Six days. Three crashes. Between September 30 and October 5, 2026, three separate pedestrian-struck incidents entered our monitoring stream. A man was critically injured in the Bronx. A pedestrian was killed overnight on Route 59. And a third pedestrian was struck in Suffolk County.
Anyone hit by a car while walking in New York has real legal rights. Those rights come with short clocks. The most important ones start running immediately.
Here is what a pedestrian struck in New York needs to know: who pays the medical bills, what deadlines apply, and what happens when the driver fled or carried no insurance.
Pedestrians are covered by no-fault, even without a car
New York's no-fault system covers pedestrians struck by motor vehicles. The insurance on the vehicle that hit you pays your medical bills and part of your lost wages, regardless of fault. Basic no-fault provides up to $50,000 in benefits, including 80% of lost earnings up to $2,000 per month and up to $25 per day for transportation to treatment.
The deadline is the trap. The no-fault application must be filed within 30 days of the crash. Miss it and the carrier can deny benefits you were otherwise owed. Someone recovering from a critical injury is rarely in shape to manage paperwork, but family members can and should act on the injured person's behalf. We cover those first-weeks deadlines in our guide to the calls, deadlines, and offers that follow a New York crash.
When you can sue the driver: the serious injury threshold
No-fault pays bills, but does not pay for pain and suffering. To sue the driver, a pedestrian must have a serious injury as defined by Insurance Law § 5102(d). For actions started on or after May 26, 2026, the categories are: death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, 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.
The old 90/180-day category, which covered non-permanent injuries that kept someone from daily activities for 90 of 180 days, was repealed by the 2026 tort reform for new actions. Articles written before May 2026 still list it, but do not rely on them.
A fracture qualifies on its own. So does a significant limitation documented by treating physicians over time. Pedestrians hit by cars frequently clear the threshold, but the medical record must show it. Consistent treatment, from the first emergency visit forward, matters legally as much as medically.
Fault also works differently now. Under CPLR § 1411(b), in motor vehicle actions filed on or after May 26, 2026, a claimant whose fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants recovers nothing. Carriers know this. Expect questions about where you crossed, what you wore, and whether a phone was in your hand. Those questions decide whether you recover at all. That is why the liability investigation needs careful construction from day one.
Hit-and-run and uninsured drivers: UM and MVAIC
Overnight pedestrian crashes sometimes involve drivers who flee or carry no insurance. New York law closes part of that gap.
If you or a household member owns a car, your own policy's uninsured motorist coverage applies to you as a pedestrian. A UM claim typically must be filed within 90 days of the crash. Without a household auto policy, the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC) can offer a recovery path. It carries strict notice requirements, including prompt police reporting of a hit-and-run.
A fatal crash puts the family on its own clock. A wrongful death action under EPTL § 5-4.1 must be started within two years of the death, brought by the estate's personal representative. Two years sounds generous, but shrinks fast once an estate must be opened, insurance located, and liability proven.
What matters in the first weeks
Across all three incidents, the same truth holds for pedestrian cases generally. The evidence that decides the case exists in the first days: the police report, nearby camera footage, witness names, the vehicle's data, and the first medical records. Camera footage is often overwritten within weeks unless someone requests it.
The practical list stays short. Report the crash to police if that has not happened. File the no-fault application within 30 days. Get treated, and tell the doctors every symptom. Remember that the lawsuit against the driver runs on a separate track from no-fault, with its own proof requirements. Job sites follow the same logic, where a claim against a negligent third party runs apart from workers' compensation, as we explain in our discussion of suing beyond comp. Separate tracks, separate deadlines. Missing one does not pause the other.
How Schwartzapfel Holbrook approaches pedestrian cases
Schwartzapfel Holbrook takes a limited number of serious injury cases across New York City and Long Island, including the Bronx and Suffolk County communities where two of this week's crashes occurred. Pedestrian work begins with the evidence that vanishes fastest: footage, witnesses, and the vehicle itself. It then moves through every coverage layer, from the striking vehicle's policy to household UM coverage to MVAIC where nothing else exists.
The firm builds each accepted case for the courtroom from the outset. Carriers evaluate cases built that way seriously. That is also why most of them resolve without a trial.
