Rego Park Cyclist Accident Attorney

No. You don’t need to have purchased a special bicycle insurance policy before you can pursue an injury claim against a driver who hits you. When a motor vehicle is involved, New York automobile insurance can become important even though you were riding a bicycle.

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New York’s No Fault law requires qualifying motor vehicle policies to provide first party benefits to certain people injured through the use or operation of the insured vehicle who weren’t occupying another motor vehicle or motorcycle.

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That framework is what allows an injured cyclist to potentially receive No Fault benefits after being hit by a car.

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Those benefits are different from the liability claim against the driver who caused the crash.

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No Fault can address qualifying economic losses such as medical treatment and lost earnings. A separate liability claim can address damages available from the responsible driver or other legally responsible party.

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The bicycle itself is another issue. No Fault is injury coverage. It isn’t the coverage used to replace your damaged bicycle or riding equipment.

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So if you were hit while riding and never purchased anything called “bicycle insurance,” that alone shouldn’t stop you from speaking with a Rego Park cyclist accident attorney about the insurance that actually applies.

In many bicycle versus car cases, yes. A cyclist seeking compensation for pain, suffering, and similar noneconomic losses may need to establish a serious injury under New York’s No Fault law. You don’t need to meet that threshold simply to receive ordinary qualifying No Fault benefits.

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New York changed the serious injury definition in 2026.
For actions and proceedings commenced on or after May 26, 2026, the current categories 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 a body organ or member
• Significant limitation of a body function or system
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The old category based on being unable to perform substantially all of your usual activities for at least 90 of the first 180 days was removed for cases covered by the 2026 amendment.

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That means a broken bone is one clear category, but it isn’t the only way an injured cyclist can satisfy the threshold. A qualifying permanent or significant limitation may also meet the definition when the medical evidence supports it.

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This is also why hearing “nothing was broken” at the emergency room doesn’t necessarily answer whether an injury can eventually qualify as serious under New York law.

Yes. Your own auto policy or a policy belonging to a qualifying relative in your household can sometimes matter even though you were riding a bicycle when the crash happened.

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There are two different insurance questions worth separating.

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First is No Fault. New York law provides first party benefits to a named insured and members of the household for qualifying losses involving an uninsured motor vehicle. DFS also directs injured people toward household automobile coverage in certain situations when the responsible vehicle is uninsured.

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Second is uninsured motorist coverage. DFS has specifically addressed a New York case involving a named insured who was riding a bicycle when a hit and run vehicle struck him. His own policy and a resident brother’s policy both potentially provided uninsured motorist coverage because of his insured status under those policies.

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If there is no applicable automobile policy, MVAIC may provide another potential route for an eligible injured person. Its deadlines can come quickly. MVAIC currently requires, among other eligibility conditions, police reporting within 24 hours and generally a Notice of Intention within 90 days for an unidentified hit and run vehicle.

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The important point is that being on a bicycle doesn’t necessarily mean your household auto coverage stays completely out of the picture. If the driver is found and insured but the available liability coverage isn't enough, an underinsured motorist attorney can evaluate if your SUM coverage could provide another source of additional coverage.

If you were an employee riding as part of your job, you may have a workers’ compensation claim in addition to a separate claim against the driver who caused the bicycle crash. Delivery and app based work can make the employment question more complicated, so the rider’s actual work arrangement matters.

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New York workers’ compensation can provide medical care and lost wage benefits for eligible employees injured while working.

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The Workers’ Compensation Board tells injured workers to notify their employer in writing as soon as possible and generally within 30 days, while the worker’s own claim may generally be filed within two years.

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A separate third party claim can also exist.

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New York Workers’ Compensation Law Section 29 specifically allows an eligible employee to receive workers’ compensation benefits while pursuing a negligent person who wasn’t in the same employ.

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So if you’re making a delivery and an unrelated driver runs a light and hits you, the workers’ compensation system and the claim against that driver can exist at the same time.

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The benefits can interact financially, including through reimbursement and lien rules. New York’s No Fault definition also accounts for workers’ compensation benefits when calculating first party benefits.

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One caution is important for app based delivery riders: being called an independent contractor doesn’t by itself resolve every employment classification question. New York courts and agencies examine the actual working relationship and degree of control in employment classification disputes.

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A Rego Park bicycle accident lawyer should therefore know whether you were commuting normally or actually riding as part of your work when the crash occurred.

Yes. It can matter because New York City treats legal electric bicycles differently from mopeds, and the specific type of electric bicycle can change the speed, helmet, and operating rules that apply.

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One of the first things worth identifying is what you were actually riding. NYC DOT currently distinguishes Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 electric bicycles from limited use motorcycles commonly called mopeds.

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For legal electric bicycles in New York City:
• Riders must generally be at least 16
• No driver’s license, license plate, VIN, or DMV registration is required
• They may use bicycle lanes
• New York City currently limits electric bicycle riders to 15 mph on city streets
• Class 3 riders must wear helmets, with additional helmet requirements applying to some other riders
Mopeds are treated differently. They require DMV registration and plates, require an appropriate driver’s license, and aren’t permitted in bicycle lanes.
That distinction can become important when an insurer argues that the rider was somewhere the device wasn’t legally allowed to be.
After a crash, photographs of the bicycle, manufacturer label, model, and any class or speed information can help establish what kind of device was actually involved.
The fact that a motor was attached to your bicycle doesn’t automatically turn the case into a motorcycle accident. The classification comes first.

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There isn’t a reliable official average that tells you what your New York bicycle accident claim should be worth. Be skeptical of websites that assign standard dollar ranges to a concussion, broken bone, road rash, or another injury without knowing anything else about the person or the case.

