For years, newspapers called Queens Boulevard the “Boulevard of Death.” Anyone who has stood at the corner of 63rd Drive at 5:30 on a weekday, waiting for a walk signal with a stroller or a bag of groceries from Rego Center, understands why the nickname stuck. The road is twelve lanes wide in places. Drivers on the service roads turn right across the crosswalk while drivers on the main line try to beat the light. And pedestrians, many of them older residents who have lived in Rego Park’s co-ops for decades, have to cover that distance on foot.
The city did not ignore the problem. Starting in 2015, the Department of Transportation rebuilt the corridor in phases, adding wider medians, retimed signals and protected bike lanes. In a November 2024 announcement, DOT reported that on the redesigned sections between Skillman and Jamaica Avenues, total roadway deaths fell 68 percent and pedestrian injuries fell 45 percent. Those are real gains. They are not the same as safety. People in Rego Park are still being struck by cars, and when it happens, the legal process that follows is far less forgiving than most people expect.
This guide follows that process from the curb to the courthouse. It is written for people who live, work or shop in Rego Park (ZIP 11374) and want to understand what happens after a pedestrian accident, and for family members helping someone who cannot make the calls themselves right now. If you need to talk to someone today, call Yakov Mushiyev & Associates, P.C. at 718.775.3110.
Where Pedestrians Get Hit in Rego Park
Every crash is different, but the patterns in Rego Park are consistent enough that they are worth naming. Knowing where and how a crash happened tells a lawyer what evidence to look for first.
Queens Boulevard service-road turns
The classic Rego Park pedestrian crash is a right-turning driver coming off the Queens Boulevard service road who looks left for traffic, never looks right, and hits someone who is walking with the signal. These crashes cluster near the 63rd Drive and 67th Avenue subway entrances, where the M and R trains empty onto the sidewalk in waves, and near the shopping blocks around Rego Center and the stretch toward Junction Boulevard.
Woodhaven Boulevard
Woodhaven Boulevard is a truck and bus route with Select Bus Service lanes and long stretches between crossings. People run for the Q52 and Q53 buses, cross mid-block, and are hit by drivers moving at highway speed on what is still a city street. Mid-block crossings complicate fault, but they do not end a case, as we explain below.
Side streets and the expressway service roads
The numbered avenues and drives between Queens Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway look quiet, but they carry cut-through traffic from the Horace Harding Expressway service roads. Drivers rolling through stop signs, backing out of driveways on the residential blocks, or speeding to catch a light on the service road account for a large share of neighborhood crashes, especially involving children walking to school and seniors walking to the Rego Park library branch or Lost Battalion Hall.
Parking lots and delivery zones
The lots and loading areas around the big-box stores on Queens Boulevard and Junction Boulevard are another frequent setting. Backing vehicles, delivery vans double-parked at the curb and drivers circling for a spot all create blind zones. A crash on private property can involve the store, the lot operator or a commercial fleet in addition to the driver.
What New York Law Says About Drivers and Pedestrians
New York gives pedestrians strong legal protection, at least on paper. Two rules matter most in Rego Park.
First, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1146 requires every driver to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, regardless of who technically had the right of way. A driver cannot hit someone and defend the crash by pointing out that the pedestrian was a few feet outside the crosswalk.
Second, New York City’s Right of Way Law (Administrative Code § 19-190) makes it a traffic crime for a driver to strike a pedestrian or cyclist who has the right of way and cause injury. A summons under this law, or a police report noting failure to yield, is often the most useful single piece of evidence in a civil claim.
The First Big Surprise: No-Fault Pays First
Most people assume the driver’s insurance company will simply pay for everything. That is not how New York works. New York is a no-fault state, which means a pedestrian’s medical bills and lost wages are paid first through no-fault insurance (also called personal injury protection), regardless of who caused the crash. Basic no-fault coverage pays up to $50,000 per person for reasonable medical expenses, a portion of lost earnings and certain other costs.
According to the New York State Department of Financial Services, a pedestrian files the no-fault claim with the insurer of the car that struck them. If the car fled or was uninsured, the claim goes to the insurer of a relative in your household who has a car policy, and if there is none, to the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC).
