New York gives you three years from the date of a crash to sue for personal injury, under CPLR 214(5)1. That single rule is the easy part. The harder part is that it isn't the only clock running: a crash involving a city bus or a snowplow can cut your filing window to a fraction of that, a death changes the deadline entirely, and New York's no-fault system imposes paperwork deadlines that expire months before any lawsuit deadline would matter. New York City alone logged 6,625 police-reported crashes in April 2026, up from 6,488 in February2, and every one of those crashes is now running against a deadline that depends on exactly who or what was involved.
The three-year rule
CPLR 214(5) sets a three-year limitations period for personal injury claims based on negligence, which covers the large majority of car accident lawsuits1. The clock starts on the date of the crash, not the date treatment ends or the date an insurer denies a claim. Property damage gets the same three years under the neighboring CPLR 214(4)1, so a single crash usually carries one filing deadline covering both the injury claim and the vehicle damage claim. If the vehicle itself lost resale value beyond the repair cost, that's a separate legal question from the lawsuit deadline; see our New York diminished value guide for how that claim works.
Miss the three years and the case is over. New York courts dismiss late-filed claims on a defendant's motion, and a serious injury or a sympathetic set of facts doesn't buy an extension.
Minors get extra time, but not for everything
CPLR 208 tolls the three-year clock while the injured person is under 18. The countdown doesn't start until their 18th birthday, then runs the normal three years3. A 10-year-old passenger, for example, has until turning 21 to sue over a crash injury. Unlike some other CPLR 208 tolls, the law doesn't cut this short with a ten-year outer cap for ordinary infancy claims outside the malpractice context, so the 18-plus-three timeline controls3.
That extra time doesn't follow the child to every deadline tied to the same crash, though. No-fault paperwork and, especially, the notice required before suing a government entity run on their own short fuses regardless of age.
Suing the city, the MTA, or a school district resets the clock
If the at-fault vehicle belonged to the NYPD, the MTA, the Department of Sanitation, or a school district, the three-year rule doesn't apply. General Municipal Law 50-e requires a notice of claim served on the municipality within 90 days of the crash before any lawsuit can be filed at all4. GML 50-i then gives you one year and ninety days from the date of the crash, not three years, to actually commence the action5. Courts have not been forgiving toward parents who assumed a child's age would excuse a late notice; the 90-day window runs the same whether the injured person is 8 or 48, and a late-notice application is granted only at the court's discretion.
A fatal crash starts a different clock
If a crash victim dies of their injuries, an entirely separate limitations period takes over. Under EPTL 5-4.1, a wrongful death action must be commenced within two years of the date of death6, not the date of the crash and not three years. That matters most when death follows the crash by weeks or months: the two-year clock only begins running at death, so it can run well past the original three-year injury deadline, or it can be shorter and easier to miss because grieving families aren't thinking about litigation timelines yet. Where the at-fault vehicle is government-owned, the 90-day notice-of-claim period for a wrongful death claim runs from the appointment of the decedent's estate representative rather than from the date of death itself4.
The no-fault deadlines that expire long before any lawsuit deadline
New York's no-fault system pays medical bills and a share of lost wages through your own insurer, regardless of fault, up to $50,000 in basic economic loss: unlimited medical expenses, lost earnings capped at $2,000 a month for up to three years, and up to $25 a day in other reasonable expenses for up to a year7. None of that runs on the three-year court clock. Regulation 68 requires written notice of the claim within 30 days of the accident, medical bills submitted within 45 days, and lost-wage claims within 90 days8. Miss the 30-day notice and you can lose no-fault benefits before you've even decided whether to hire a lawyer. If you need the official record of what happened, our New York crash reports page covers how to get one.
Why 2026 changed the calculus on waiting
New York's rules around fault in car accident cases changed substantially this year. Effective May 26, 2026, CPLR 1411(b) moved motor vehicle personal injury claims from pure comparative negligence to a modified rule: if a jury finds the injured person more than 50% at fault, recovery is barred entirely9. The same reform added Insurance Law 5104(d), a narrow $100,000 cap on non-economic damages, but it reaches only an at-fault claimant who was driving uninsured, was DUI-convicted, or was committing a felony at the time of the crash; it doesn't touch death claims or an ordinary innocent claimant10. Neither change moves the filing deadline itself. Both make the fault findings that happen somewhere inside that three-year window matter more than they used to, which is a reason to gather evidence, the police report, witness accounts, dashcam footage, early rather than close to the deadline.
What happens if you miss it
Whichever deadline applies, three years for a standard claim, one year and ninety days against a municipality, two years for a death, a New York court will dismiss a late-filed action without reaching the question of who was actually at fault. The clock doesn't pause for settlement talks with an insurance adjuster, and it doesn't restart because a new symptom shows up later. If you're not sure which deadline governs your crash, particularly one involving a government vehicle, our legal directory lists New York attorneys who handle exactly this kind of timing question.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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New York Senate, CPLR 214, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/214
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thatcarhitme.com, New York Crash Report, April 2026, https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/new-york/new-york/april-2026-report
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New York Senate, CPLR 208, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/208
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New York Senate, General Municipal Law 50-e, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GMU/50-E
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New York Senate, General Municipal Law 50-i, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GMU/50-I
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New York Senate, EPTL 5-4.1, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EPT/5-4.1
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New York Senate, Insurance Law 5102(a), https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5102
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NY Department of Financial Services, No-Fault Regulation 68 FAQ, https://www.dfs.ny.gov/apps_and_licensing/property_insurers/nofault_faqs_reg68
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New York Senate, CPLR 1411, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/1411
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New York Senate, Insurance Law 5104, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5104