if no officer responded, you should still file the MV-104.
New York has specific TNC (transportation network company) coverage under VTL Article 44-B and VTL §1693. While a passenger is in the vehicle on a trip, the rideshare carrier provides $1.25 million per-incident liability coverage. As a passenger you are typically not at fault, so the question is which carrier, the driver's personal auto policy, the TNC policy, or another driver's carrier, pays. We sort that out and pursue the right one.
Yes. Every New York no-fault auto policy includes Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Supplementary Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (SUM) coverage. We file a UM/SUM claim against your own carrier in arbitration. The recovery comes from your insurance company, not the uninsured driver personally. This is one reason the carrier sometimes fights, the money is theirs.
Two things. First, the Notice of Claim deadline is 90 days under Public Authorities Law §1276, not the general three-year statute. Second, there's a 50-h hearing, a pre-suit deposition that the MTA gets before you can file the lawsuit. We file the Notice immediately, prepare you for the 50-h, and file suit within one year and 30 days.
There is no formula in the statute. Juries consider the nature and permanence of the injury, the extent of medical treatment, lost earnings (past and future), out-of-pocket expenses, and how the injury changed your daily life. We work up the damages case with treating doctors, life-care planners, vocational experts, and economists where the injury justifies it. Damages workup is half the case; liability is the other half.
Free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Call 718-261-0546 or use the form. I answer my own phone during business hours, and the answering service patches urgent calls through after hours.
More than twenty years on these cases. Boutique New York City practice with a real team behind it. Bilingual intake team. Hablamos español. Arabic spoken on request.