Riding a bicycle in Saint Albans means moving between two very different environments within a few blocks. The residential streets are quiet, low-speed, and mostly free of through traffic — which is exactly why drivers roll stop signs on them and why cars back out of driveways without looking. Then the route crosses Merrick, Linden, Farmers, or Springfield Boulevard, and suddenly there is no bike lane, four lanes of moving traffic, buses pulling to the curb, and a row of parked cars whose doors open into the only space you have. Most bicycle injuries here happen at that boundary.
Yes, you have no-fault benefits — even on a bicycle
This is the most valuable thing on the page, and the thing injured cyclists most often do not know. New York no-fault coverage follows the vehicle. If a car, van, truck, or bus struck you while you were riding, that vehicle’s no-fault policy covers your medical treatment and a portion of your lost wages, without regard to fault, without a lawsuit, and without you owning a car or carrying any insurance of your own. Emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, and prescriptions all fall under it.
The application — form NF-2 — generally has to be filed within 30 days of the crash. Cyclists miss this deadline more than any other group, because they assume no-fault is a “car insurance thing” that has nothing to do with them. Thirty days later, treatment that would have been fully covered becomes a stack of bills and a collections problem. If you were knocked off a bike in the last month and nobody has filed for you, make that call today.
One important exception: if what you were riding was a moped, scooter, or a motorcycle rather than a bicycle, the no-fault rules are different and much less generous. Which category your ride falls into is a legal question worth getting right before anyone files anything.
The driver’s duty does not depend on whether there was a bike lane
Saint Albans has very little dedicated bicycle infrastructure, and the defense in almost every case leans on that: there was no bike lane, so what was he doing in the road? Under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1146, drivers owe a duty of due care to avoid colliding with any bicyclist on the roadway and to sound the horn when necessary. A cyclist has the right to use the road. The absence of a painted lane does not create a right of way for the driver; it just removes the cushion.
The recurring collision types here are worth naming, because each one has its own proof problem:
- Dooring along the commercial strips. A door opened into traffic is the opener’s responsibility, not yours. The key evidence is the position of the door and the bike, which vanishes within minutes.
- Right hooks at boulevard intersections — a driver passes you and then turns across your path. Damage location on the bike and the vehicle tells this story better than either party’s memory.
- Driveway and curb-cut collisions on residential blocks, where a driver reversing out has no sight line past parked cars.
- Bus stop conflicts, where a bus pulling to or from the curb pushes a rider toward parked cars. If it is an MTA bus, a 90-day clock applies — see below.
E-bikes, delivery riders, and what the classification changes
New York defines a “bicycle with electric assist” in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 102-c, in three classes: Class 1 provides assistance only while pedaling and cuts off at 20 mph; Class 2 can propel without pedaling and also cuts off at 20 mph; Class 3 — permitted only in cities over one million people, which includes New York City — cuts off at 25 mph. All three must have working pedals and a motor under 750 watts.
Why this matters after a crash: a machine that fits § 102-c is a bicycle, and the analysis above applies. A machine that exceeds those limits — a throttle-only scooter, an unregistered moped, a heavily modified build — may be treated as a motor vehicle, which changes both the insurance picture and the arguments available to the defense. Insurers know this and will look at the bike before they look at your injuries. If you ride for a delivery app, there is a further layer worth asking about: depending on how you were engaged and what happened, workers’ compensation may be available in addition to, or instead of, parts of the claim. Do not let anyone tell you that being a gig worker means there is nothing to pursue.
Hit-and-run, public vehicles, and the deadlines that differ
If the driver fled, the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC) exists to cover qualified New York residents injured by unidentified or uninsured vehicles. It requires a police report and prompt notice, and its deadlines are shorter than the ordinary ones. If a City vehicle or an MTA bus was involved, a Notice of Claim under General Municipal Law § 50-e must be served within 90 days, with a 50-h hearing and a one-year-and-90-day suit deadline. Against a private driver the window is the three years allowed by CPLR 214.
Expect a helmet argument. New York requires helmets for riders under 14, and for adults a helmet is not legally mandatory. Not wearing one is not a defense to the collision; at most it can be argued to reduce damages for head injury specifically, and under pure comparative negligence (CPLR 1411) any such reduction is proportional and never a bar. To collect for pain and suffering you also have to meet the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d) — a bar that fractures, surgery, and lasting limitation typically clear, but which still has to be documented rather than asserted.
Do not throw away the bicycle
The damaged bike is physical evidence of the direction and force of impact, and people routinely discard it in the first week because it is bent and useless. Keep it, unrepaired, and photograph it from every side. Keep the helmet too, if you were wearing one, and the clothing you had on. Photograph the roadway where it happened, including the parked cars, the sight lines, and the distance to the nearest signal. Ask nearby houses and storefronts about cameras within days, not weeks. And get medical attention immediately even if you feel able to walk away — the adrenaline of a crash hides injuries for hours, and a same-day record is worth far more than one created a week later.
Working with our office
Yakov Mushiyev and our team represent injured cyclists from an office in Rosedale, a short ride from Saint Albans. We file the no-fault application against the correct policy, sort out the e-bike classification question before it becomes a defense, preserve the video while it still exists, and protect the 90-day window when a public vehicle is involved. Free consultation, and no fee unless we recover for you.
Related pages: Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Saint Albans · St Albans Car Accident Lawyer · Truck Accident Lawyer Saint Albans · Rosedale · Personal Injury Practice · All Queens Locations
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1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325
Rosedale, NY 11422
Phone: 718.775.3110
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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. Speak with an attorney before relying on anything here.