Taxi Accident Lawyer in Richmond Hill — For Drivers and Passengers
A great many people in Richmond Hill do not just ride in for-hire vehicles. They drive them. Liberty Avenue and Jamaica Avenue anchor a working community of livery, black car and app drivers, many of whom own their vehicle, carry the lease themselves, and lose their entire household income the day they cannot work.
That is the group New York’s injury system serves worst, because most drivers have been told they are “independent contractors” and conclude there is nothing available to them. That conclusion is wrong, and expensively so. There is a dedicated statutory fund covering exactly this situation, and most of the drivers entitled to use it have never heard of it.
The Black Car Fund: workers’ compensation for for-hire drivers
New York created the Black Car Operators’ Injury Compensation Fund precisely because for-hire drivers fall outside ordinary employment. Under Executive Law § 160-cc, a “black car operator” includes the registered owner of a for-hire vehicle or their authorized driver, injured while providing service through a registered central dispatch facility — and the definition expressly reaches app-dispatched drivers, both on prearranged trips and while logged into the network performing driving-related activity.
What it provides is workers’ compensation coverage, administered through the Workers’ Compensation Board: medical treatment for the injury and wage-replacement benefits while you cannot drive. You do not need an employer to have carried a policy. You do not need to be anyone’s employee. The fund is financed by a surcharge on the fares themselves — which means, in a real sense, drivers have already paid for this coverage on every trip they have ever completed.
The deadlines are the ordinary comp deadlines and they are unforgiving: written notice within 30 days, and the employee claim form C-3 filed with the Workers’ Compensation Board within two years. Drivers routinely miss the first one while waiting to see whether their back settles down.
The fund is not the whole recovery — and this is the part that matters
Compensation benefits pay for treatment and replace part of lost wages. They pay nothing for pain and suffering, nothing for permanent limitation, and nothing for the career you can no longer do. For a driver with a herniated disc that ends a twenty-year livelihood, benefits alone are not remotely adequate.
The separate and far larger claim is against whoever caused the collision — the other driver, and under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 the owner of that vehicle as well. That claim runs alongside the fund claim, is not barred by it, and is where compensation for the human cost of the injury comes from. Pursuing one does not forfeit the other, though the fund will generally assert a lien against any recovery, which is negotiated as part of resolving the case.
As a driver you also have your own no-fault coverage through the vehicle, and you must still meet the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d) to recover for the injury itself. The suit deadline against a private defendant is the three years under CPLR 214; under CPLR 1411 a share of fault reduces recovery proportionally without barring it; and where a City vehicle or an MTA bus was involved, a § 50-e Notice of Claim falls due within 90 days.
If you were the passenger
Passengers are covered by the no-fault policy on the vehicle they were riding in, regardless of fault and regardless of whether they own a car, with the NF-2 application generally due within 30 days. Passengers are also almost never assigned fault, which makes these among the most straightforward liability cases there are — the dispute is between the two drivers’ insurers, not about whether you deserve to be paid.
What to do in the first week
- Report the injury in writing within 30 days and keep a copy. This is the step most drivers skip.
- Record the trip status — dispatched, en route, carrying a passenger. It affects fund eligibility and insurance coverage alike.
- Photograph both vehicles, the plates and any base or TLC markings.
- Get the police report number.
- Be examined promptly and keep going. Drivers frequently return to work too early because there is no income otherwise; tell us before you do, because it affects both claims.
- Do not sign anything from the other driver’s insurer before getting advice.
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.
- $990,000 — a sedan rear-ended our client’s vehicle during the course of her employment; neck herniations and shoulder tears requiring surgery. Queens County, settled after depositions.
- $775,000 — our client was injured at work when the defendant ran a stop sign; neck herniation and knee tear requiring surgery. Queens County, settled at mediation.
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
I’m an independent contractor. Doesn’t that mean I get nothing?
No, and this is the most costly misunderstanding among for-hire drivers in Queens. The Black Car Fund exists specifically because drivers are not conventional employees. If you were dispatched through a registered base or logged into an app when you were hurt, coverage may be available regardless of your contractor status.
Will making a claim get me deactivated or lose me my base?
Retaliating against someone for claiming workers’ compensation is unlawful in New York, and a third-party claim is brought against the at-fault driver, not against your base or the app. If you are threatened over it, tell us — that is a separate problem with its own remedy.
Does my immigration status affect any of this?
No. Workers’ compensation benefits and the right to recover for an injury caused by someone else’s negligence do not depend on immigration status in New York. What you tell us is confidential.
I still owe on the vehicle lease and I can’t work. What can be done quickly?
The fastest sources of money are usually the fund’s wage-replacement benefits and no-fault lost-earnings benefits, both of which can begin well before any lawsuit resolves. Getting the notice and the applications filed immediately is what shortens that gap, which is why the 30-day steps matter so much.
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. Interpretation is arranged where it is needed.
Where these claims are heard
- 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.
- Black Car Fund and workers’ compensation claims are heard by the Workers’ Compensation Board, not by a court.
Our Office & Directions from Richmond Hill
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.