How Did New York's 2026 Tort Reform Change Car Accident Claims?

New York's 2026 tort reform changed car accident claims in four main ways. A person more at fault than the defendants now recovers nothing in tort. The 90/180-day serious injury category is gone. Juries decide fault before serious injury. A $100,000 cap on pain and suffering applies to certain at-fault drivers. The rules govern lawsuits filed on or after May 26, 2026.

Kelner & Kelner represents people hurt in crashes across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Senior partner Robert S. Kelner and the firm's trial team build every file from intake forward as if a jury will hear it. That approach matters more now that fault can end a case before damages are ever discussed. This post explains what changed, what stayed the same, and what the new rules mean for anyone weighing a claim with our New York car accident lawyers.

What Did New York's 2026 Tort Reform Change for NYC Car Accident Victims?

The reform was enacted as Part EE of the state's FY2027 budget bill (S9008-C / A10008-C), which Governor Hochul announced on May 27, 2026. It rewrote four rules for motor vehicle injury lawsuits. Those rules cover fault, the serious injury threshold, the order of trial, and damages for certain at-fault drivers. Most other parts of New York injury law did not change.

The changes apply to personal injury lawsuits governed by Article 51 of the New York Insurance Law, the article that sets up the state's no-fault auto insurance system. In practice, that means most claims arising from a crash involving a car, truck, taxi, or for-hire vehicle on a New York road. The four changes are:

• A modified comparative fault bar (CPLR § 1411(b)). An injured person whose share of fault is greater than the defendant's, or greater than the combined fault of all defendants, recovers nothing in tort.
• A narrower serious injury threshold (Insurance Law § 5102(d)). The 90/180-day category for non-permanent injuries was deleted.
• Fault-first trials (Insurance Law § 5104(a)). The jury decides fault, then serious injury, then damages, in that order.
• A $100,000 non-economic damages cap (Insurance Law § 5104(d)). It applies only to at-fault claimants who were driving uninsured, or who were convicted of impaired driving or of a felony tied to the crash.

Comparative fault is the rule that divides blame for an accident between the people involved. The serious injury threshold is the minimum level of injury New York requires before a person hurt in a car crash can sue for pain and suffering. Both rules now work differently than they did before May 26, 2026.

Can You Still Recover in New York If You Were Partly at Fault for a Car Crash?

Yes, as long as your share of fault is not greater than the other side's. A driver, passenger, or pedestrian found exactly 50 percent at fault can still recover, with damages reduced by half. Once your share passes the defendants' combined share, the new law bars recovery in a motor vehicle injury lawsuit entirely.

Before the reform, New York followed pure comparative fault in every negligence case. Under that rule, someone 70 percent at fault could still collect 30 percent of their damages. That rule still governs slip and fall cases, construction accidents, dog bites, and defective product claims. Car accident lawsuits governed by Article 51 now follow the stricter test in CPLR § 1411(b).

The statute compares the injured person's fault to the combined fault of everyone being sued. In a multi-vehicle chain collision on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a driver found 40 percent at fault is not barred if two other drivers share the remaining 60 percent. Insurers know this line well. Expect adjusters to push harder on disputed facts like lane changes, sudden stops, and yellow-light turns, because moving a claimant past the line now ends the claim. Our NYC car accident attorneys treat the fault record as the first battle in the case, not a detail to sort out at trial.

What Happened to the 90/180-Day Serious Injury Category in New York?

The 2026 reform deleted the 90/180-day category from Insurance Law § 5102(d). It used to cover a non-permanent injury that kept someone from substantially all of their usual daily activities for 90 of the first 180 days after a crash. Injured people must now qualify under one of the remaining categories.

The categories that remain under Insurance Law § 5102(d) 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 use of a body organ or member
• Significant limitation of use of a body function or system

The 90/180-day category often carried cases involving herniated discs that improved with treatment, recoveries after surgery, and months of serious disability that never became permanent. Those injuries can still qualify under the limitation categories. Qualifying now depends far more on objective medical proof, such as MRI findings, EMG nerve studies, range-of-motion measurements taken with instruments, and specialist examinations. Gaps in treatment are now easier for the defense to exploit, so steady follow-up care with your treating physicians matters from the first week. Our blog on whether a broken bone counts as a serious injury covers the fracture category in more detail.