The deadline is the part that catches people. Written notice of the no-fault claim is due within 30 days of the accident. Thirty days goes by fast when you are in a hospital bed at Elmhurst or LIJ Forest Hills, or recovering at home with a broken leg. Late claims are accepted only with written proof of a clear and reasonable justification, and insurers do not hand those exceptions out easily.
The Second Big Surprise: The 2026 Rule Changes
To sue the driver for pain and suffering, which no-fault does not cover, a person hurt in a motor vehicle crash generally has to prove a “serious injury” under Insurance Law § 5102(d). The categories now listed in the statute are death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, a fracture, loss of a fetus, permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system, permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member, and significant limitation of use of a body function or system.
That list got shorter in 2026. As part of the state budget signed in late May 2026, the legislature removed the old “90/180-day” category, which used to cover injuries that kept someone from substantially all of their normal daily activities for 90 of the first 180 days after the crash. Practitioners report that the change applies to lawsuits started on or after May 26, 2026. For many pedestrians with soft-tissue injuries but no fracture, that change matters a great deal: the medical proof has to fit one of the remaining categories.
The same legislation added a new subdivision (b) to CPLR § 1411. For personal injury actions governed by the no-fault article of the Insurance Law, a claimant whose own share of fault is greater than the defendant’s now recovers nothing. Before the change, New York used pure comparative fault: a pedestrian found 60 percent at fault could still collect 40 percent of their damages. Now, if a jury decides a pedestrian who darted across Woodhaven Boulevard mid-block was more at fault than the driver, the claim can be lost entirely.
That makes the early investigation far more important than it used to be. In a mid-block or against-the-signal crash, the question is no longer just “how much was each side at fault” but “was the pedestrian over the 50 percent line.” Evidence that the driver was speeding, distracted, turning without looking or ignoring a stop sign can move a case back across that line.
Who Can Be Responsible
The driver is the obvious defendant, but rarely the only one worth investigating.
- The vehicle owner. Under New York law, the owner of a car is generally liable for the negligence of anyone driving it with permission. That matters when the driver has little coverage but the car belongs to a parent or employer.
- An employer. Delivery drivers, contractors’ vans and company cars often carry commercial policies with higher limits than personal auto insurance.
- A rideshare or taxi operation. If the car was a yellow cab, Uber or Lyft, separate TLC insurance rules apply. Our guides to taxi accidents in Rego Park and Uber accidents in Rego Park walk through those rules.
- The City of New York. Where a broken signal, missing crosswalk paint or a defective roadway design contributed, the city may share responsibility. Claims against the city have special notice rules discussed below.
A Rego Park Pedestrian Accident Timeline
Here is the order of operations we recommend, based on what tends to make or break pedestrian claims in Queens.
- Call 911 and get checked out. Adrenaline hides injuries, especially head injuries and fractures in older adults. The emergency room record also creates the first medical link between the crash and your injuries.
- Get the police report number. Rego Park is covered by the NYPD’s 112th Precinct. Ask officers for the report number at the scene, or follow up with the precinct.
- Photograph everything you can. The car, its plate, the intersection, the signal, the crosswalk markings, your injuries, and the shoes and clothes you were wearing.
- Look for cameras within hours, not weeks. Store cameras along Queens Boulevard, building cameras on the co-op blocks, and dashcams on buses and delivery vehicles often overwrite footage within days.
- File the no-fault application within 30 days. Send it to the insurer of the car that hit you and keep proof of when it was sent.
- Keep a symptom and expense journal. Missed work, cancelled plans, help you needed at home, and every co-pay and cab ride to physical therapy.
- Talk to a lawyer before you give a recorded statement. The driver’s insurer may call within days. Statements given while you are medicated or in pain are routinely used to argue that a pedestrian was distracted or crossing against the light.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
| Deadline | What it covers | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Written notice of no-fault claim | No-fault regulations; see DFS guidance |
| 90 days | Notice of claim against the City of New York or another public entity | General Municipal Law § 50-e |
| 1 year and 90 days | Lawsuit against the city or a public authority | General Municipal Law § 50-i |
| 2 years | Wrongful death lawsuit | EPTL § 5-4.1 |
| 3 years | Personal injury lawsuit against a private driver or owner | CPLR § 214 |
If the city may be involved, the 90-day notice deadline is the one that sneaks up on people. The NYC Comptroller’s personal injury claim page explains how notices of claim are filed. Missing it can bar the claim against the city even if your case is otherwise strong. If a crash was fatal, our guide to wrongful death claims in Queens explains who can bring the case and how the two-year clock works.
