Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Flushing, NY: Delivery Riders and E-Bikes
In Flushing a great many people on bikes are working. Restaurant delivery is a major local employer, most of it on e-bikes, most of it at speed and in traffic.
Riders in that position are told, constantly and wrongly, that they have no claim. Knocked off in Flushing? Call 718.775.3110 for a free consultation.
Working Riders May Have Two Claims
A rider injured in the course of employment may have a workers’ compensation claim and a claim against the driver who hit them. Comp covers medical treatment and a capped share of lost wages regardless of fault; the third-party claim is what compensates pain and suffering and full wage loss.
Whether a delivery worker is an employee or an independent contractor is frequently disputed, and it is not settled by what an app or a restaurant calls you. It is worth having examined rather than assumed. Comp deadlines are short: written notice to the employer within 30 days, claim form within two years.
Two things that should not stop anyone: immigration status does not bar these claims, and interpreters can be arranged. Neither is a reason to walk away from a legitimate case.
Conventional Bikes Get No-Fault. E-Bikes Are Less Settled.
If you were on a conventional bicycle and a motor vehicle struck you, no-fault benefits are generally available through that vehicle’s insurer — medical treatment and part of your lost earnings, regardless of fault, with no policy of your own required. The application is due within 30 days.
For e-bikes the position depends on the class of device and how it is characterized, and it is genuinely unsettled. That uncertainty is why riders get told at the roadside that nothing is available to them — which is not a determination anyone at the scene is in a position to make. Get the classification established early.
Where the driver did not stop, MVAIC may still open a route, on shorter notice terms.
You Have Full Road Rights
Under New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law a cyclist holds the rights and duties of any other vehicle operator, and VTL § 1146 requires every driver to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a bicyclist.
Expect an insurer to argue you were riding against traffic, on the pavement, without lights, or too fast for the conditions. Under pure comparative negligence (CPLR 1411) each of those reduces recovery by a percentage. None is a defense.
How Riders Get Hit Here
Dooring is constant along Main Street, Roosevelt Avenue and the side streets, where curbside parking and for-hire drop-offs never stop. A door opened into a rider is the fault of whoever opened it.
Double-parked delivery vehicles force riders into the moving lane, and then a driver who was not expecting a bike there hits them. Right hooks at junctions account for much of the rest, and buses pulling in and out around the transit hub add their own risk.
Where a road defect caused the fall, a claim against the City runs on a 90-day Notice of Claim under General Municipal Law § 50-e, with suit inside one year and 90 days. Against a private driver it is three years under CPLR 214, and pain and suffering requires the threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d) — which cycling fractures clear outright.
What To Do
- Call 911 and insist on a report, even if you feel able to finish the shift. Riders are routinely told it is unnecessary.
- If you were working, report it to your employer or platform in writing — the 30-day comp notice matters.
- Be examined properly the same day.
- Do not repair, clean or discard the bike, helmet or clothing.
- Photograph the scene — the open door, the double-parked vehicle, the turning car, the road surface.
- Screenshot your delivery app if you were on a job — it evidences time, route and that you were working.
- Give no recorded statement before speaking with a lawyer.
Talk to Mushiyev Law
Yakov Mushiyev and our team handle bicycle, e-bike and delivery rider claims across Queens on contingency — free consultation, no fee unless we recover for you. Rated EXCELLENT across 586+ Google reviews. We do not ask about immigration status.
Our Office & Directions from Flushing
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates, PC
1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325
Rosedale, NY 11422
Phone: 718.775.3110
Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Free consultation — home and hospital visits available.
Open these directions in Google Maps, or request a free case review.
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This page is general information about New York law, not legal advice about your situation. Coverage for e-bikes and employment status for delivery riders are evolving areas. Speak with an attorney before relying on anything here.