Being on foot changes the claim in your favor
A pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle in New York is covered by that vehicle’s no-fault benefits — the first $50,000 of medical bills and lost earnings, paid regardless of who was at fault. People are frequently told the opposite, or assume that because they were not in a car nothing covers them, and they pay bills for months that were never theirs to pay. The application is generally due within 30 days.
On liability, the law starts from a position that helps you. Drivers in New York owe a duty of due care to every pedestrian, and that duty exists whether or not you were in a crosswalk. A driver who had the light still has to see what is there to be seen.
The usual defense is that you stepped out, or crossed mid-block, or were looking at your phone. Comparative fault reduces a recovery by your share of the blame — it does not end the claim. And it is regularly defeated outright by the same evidence that settles most of these cases: intersection and storefront camera footage, which exists far more often than people expect and is overwritten within days.
The cases we handle most
Turning vehicles in crosswalks
The most common serious pedestrian case in Queens. You have the walk signal; the driver turns across it.
Backing and parking lots
Reversing drivers and parking structures, where a property owner’s design and lighting can also be at issue.
Hit-and-run
Uninsured motorist coverage on your own or a household member’s policy can pay when the driver never stops.
Bus stops and double-parked vehicles
Sightlines blocked by a stopped vehicle put responsibility on the driver who could not see past it.
What we do once you call
We file the no-fault application against the striking vehicle so your treatment is covered, and we put its insurer on notice.
We canvass the intersection for camera footage before it is overwritten — storefronts, buildings, buses and city cameras — and take witness statements.
We line up the orthopedic and neurological treatment the injuries need, and every adjuster call comes to us.
We demand and file suit where the offer relies on blaming you rather than on what the footage shows.
Common questions
I was crossing mid-block. Do I still have a claim?
Usually yes. Crossing outside a crosswalk can be some comparative fault, but it does not relieve a driver of the duty to watch the road and avoid hitting someone. New York reduces a recovery by your percentage of fault instead of barring it, so a partly-at-fault pedestrian still recovers.
The driver had no insurance. Is there anything?
Often, yes. Uninsured motorist coverage on your own auto policy, or on the policy of a relative you live with, can cover you as a pedestrian. If there is no such policy anywhere, New York’s Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation exists for exactly this situation and has its own early deadlines.
How do I get camera footage?
We request it, in writing, immediately. Most private systems overwrite in three to thirty days, and once it is gone it is gone. This is the single most time-sensitive part of a pedestrian case and the main reason not to wait.