Bicycle Accident Lawyer in Forest Hills, NY: Bike Lanes Are Not Force Fields
A marked bike lane changes expectations. It does not change physics, and it does not stop a driver turning across it.
Knocked off in Forest Hills? Call 718.775.3110 for a free consultation.
Being in the Lane Helps Your Case
Where a bike lane exists and you were in it, you have removed the insurer’s favorite argument before they make it. The question stops being whether you should have been there and becomes why the driver entered a space designated for you.
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. A vehicle stopped, parked or turning through a bike lane is not where it should be.
The corollary matters too: riding outside a lane is not automatically negligence. Lanes are frequently blocked by double-parked vehicles, deliveries and construction, and a rider who moves around an obstruction is doing the only available thing. Under pure comparative negligence (CPLR 1411) such arguments reduce recovery by a percentage at most.
You Probably Have No-Fault Cover
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, and because nobody prompts a cyclist, that is where it is lost.
E-bikes are less settled, and depend on the class of device and how it is characterized. Do not accept a roadside opinion either way — establish the classification early. Where the driver did not stop, MVAIC may open a route on shorter notice terms.
How Riders Get Hit Here
Right hooks where a driver turns across the lane at a junction. Left crosses where a driver turning from the opposite direction misjudges an approaching rider’s speed. Dooring from vehicles parked along the service roads and Austin Street.
The Queens Boulevard service roads add their own hazard: drivers entering and leaving the express lanes are focused on merging traffic rather than on the lane beside them. And a rider forced out of a blocked lane into a service road ends up in exactly the space a merging driver is not watching.
Surface defects matter more to a narrow tire than a car — sunken drain grates, broken edges and potholes cause single-vehicle falls with serious injuries. 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. Note that inside Forest Hills Gardens the streets are privately owned, so a defect there points at a private corporation rather than the City.
Helmets and Deadlines
New York requires helmets for riders under 14. For adults it is not mandatory, and not wearing one does not bar your claim — it may be raised against head-injury damages specifically, and no further.
Against a private driver the deadline is three years under CPLR 214. Where no-fault applies, pain and suffering additionally requires the threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d) — which collarbone, wrist and rib fractures clear outright.
What To Do
- Call 911 and insist on a report. Cyclists are routinely told one is unnecessary.
- Photograph the lane itself — markings, and anything blocking it. If you were forced out of the lane, that obstruction is part of your case.
- Be examined properly the same day.
- Do not repair, clean or discard the bike, helmet or clothing.
- Export your ride data if you use an app or head unit — objective speed and route logs are hard to argue with.
- Note nearby cameras before footage cycles out.
- Give no recorded statement to the driver’s insurer first.
Talk to Mushiyev Law
Yakov Mushiyev and our team handle bicycle and e-bike claims across Queens on contingency — free consultation, no fee unless we recover for you. Rated EXCELLENT across 586+ Google reviews.
Our Office & Directions from Forest Hills
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 is an evolving area. Speak with an attorney before relying on anything here.