Queens Motorcycle Accident Lawyers

Queens recorded 43 motorcycle fatalities over a recent 3-year period (approximately 14 per year), second only to Brooklyn's 46. Brooklyn and Queens together account for 74% of NYC motorcycle deaths. Queens Boulevard, nicknamed the 'Boulevard of Death,' recorded 186 fatalities (mostly pedestrians but including motorcyclists) from 1990-2017 and 223 total traffic accidents in 2021. Northern Boulevard ranks second with 284 traffic accidents in 2021.

No. Insurance Law 5103(a)(2) and Vehicle and Traffic Law 125 exclude motorcycles from the New York no-fault system. A Queens rider hit by a negligent driver cannot collect Personal Injury Protection benefits from the other driver's auto policy. Medical bills go through health insurance, optional Basic Economic Loss on the rider's policy, or the bodily injury recovery. Critically, the rider does not need to clear the Insurance Law 5102(d) 'serious injury' threshold to sue for pain and suffering.

Queens County Supreme Court at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica handles civil cases with unlimited jurisdiction, the correct venue for any serious injury claim. Queens Civil Court at 89-17 Sutphin Boulevard handles claims up to $50,000. Appeals go to the Appellate Division, Second Department. For crashes involving NYC Sanitation, MTA buses, NYPD, school district vehicles, or other public-authority vehicles, a Notice of Claim must be served on the NYC Comptroller within 90 days under General Municipal Law 50-e.

Queens Boulevard : 'Boulevard of Death' : is the most dangerous Queens road for motorcyclists. Northern Boulevard recorded 284 traffic accidents in 2021. The Long Island Expressway (I-495) carries heavy commercial traffic with merging conflicts. The Van Wyck Expressway (I-678) and Grand Central Parkway concentrate high-speed crashes. Surface corridors: Astoria Boulevard, Hillside Avenue, Jamaica Avenue, Metropolitan Avenue. Key intersections include Queens Boulevard at Woodhaven (70+ crashes annually) and Northern at Astoria Boulevard.

Three years from the accident date for personal injury under CPLR 214(5). Two years from date of death for wrongful death under EPTL 5-4.1. 90 days for a Notice of Claim against NYC, NYCHA, MTA, or other public entity under GML 50-e. The lawsuit must commence within 1 year and 90 days of the crash for government cases.

New York Vehicle and Traffic Law 381 requires helmets for motorcycle operators and passengers. A helmet violation can be argued as comparative fault for head-injury damages specifically, but New York applies pure comparative negligence under CPLR 1411: partial fault reduces recovery but does not bar it. Helmet use does not affect damages for unrelated injuries (leg fractures, road rash, etc.).

Past and future medical expenses, lost wages and future earning capacity, pain and suffering, permanent impairment, loss of consortium, and in fatal cases pecuniary loss to the statutory distributees under EPTL 5-4.3. Motorcycle injuries are typically more severe than car-occupant injuries: road rash, compound fractures, crush injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord damage. Queens juries return strong plaintiff verdicts in clear-liability cases.

Photographs of the scene, the bike, the other vehicle, the roadway, your injuries, and any road conditions. Witness contact information. The NYPD accident report number. Your helmet, jacket, and riding gear (impact-force evidence, do not discard). Any helmet-cam or dash-cam footage. ER records from Elmhurst Hospital, Jamaica Hospital, Flushing Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, Mount Sinai Queens, or Long Island Jewish. Do not give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer.