Queens Car Accident Lawyer — Felicetti Law Firm
Queens Boulevard was known for decades as the Boulevard of Death. It is a far safer road than it was — the redesign cut fatalities by 68 percent — and the fact that a New York City street could earn that name, and then lose it, tells you something about how much road design decides who gets hurt.
The three boulevards
Queens Boulevard: the seven-mile redesign, completed in 2024, reduced fatalities 68 percent, injuries 35 percent and pedestrian injuries 45 percent. The final Sunnyside segment had recorded 351 traffic injuries between 2019 and 2023 before it was rebuilt.
Northern Boulevard: eleven miles from Astoria to Douglaston. After six deaths in 2017 and four more by late 2018, a city council member called it, in a Department of Transportation release, “the new Boulevard of Death in Queens”.
Woodhaven Boulevard: a Vision Zero priority corridor since 2019. 56 people were killed or severely injured on it between 2019 and 2023.
Queens has 47 Vision Zero priority corridors covering 127 miles, and they account for about half of all pedestrians killed or severely injured in the borough. Seventy-two priority intersections make up 12 percent of the borough’s area but produce 69 percent of pedestrian KSI.
No-fault first, and the serious injury threshold
New York is a no-fault state, and that changes the shape of a car accident claim here more than anything else. Your own insurer pays basic economic loss — medical bills and some lost earnings — up to $50,000, regardless of who caused the crash. But to sue the other driver for pain and suffering at all, you must first clear the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d).
That threshold has nine categories, including death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, a fracture, permanent loss of use, permanent consequential limitation, significant limitation of use, and the so-called 90/180 category — an injury that prevents substantially all your usual activities for at least 90 of the 180 days after the crash. Meeting any one category opens the door to damages for all your injuries. Whether a soft-tissue injury clears it is the single most fought-over question in New York car accident litigation.
New York’s fault rule is the opposite of the Carolinas
Under CPLR 1411, your own share of fault never bars recovery in New York. It reduces your damages in proportion and nothing more — a claimant 90 percent responsible can still recover the remaining tenth. New York is a pure comparative negligence state, one of the most forgiving in the country.
Deadlines, and the very short one
The general deadline for a personal injury suit in New York is three years under CPLR § 214(5). But if your claim is against the City of New York or another municipality — a city vehicle, a bus, a defective roadway — you must file a notice of claim within 90 days, and bring suit within one year and 90 days. Miss the 90-day notice and the claim is usually over before it starts.
Court and trauma care in Queens
Injury suits above the lower courts’ limits are brought in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Queens County, Civil Term, 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica. New York City Civil Court handles claims up to $50,000. Queens has three American College of Surgeons verified Level I trauma centres: Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst and NewYork-Presbyterian Queens in Flushing.
Talk to the Felicetti Law Firm
If a city vehicle or city roadway was involved, call today rather than next month — the 90-day clock is unforgiving. Call (800) 333-1988 at any hour or contact us online. Free consultation; no fee unless we recover. Se habla español.
Call (800) 333-1988 — Free Case Review
Other Felicetti Law Firm areas: Charlotte · Raleigh · Miami · Savannah
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This page is general information about New York law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Deadlines and fault rules have exceptions; only a review of your own facts can tell you which apply. Cases are handled by attorneys licensed in the local jurisdiction.