Bicycle Accident Claims in New York

A person riding a bicycle on a roadway has all the rights and duties of a vehicle driver, except special bicycle rules and provisions that cannot apply. A driver overtaking a bicycle must pass to the left at a safe distance until safely clear; the statute does not set a specific number of feet. Bicycle operators and passengers under 14 must wear protective headgear, and a child under 1 may not be carried as a bicycle passenger.

Pure comparative fault in most cases. In actions for personal injury, property damage or wrongful death, the injured person's own culpable conduct (including contributory negligence or assumption of risk) does not bar recovery, but damages are reduced in proportion to that person's share of the fault. Exception: in personal injury cases covered by New York's no-fault auto insurance law (Insurance Law article 51), the injured person cannot recover at all if his or her share of fault is greater than that of the defendant (or of all defendants combined).

New York is a no-fault state. Minimum liability coverage is $25,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for death of one person, $50,000 for bodily injury and $100,000 for death of two or more persons, and $10,000 for property damage. No-fault (first-party) benefits cover basic economic loss up to $50,000 per person, with an optional additional $25,000. A person may sue another covered person for non-economic loss only in the case of a "serious injury": 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, or significant limitation of use of a body function or system.

Three years for an action to recover damages for a personal injury (with exceptions in CPLR 214-b, 214-c, 214-i and 215, such as certain toxic exposure and intentional tort claims).