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New York doesn’t use a fixed settlement schedule where a particular bicycle injury automatically equals a particular dollar amount.

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A meaningful evaluation looks at what can actually be supported, including:

• The nature and duration of the injuries
• Medical evidence and any lasting limitations
• The effect on work, mobility, and everyday life
• How responsibility for the collision is divided
• The insurance and legally responsible parties available for recovery
• Damage to the bicycle and other property
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Current New York law also makes responsibility particularly important in motor vehicle cases because a claimant’s own share of fault can reduce a recovery and, when it exceeds the fault of the parties being pursued, can bar recovery.

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Likewise, pain and suffering in many bicycle versus automobile cases depends on satisfying New York’s serious injury requirement.

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So an online claim that the “average bicycle settlement” is $50,000, $100,000, or any other specific number tells you very little about your own case.

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The better question is what this particular bicycle crash caused and what the evidence can prove.

A typical New York negligence lawsuit for personal injury generally has a three year limitation period, but a bicycle crash can create several important deadlines long before those three years expire.

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Which deadlines matter depends on the accident that occured.

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For example:

• 30 days: written notice of a New York No Fault claim is generally required
• 45 days: health care bills generally must be submitted for No Fault payment
• 90 days: proof of lost earnings and certain other necessary expenses generally must be submitted
• 90 days: a qualifying tort claim against New York City generally requires a Notice of Claim
• 1 year and 90 days: qualifying personal injury lawsuits against New York City generally must be commenced within this period
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Hit and run cases can add another clock. MVAIC currently requires qualifying hit and run accidents to be reported to police within 24 hours, with a Notice of Intention generally required within 90 days when the vehicle is unidentified.

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Not every deadline above applies to every cyclist. That is exactly the point.

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“I have three years” doesn’t mean “nothing needs to happen for three years.”

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A Rego Park cyclist accident attorney can identify which deadlines actually apply based on the vehicle, insurance, government involvement, and circumstances of the crash.

Potentially, yes. Physical contact with the car isn’t always necessary if the driver’s conduct caused you to crash and the evidence can establish that connection.

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There is a very useful New York bicycle case illustrating exactly this situation.

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In a current case, a cyclist was lawfully traveling in a designated bicycle lane when a taxi driver attempted a left turn and crossed the bicycle lane moments before the cyclist reached the same location. The cyclist braked sharply to avoid the taxi and was thrown over his handlebars.

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The Appellate Division held that the cyclist had made a prima facie showing concerning the taxi driver’s liability even though the description of the accident involved avoiding the taxi rather than colliding with it. The court also found a factual question concerning the cyclist’s own speed, showing that both sides’ conduct can still matter.

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That is a good example of why “the car never touched me” isn’t the end of the analysis.

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A driver might:

• Turn across the bike lane
• Pull suddenly from the curb
• Drift into the cyclist’s space
• Force the rider toward a parked vehicle or curb
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If the cyclist crashes while trying to avoid that danger, the question becomes whether the vehicle’s movement actually caused or contributed to the fall.

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These cases can make video, witnesses, the roadway layout, and the cyclist’s description particularly important because there may be no impact damage between the car and bicycle.

You may still have a claim, but identifying who created or controlled the dangerous condition becomes especially important. A bad street condition doesn’t automatically mean New York City is legally responsible for it.

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A bike lane problem might trace back to several different sources. Depending on what happened, the investigation may need to consider the City, a utility company, a construction contractor, a property owner, or even a vehicle that created the obstruction.

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There is a Queens bicycle case that shows why this distinction matters. In that case, the cyclist was injured after his bicycle slipped on sand in a Queens bike lane.

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Evidence indicated that a private contractor had dumped sand in the area before the crash, so the claim involved the contractor rather than simply assuming that a bike lane condition belonged to the City.

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Claims actually based on a New York City street defect have another complication. NYC Administrative Code Section 7-201 generally requires prior written notice of qualifying street defects before the City can be held responsible, subject to limited exceptions such as the City affirmatively creating the defect or a qualifying special use. The Second Department reaffirmed that framework in 2026.

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And if a qualifying claim is being pursued against the City, a Notice of Claim generally must be filed within 90 days.
So the useful question isn’t simply “Was there a pothole?”
It is “What created the danger, who was responsible for it, and what evidence still exists to prove that?”

For qualifying bicycle injury cases at the Boyko Law Firm, there is no upfront attorney fee. The attorney fee is contingent on obtaining a financial recovery.

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Queens falls within New York’s Second Judicial Department. Its current rules permit several contingency fee structures for personal injury matters. Under commonly used Schedule B, the initial retainer can provide for an attorney fee of no more than 33 and one third percent of the recovery.

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That doesn’t mean every attorney is required to charge exactly one third. The written retainer controls the arrangement within the applicable rules.

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It is also important to separate attorney fees from case expenses.

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Depending on what a case requires, expenses can include things such as:

• Court filing fees
• Medical record costs
• Investigation expenses
• Deposition costs
• Qualified experts or specialists
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The Second Department allows different permitted methods for handling expenses in relation to a contingency fee, and the retainer agreement is supposed to explain which method the client selected and its financial consequences.

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So before hiring a bicycle accident lawyer in Rego Park, Queens, you should be able to understand three things clearly: what percentage applies, how case expenses are handled, and when you would actually owe an attorney fee.

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For qualifying cases with the Boyko Law Firm, you don’t pay an attorney fee upfront to get the bicycle injury claim started.