Why Does Fault Now Get Decided Before Serious Injury in New York Car Accident Trials?

Amended Insurance Law § 5104(a) requires the jury to settle fault first, then whether the injury meets the serious injury threshold, and only then the amount of damages. The defense can now win a car accident trial on liability alone, before the jury hears how badly someone was hurt.

Under the old structure, a jury often heard about the injuries and the facts of the crash together. Now the liability phase stands on its own. The evidence about how the crash happened has to be gathered early and has to hold up without the context of the injury. That evidence includes witness statements, camera footage, vehicle data, and the police report.

Where a single trial was once common, many New York State Supreme Court judges in the five boroughs may now split car accident trials into separate phases. Preparing the liability case to stand alone, months before trial, is now a basic part of handling a motor vehicle claim in New York.

Who Does New York's $100,000 Pain and Suffering Cap Apply To?

The cap in Insurance Law § 5104(d) limits non-economic damages to $100,000 for certain at-fault claimants. It covers people driving an uninsured vehicle they were responsible for insuring, and people convicted of impaired driving or of a felony tied to the crash. It does not apply in death cases or to innocent victims.

Non-economic damages compensate for losses that have no receipt, like pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. The cap does not touch economic damages, so medical bills, lost earnings, and future care costs remain fully recoverable. Several details keep the cap narrow:

• The injured person must be at fault. A passenger or pedestrian who did nothing wrong is not affected.
• Impairment and felony categories require a conviction. An accusation alone does not trigger the cap.
• Short insurance lapses are excluded. A lapse in coverage of less than 30 days at the time of the crash does not trigger the uninsured category.
• Death cases are excluded. Wrongful death claims are not subject to the $100,000 limit.

Coverage reports and public statements sometimes describe this as a general cap on car accident damages. It is not. For most people hurt in a crash, the cap does not apply.

Does the 2026 Tort Reform Apply to a Crash That Happened Before May 26, 2026?

It may. The reform applies to lawsuits commenced on or after May 26, 2026, and the trigger is the filing date, not the accident date. A crash from 2025 that has not yet reached court may fall under the new rules once it is filed. Cases already filed before that date generally stay under the old law.

Courts have not yet settled every question about how the new rules apply to older accidents filed after May 26, 2026. Anyone with an unfiled claim from an earlier crash should have it reviewed promptly. Waiting can affect which rules govern the case, and filing deadlines continue to run.

For most car accident injury claims against a private driver, the deadline to sue under CPLR § 214(5) is still three years from the crash. Claims against the City of New York or another public entity carry a much shorter clock, as explained below. Our blog on how long after a car accident you can claim injury walks through those timelines.

What Did the 2026 Tort Reform Leave Unchanged for NYC Crash Victims?

Much of New York car accident law stayed the same. No-fault benefits still cover up to $50,000 in basic economic loss regardless of fault. Joint and several liability still applies to motor vehicle defendants. The three-year filing deadline, the 90-day notice of claim rule for public entities, and pure comparative fault outside auto cases are all unchanged.

• No-fault benefits. Under Insurance Law § 5102(a), no-fault insurance still pays medical bills and a portion of lost earnings up to $50,000 per person, regardless of who caused the crash. The application for those benefits generally must be filed within 30 days.
• Joint and several liability. CPLR § 1602(6) still keeps motor vehicle defendants outside the limits of CPLR Article 16. A defendant with a large policy can be required to pay the full judgment even if another, underinsured driver carried most of the fault. This protects passengers and pedestrians hurt in multi-vehicle crashes.
• Notice of claim deadlines. A notice of claim is the formal notice you must serve on the City of New York or another public entity before you can sue it. That includes the City, the MTA, and New York City Transit. Under General Municipal Law § 50-e, it must generally be served within 90 days of the crash, and the reform did not change that deadline.
• Pure comparative fault outside auto cases. Premises, construction, product, and dog bite cases still follow pure comparative fault under CPLR § 1411.

