Hit While Biking in New York? Know Your Deadlines and Rights
A Crash on Two Wheels Is Still a Legal Case
Bicycle crashes happen the same way across New York: a driver turns without checking a bike lane, a car door opens into traffic, a truck cuts too close, or a pothole or road defect sends a rider down. The injuries can be serious — road rash is the least of it. Broken wrists, shoulder injuries, concussions, and worse are common when a rider has nothing but a helmet between them and the pavement.
Whether the crash happened in the city, on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley, or upstate, the legal questions are the same: who was at fault, what deadline applies, and what proof will hold up if the insurance company pushes back. Cyclists are often blamed by default, simply because they were the one on the smaller vehicle. That assumption is not the law.
The Deadline Clock Starts the Day You're Hurt
In most New York negligence cases, you have three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit under CPLR 214. That sounds like plenty of time, and it usually is — but it is also a hard wall. Miss it, and the case is generally gone for good, regardless of how strong the evidence is.
There's an important exception. If a city street, a city vehicle, a public bus, or another government agency was involved — a pothole on a city-owned road, an MTA bus, a sanitation truck — you may need to file a formal Notice of Claim within just 90 days of the incident, with a lawsuit typically required within one year and ninety days after that. Ninety days moves fast, especially while someone is recovering from an injury. If a public entity had anything to do with the crash, that timeline needs attention right away.
Evidence That Disappears Within Days, Not Years
Bicycle accident cases are often won or lost on details that vanish quickly. Traffic and security camera footage frequently gets overwritten within days or a few weeks unless someone requests it in writing. Skid marks fade. A damaged bike gets thrown out or repaired before anyone photographs the defect. Witnesses move on and their memory of the exact light sequence or vehicle speed softens with time.
The police report, photos of the scene and the bike, medical records from that first visit, and contact information for anyone who stopped to help are all worth preserving immediately. If a vehicle was involved, the driver's insurance information matters too — New York requires drivers to exchange it, but it's easy for that exchange to get lost in the chaos right after a crash.
When a Car Is Involved: New York's No-Fault Threshold
If a motor vehicle struck the bicycle, New York's No-Fault Law generally means the driver's insurance pays a cyclist's medical bills and a portion of lost wages regardless of who caused the crash. That coverage has limits, though, and it does not cover pain and suffering.
To pursue a driver for pain and suffering, an injury has to meet the "serious injury" threshold defined in New York's Insurance Law. Courts have addressed what kind of medical proof is sufficient to meet that threshold, including in Perl v Meher, 18 NY3d 208 — a reminder that the quality and consistency of medical documentation matters as much as the injury itself. This is exactly why follow-up care and honest, thorough treatment records make a real difference later.
Why Insurers Try to Blame the Rider
New York follows a pure comparative negligence rule under CPLR 1411. In plain terms, even if a cyclist is found partly at fault — for example, for lane position or signaling — they can still recover compensation, reduced by their share of fault. It is not all-or-nothing.
Insurance adjusters know this, which is why they frequently look for any reason to assign a cyclist some percentage of blame: no helmet, riding outside a marked bike lane, or a quick glance away from the road. A low-value settlement offer early on is often built around minimizing fault for the other side, not an honest assessment of the case.
Why Strong Documentation Still Matters If a Case Goes to Court
Insurance companies and defense attorneys often try to end a case early by asking a judge to dismiss it before trial. New York courts apply a well-settled standard for these motions: the party asking for dismissal must show there is no genuine factual dispute to resolve, as set out in Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557. And negligence cases are not automatically shielded from this process just because they involve judgment calls — Andre v Pomeroy, 35 NY2d 361 recognizes that summary judgment is available in negligence cases when the facts are not genuinely in dispute.
In practice, that means the evidence gathered in the days after a crash — the photos, the footage, the records — can determine whether a case even gets the chance to be heard by a jury.
What to Do From Here
If you or someone in your family was hurt in a bicycle crash anywhere in New York, the most useful thing you can do today is get the facts preserved before they disappear and get a clear read on which deadline applies to your situation. A free case review can help sort that out — there's no fee unless we win. Call or text 917-277-3775, or visit joshmaklaw.com. Have you been able to get photos of the scene or the bike yet, or is that still sitting undone on your list?
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Preserve photos, camera footage requests, and medical records now, and find out within days — not months — whether a 90-day government claim deadline applies to your crash.
Authorities
- Zuckerman v City of New York, 49 NY2d 557
- Andre v Pomeroy, 35 NY2d 361
Attorney Advertising. This article is general information about New York law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Deadlines in injury cases are short and fact-specific — speak to a lawyer about your own situation.