What to do after a car accident in New York

Getting hit throws your day into chaos, and New York adds a layer most drivers never think about until it happens: the state runs on rules that decide who pays your medical bills and how long you have to act. New York City alone recorded 6,625 reported crashes in April 2026,¹ and 6,773 back in January.² Here is what New York specifically asks of you after a crash, and what it gives you in return.

Reporting the crash

Call 911 if anyone is hurt. Beyond the police response, New York puts a separate duty on the driver. Under Vehicle and Traffic Law 605, if a crash kills or injures anyone, or causes property damage over $1,000 to any one person, you have to file a written report with the DMV within 10 days.³ You do that on form MV-104, the Report of Motor Vehicle Crash.⁴ Skip it and the DMV can suspend your license until the report is on file, so treat the 10-day clock as real.³ To pull the official police crash report later, see our New York crash reports page.

New York pays first, fault comes later

New York is a no-fault state under Article 51 of the Insurance Law. Your own policy's personal injury protection, called PIP or no-fault, pays your early medical bills and lost wages no matter who caused the crash.⁵ Basic coverage is $50,000 per person. It pays medical expenses with no fixed time limit, lost earnings up to $2,000 a month for as long as three years, and other reasonable costs at $25 a day for up to a year.⁶

The catch is speed. Under No-Fault Regulation 68 (11 NYCRR 65), you have to give your insurer written notice of the claim within 30 days of the crash, medical bills go in within 45 days of treatment, and lost-wage claims within 90 days.⁷ Thirty days passes quickly when you are hurt and distracted, so call your carrier before almost anything else.

When you can step outside no-fault and sue

No-fault covers economic losses, but it does not pay for pain and suffering. To sue the at-fault driver for those non-economic damages, your injury has to clear the "serious injury" threshold in Insurance Law 5102(d).⁶ The statute spells out specific categories:

• death, dismemberment, or significant disfigurement
• a bone fracture, or loss of a fetus
• permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system
• permanent consequential limitation, or significant limitation, of the use of a body function or system
• a non-permanent injury that keeps you from your usual daily activities for at least 90 of the 180 days after the crash

Clear one of those and you can bring a liability claim. Fall short and no-fault is generally your only recovery.⁵ This is why prompt diagnosis and consistent treatment records matter so much in New York.

The 2026 fault rules changed the math

For decades New York followed pure comparative negligence, so you could recover something even if you were mostly at fault. That changed for car crashes. Effective May 26, 2026, CPLR 1411(b) applies a modified 50% bar to motor vehicle personal injury claims: if your share of fault is greater than the other driver's, you recover nothing, and at 50% or less your damages are reduced by your percentage.⁸ Pure comparative negligence still governs wrongful-death claims, property-damage claims, and every case that does not involve a motor vehicle.⁸

The same reform added a narrow damages cap. Insurance Law 5104(d) limits non-economic damages to $100,000, but only for an injured claimant who was at fault and was also driving uninsured, convicted of DUI in the crash, or committing or fleeing a felony.⁵ It does not apply to death claims, and it does not reach an ordinary innocent claimant. If you were driving lawfully and insured when someone hit you, that cap is not your concern.

The insurance behind a New York claim

Every New York driver must carry at least 25/50/10 liability coverage: $25,000 for injury to one person, $50,000 per accident, and $10,000 for property damage.⁹ Those limits are thin, which is why uninsured and underinsured coverage matters. Uninsured motorist coverage matching the 25/50 bodily-injury minimum is mandatory and cannot be waived.¹⁰ Supplementary underinsured motorist (SUM) coverage, which pays when the at-fault driver's limits run out before your damages do, has to be offered up to your own liability limit, though you can decline or reduce it in writing.¹⁰ Pull your declarations page and check; SUM is often the coverage that actually pays after a serious crash.

Deadlines that end your case

The statute of limitations for a personal injury lawsuit in New York is three years from the date of the crash, under CPLR 214(5).¹¹ Damage to your vehicle carries the same three-year deadline under CPLR 214(4).¹¹ Three years sounds generous, but the 30-day no-fault notice window is the deadline that quietly ends more claims, because people wait to see how they feel and blow past it.⁷

When the other driver broke the law

Fault gets clearer when the other driver was doing something illegal. If a drunk driver hit you, New York's Dram Shop Act, General Obligations Law 11-101, lets you sue a bar or store that unlawfully served that driver, and you can recover both actual and exemplary (punitive) damages.¹² A companion statute, General Obligations Law 11-100, gives you a claim against anyone who unlawfully furnished alcohol to a driver under 21, though it allows actual damages only.¹³

Distracted driving is its own problem. Handheld phone use and texting are banned under VTL 1225-d, and a conviction adds 5 points to the license along with fines of $50 to $200 for a first offense, up to $250 for a second within 18 months, and up to $450 for a third.¹⁴¹⁵ A ticket against the other driver can be useful evidence in your injury claim.

Weather does not reset any of this. New York winters bring heavy snow, and Buffalo averages well over 90 inches a season in National Weather Service records.¹⁶ A driver who slides on ice is still judged against the modified comparative fault rule. "It was snowing" is not a defense to driving too fast for the conditions.

Your car, and getting help

If your vehicle was badly damaged, its resale value can drop even after a flawless repair. New York recognizes that loss, and we cover how to pursue it on our New York diminished value page.

Get medical care, notify your insurer inside 30 days, and keep copies of every bill and photo. If your injuries are serious or fault is disputed, a New York attorney can act before your three-year window closes, and you can start with our legal directory.

This article is general information about New York law, not legal advice.

Sources

1. thatcarhitme.com, New York Crash Report, April 2026. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/new-york/new-york/april-2026-report

2. thatcarhitme.com, New York Crash Report, January 2026. https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/new-york/new-york/january-2026-report

3. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law 605. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/VAT/605

4. New York DMV, File a Motorist Crash Report (form MV-104). https://dmv.ny.gov/records/file-a-motorist-crash-accident-report

5. New York Insurance Law 5104. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5104

6. New York Insurance Law 5102. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/5102

7. New York Department of Financial Services, No-Fault Regulation 68 FAQ (11 NYCRR 65). https://www.dfs.ny.gov/apps_and_licensing/property_insurers/nofault_faqs_reg68

8. New York CPLR 1411. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/1411

9. New York Department of Financial Services, minimum auto insurance FAQ. https://www.dfs.ny.gov/faqs/consumer-auto/how-much-auto-insurance-must-i-carry

10. New York Insurance Law 3420. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ISC/3420

11. New York CPLR 214. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/214

12. New York General Obligations Law 11-101, Dram Shop Act. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GOB/11-101

13. New York General Obligations Law 11-100. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/GOB/11-100

14. New York Vehicle and Traffic Law 1225-d. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/VAT/1225-D

15. New York DMV, Cell Phone Use and Texting. https://dmv.ny.gov/points-and-penalties/cell-phone-use-and-texting

16. National Weather Service, Buffalo, seasonal snowfall records. https://www.weather.gov/buf/buffaloSnow