Do Pedestrians, Cyclists, and Rideshare Passengers in NYC Fall Under the New Rules?

Generally, yes. Most claims by pedestrians, cyclists, and passengers hurt by a motor vehicle in New York fall within Article 51, so the serious injury threshold and the fault bar can apply. For passengers, fault is rarely at issue. For pedestrians and cyclists, the defense will argue fault more aggressively than before.

A pedestrian struck while crossing Queens Boulevard, a cyclist hit by a turning box truck on Second Avenue, and a passenger in an Uber on the Grand Central Parkway are all usually inside the Article 51 system. Passengers almost never carry fault for a crash, so the main changes for them are the narrower serious injury threshold and fault-first trials. Our pages on rideshare accident claims and pedestrian accident claims cover how those cases are built.

For pedestrians and cyclists, expect the defense to raise mid-block crossings, crossing against the signal, headphone use, and bike lane position. Under pure comparative fault, those arguments reduced damages. Under the new bar, a finding that the pedestrian or cyclist carried most of the blame ends the tort claim. That makes the fault evidence in these cases far more important than it was before the reform.

What Evidence Matters Most in a New York Car Accident Claim After the 2026 Reform?

Two kinds of evidence now decide most New York car accident claims: proof of how the crash happened and objective proof of the injury. Camera footage, vehicle data, and witness accounts carry the fault phase. Imaging, nerve testing, and consistent treatment records carry the serious injury phase. Much of this evidence disappears quickly unless someone preserves it.

On fault, the evidence to gather and preserve includes:

• The police report. The NYPD police accident report (MV-104AN), along with the 911 audio and dispatch records.
• Surveillance footage. Video from nearby stores, buildings, and residences, which is often overwritten within days.
• Dashcam and vehicle data. Dashcam video, plus event data recorder downloads from the vehicles involved.
• Commercial vehicle records. Trip data and telematics from Uber, Lyft, TLC-licensed vehicles, and delivery fleets.
• Independent witnesses. Names and contact details for anyone who saw the crash and has no stake in the outcome.

A preservation letter is a formal written demand that a business, fleet owner, or other party keep specific evidence. Our NYC car accident attorneys send these letters early. That way footage and electronic data stay available for the fault phase that now opens every trial.

On injury, what counts is objective findings documented by treating physicians. Those findings include MRI results, EMG nerve studies, range-of-motion measurements, and specialist opinions on permanency or significant limitation. Consistent follow-up care builds that record over time.

How Do Our NYC Car Accident Attorneys Handle Claims Under the New Rules?

Our New York car accident lawyers build the liability case first, because the jury now decides fault before anything else. From the first call, the team preserves evidence, documents injuries objectively, and prepares the file as if a jury will hear it. Settlement on the right number is welcome. Settlement on a number that shortchanges a client is not.

The work starts with preservation letters, scene investigation, and a fast application for no-fault benefits. When the City, the MTA, or another public entity is involved, the next steps are the notice of claim and the 50-h hearing, an examination under oath the public entity can require before a lawsuit is filed. The case then moves through filing in New York State Supreme Court, discovery, and depositions. The defense's independent medical examination comes next, along with motion practice on fault and serious injury, then mediation where it makes sense, and trial and appeal where needed. Accident reconstruction engineers, biomechanical engineers, treating physicians, and vocational economists are brought in where the facts call for them.

Who Can Review Your NYC Car Accident Claim Under New York's 2026 Rules?

If you were hurt in a crash anywhere in New York City, our NYC car accident attorneys can review how the 2026 tort reform affects your claim. That review covers fault, the serious injury threshold, and the filing deadlines that apply to you.

Reach out to Kelner & Kelner to talk through what happened and what the new rules mean for your case.

Sources

• Governor Hochul Secures Reforms to Lower Auto Insurance Premiums for New Yorkers (Office of the Governor, May 27, 2026)
• NY Lawmakers Agree to Governor's Auto Insurance Reforms in New Budget (Insurance Journal)
• Hochul Signs Long-Championed Auto Insurance Changes Into Law (Times Union)