What a Rego Park Pedestrian Case Can Recover
Compensation in a pedestrian case usually falls into three buckets:
- No-fault benefits: medical bills, a portion of lost wages and some household expenses, up to policy limits.
- Economic damages above no-fault: wage loss and medical costs beyond what no-fault pays, including future surgery, therapy and lost earning capacity.
- Non-economic damages: pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and the long tail of an injury that changes how you move through your neighborhood. These require meeting the serious-injury threshold.
For an older Rego Park resident, a hip fracture from a turning car can mean the difference between living independently and needing home care. Those future costs have to be documented by doctors and life-care experts, not guessed at. A settlement that looks large in the first month can look very different once the long-term picture is clear.
Common Insurance Arguments, and How They Are Answered
| What the insurer says | What we look at |
|---|---|
| “She was on her phone.” | Phone records, video, and whether the driver could have avoided her anyway under VTL § 1146 |
| “He crossed mid-block.” | Distance to the nearest crosswalk, lighting, driver speed and whether the driver was looking |
| “The signal had changed.” | Signal timing records from DOT, video and independent witnesses |
| “The injuries are pre-existing.” | Prior medical records versus post-crash imaging; aggravation of a prior condition is compensable |
| “No serious injury.” | Imaging, range-of-motion testing and treating-physician opinions tied to the § 5102(d) categories |
How Our Firm Handles Pedestrian Cases From Rego Park
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates, P.C. is a Queens personal injury firm. Rego Park is part of the community we serve every day, and our Rego Park practice page lists the other accident types we handle in the neighborhood, from car crashes to truck collisions. You can read more about attorney Yakov Mushiyev and our broader personal injury practice.
Pedestrians are not the only people at risk on these streets. If someone in your family was riding rather than walking, see our companion guides on bicycle accidents in Rego Park and motorcycle accidents in Rego Park.
Getting From Rego Park to Our Rosedale Office
Our office is at 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325, in Rosedale, in southeast Queens. From Rego Park, most people drive south on the Van Wyck Expressway and east on the Belt Parkway. By transit, the M or R takes you toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue to connect to the E or F to Jamaica, where the Long Island Rail Road continues to Rosedale. If getting to Rosedale is hard while you are recovering, call first and ask about a phone or video consultation.
Open turn-by-turn directions in Google Maps · 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325, Rosedale, NY 11422 · 718.775.3110
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to have been in a crosswalk to have a case?
No. Crossing outside a crosswalk can be used to argue that you share fault, and under the 2026 change to CPLR § 1411 a claimant who is more than 50 percent at fault in a motor vehicle case recovers nothing. But drivers still owe pedestrians due care under VTL § 1146, and many mid-block cases are won on evidence of driver speed or inattention.
I don’t own a car. Who pays my medical bills?
Under DFS guidance, a pedestrian’s no-fault claim goes to the insurer of the car that struck you. If that car is unknown or uninsured, the claim goes to a household relative’s auto insurer, and if there is none, to MVAIC.
The driver fled. Do I still have a case?
Often, yes. Report the hit-and-run to the 112th Precinct right away and file for no-fault benefits within 30 days. MVAIC or a household auto policy may provide coverage, and video from businesses along Queens Boulevard sometimes identifies the car later.
Which hospitals are closest to Rego Park?
Long Island Jewish Forest Hills is to the east and NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst is to the west. In an emergency, call 911 and go where the ambulance takes you.
Which court would hear my case?
Most Rego Park injury lawsuits are filed in Queens County Supreme Court. The New York State Unified Court System website has court locations and general information.
How long will my case take?
It depends on your recovery and whether the insurer disputes fault. Cases rarely settle before your doctors can say what your long-term condition will be, and we do not recommend settling before then.
Talk to a Queens Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
If you or a family member was hit while walking in Rego Park, call Yakov Mushiyev & Associates, P.C. at 718.775.3110 or send us a message. Phone intake is available 24/7.
General information, not legal advice. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.