Taxi & For-Hire Vehicle Accident Lawyer in Howard Beach
Cross Bay Boulevard is the only real way in and out of Howard Beach, and it feeds directly into the Belt Parkway and the JFK approaches. The result is an unusual traffic mix for a residential neighborhood: local cars, airport-bound taxis and app rides, rental vehicles driven by people who landed an hour ago, out-of-state plates, and commercial traffic serving the airport.
That mix creates a specific problem for injured people here, and it is not about liability. It is about how much insurance actually exists. Rental and out-of-state vehicles frequently carry minimum limits, and a serious injury exhausts those in a matter of weeks. Understanding what happens after the at-fault policy runs out is the difference between a settlement that covers a hospital bill and one that covers a life.
When the at-fault policy is not enough
New York’s minimum liability limits are low. A single serious injury — a surgical disc, a torn shoulder, a fracture requiring hardware — can exhaust a minimum policy before the lost income is even calculated. When that happens the case is not over. It moves to supplementary underinsured motorist coverage, or SUM, on your own auto policy, which steps in where the responsible driver carries less coverage than your damages require and pays the shortfall up to your own limit.
SUM is the most valuable and least understood line on a New York declarations page. It costs very little to raise, it protects you against exactly the kind of driver this corridor is full of, and most households have never looked at it. If you carry auto insurance, that page is worth finding today rather than after a crash.
Two warnings, because each of them destroys claims routinely. First, do not settle with the at-fault driver’s insurer before dealing with SUM — SUM policies contain consent-to-settle provisions, and accepting a check and signing a release without your own carrier’s written consent can forfeit the SUM claim entirely, which is almost always the larger of the two. Second, SUM carries its own notice deadlines, separate from everything else in the case and considerably shorter than three years. Notify your own carrier promptly even while liability is still being argued about.
Where the at-fault driver had no insurance at all or left the scene, the parallel routes are uninsured motorist coverage on your own policy and the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC) for qualified New York residents. Both require a police report and prompt notice.
Rentals, out-of-state plates and airport property
If the vehicle that hit you was a rental, federal law shields companies whose business is renting or leasing vehicles from pure vicarious liability where they were not themselves negligent. The claim therefore runs primarily against the driver and their coverage, unless the rental company was independently at fault — renting to an unlicensed driver, for example, or failing to maintain the vehicle. That is worth investigating rather than assuming.
Location also matters here more than in most neighborhoods. Cross Bay Boulevard and the local streets are City of New York, where a § 50-e Notice of Claim is due within 90 days if a City vehicle or the MTA is involved. The Belt Parkway is a State facility, where a claim about the roadway belongs in the Court of Claims on a 90-day notice of intention. And once you are on airport property, the Port Authority’s own consent-to-suit rules apply, with notice and limitations periods shorter than three years. Against an ordinary private driver the deadline is the three years under CPLR 214.
Underneath all of it, no-fault pays your treatment and part of your lost earnings regardless of fault — passengers through the vehicle they were in, pedestrians and cyclists through the striking vehicle — with the NF-2 application generally due within 30 days. Compensation for the injury itself requires the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d); under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 the vehicle’s owner is liable alongside the driver; and under CPLR 1411 partial fault reduces recovery proportionally rather than barring it.
What to do in the first week
- Find your own declarations page and look at the SUM limit. It may be the number that decides your case.
- Notify your own insurer promptly, and sign nothing from the other side before addressing consent to settle.
- Photograph the plate and note the state — out-of-state and rental vehicles change the coverage analysis.
- Record exactly where the impact happened: local street, Belt Parkway, or airport property.
- Get the police report number and confirm whether NYPD or Port Authority police responded.
- Be examined the same day and keep treating consistently.
Case results
- $1,600,000 — a commercial vehicle rear-ended our client’s vehicle during the course of his employment; neck herniations requiring surgery. Queens County, settled before depositions.
- $300,000 — passenger in a rear-end collision; neck herniations requiring surgery. Queens County.
- $250,000 — passenger on a public bus involved in a rear-end collision; herniated discs in the neck and lower back corrected surgically. Queens County, settled pre-suit.
More are listed on our settlements page. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
The other driver’s insurer offered me their full policy limit. Should I take it?
Not without checking your SUM coverage first. A quick tender of policy limits usually means the insurer knows the claim is worth more than the policy — which is exactly the situation SUM exists for. Signing the release without your own carrier’s written consent can forfeit the larger claim.
I don’t own a car. Does SUM do anything for me?
Possibly. SUM coverage on a policy held by a relative in your household may extend to you, and you are separately covered for no-fault benefits through the vehicle involved. It is worth asking about every policy in the household rather than assuming there is none.
The taxi that hit me had an out-of-state plate. Does New York law still apply?
Generally yes for an accident occurring in New York. Insurers writing policies for vehicles used here are ordinarily required to provide no-fault benefits for New York accidents, and your own policy may respond regardless. The specifics depend on the policies involved, which is why they should be examined early.
Does it matter that the crash was on the Belt Parkway rather than Cross Bay Boulevard?
Only if the roadway itself contributed — ramp design, guardrails, drainage, signage. Then the State becomes a defendant, the case goes to the Court of Claims, and you have ninety days rather than three years. Against the other driver alone it makes no difference.
What does it cost to hire you?
Nothing up front. We work on contingency, the consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Courts that hear Howard Beach taxi cases
- Queens County Supreme Court, Civil Term — 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, and 25-10 Court Square, Long Island City.
- NYC Civil Court, Queens County — 89-17 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica.
- Claims against New York State go to the Court of Claims.
Our Office & Directions from Howard Beach
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. Home and hospital visits available.
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This page is general information about New York law, not legal advice about your situation. Every case turns on its own facts, and deadlines vary. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Speak with an attorney before relying on anything here.