Manhattan truck and delivery-truck crashes
Manhattan Truck Accident Lawyers
Whose insurance pays first depends on how you were travelling, and the truck's right to be on that street is part of the liability question. Both are worth settling early.
Over 40 years of experience. Free consultation; no fee unless there is a recovery.
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How were you travelling when the truck hit?
Where New York's no-fault law applies, its benefits come first, and which policy pays depends on where you were (DFS no-fault FAQ). The claim against the truck's driver, owner and carrier runs alongside it.
- Walking or crossing the street
- If no-fault applies, generally the insurer of the vehicle that struck you, which may be the truck's insurer, even if you do not own a car. See also our Manhattan pedestrian accident page.
- In a car, taxi or for-hire vehicle
- If no-fault applies, generally the insurer of the vehicle you were in, driver or passenger. Our Manhattan auto accident page covers taxis and for-hire vehicles.
- On a motorcycle
- Motorcycle riders are excluded from no-fault benefits; the claim runs against those responsible from the start.
- On a bicycle, e-bike or scooter
- Which coverage applies depends on the facts and the policies in your household, and should be checked before any deadline runs.
- Someone died
- The estate's representative brings the claim, generally within two years after the death (EPTL 5-4.1). See our Manhattan wrongful death page.
Parkways and truck routes
Where Manhattan trucks are allowed to go
Trucks and commercial vehicles are barred from the City's parkways, including the FDR Drive, the Harlem River Drive and the Henry Hudson Parkway, so through freight uses routes such as the Trans-Manhattan Expressway and designated avenues. A truck found where it was not allowed raises questions about the driver, the route plan and the dispatcher.
New York City requires trucks, as its traffic rules define them, to use designated routes. A truck making a delivery in the borough must use local truck routes and may leave them only to reach its stop by the most direct way; a truck just passing through must stay on through routes. Leaving the route for a shortcut is not allowed, and trucks are barred from the City's parkways (NYC DOT Truck Smart Guide).
The network changed on October 4, 2026, and NYC DOT says a new map will follow. Changes in Manhattan include (NYC DOT change list):
Added to the truck-route network
- Fifth Avenue, 14th Street to 31st Street
- West 30th Street, Broadway to Fifth Avenue
- Canal Street and East Broadway, Forsyth Street to Allen Street; Chatham Square to Pike Street
- Whitehall Street, South Street to State Street
Removed from the network
- Broadway, West 31st Street to East 14th Street
- Union Square East and East 17th Street, around Union Square
- West 26th and East 22nd streets, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue
- Allen, Division and Forsyth streets, segments near Canal Street
A truck off its route does not prove fault by itself, but where the truck was allowed to be, on the date of the crash, is an issue to investigate in a New York City truck crash.
Evidence
Records and video we try to secure first
Manhattan crashes are often caught by building, store and traffic cameras that overwrite on their own schedule, so those requests go out first. Carrier records follow federal minimum keep periods.
- Driver logs (records of duty status) and supporting documents
- At least 6 months from receipt
- 49 CFR 395.8(k)
- Inspection, repair and maintenance records
- 1 year where the truck is housed or maintained, and 6 months after it leaves the carrier
- 49 CFR 396.3(c)
- Driver qualification file
- While the driver is employed, plus 3 years; some items may be removed 3 years after they were made
- 49 CFR 391.51
These periods are minimums, not permission to destroy evidence once a claim is expected. Each rule applies only to the carriers and drivers within its own scope; the federal definition of a commercial motor vehicle starts at 10,001 pounds for interstate carriers (49 CFR 390.5). Post-crash test results, where a test was required, are requested too.
New York's Department of Transportation adopts many of the same rules for trucks that operate only within the state, with listed exceptions (17 NYCRR 820.1, 820.6). Dashcam video and telematics have no federal keep period here, which is why we ask for them in writing early. Text current as of the eCFR update of October 7, 2026.
Published results
Truck and motor-vehicle results
None of these published records names Manhattan. The first six describe collisions with a truck: two name Brooklyn, one New Jersey, two were federal cases and one involved a rideshare driver rear-ended by a truck. The rest are the firm's other motor-vehicle results, quoted exactly as recorded.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts.
See the full verdicts and settlements archive$300,000
$300,000 Recovery — Brooklyn 18-Wheeler Rear-End Collision
Our client, a NYC probation officer, was stopped at a red light in Brooklyn when an 18-wheeler rear-ended his vehicle. He suffered multiple injuries. We fought to get him the compensation he deserved. We are proud to secure a $300,000 recovery for our client.
$380,000
$380,000 Recovery — Brooklyn Truck Rear-End Collision
Our client, a NYC probation officer, was a passenger in a work vehicle rear-ended by a truck at a red light in Brooklyn. She suffered multiple injuries including surgery. We're proud to have secured a $380,000 recovery for her.
$750,000
$750,000 New Jersey Truck Accident Settlement
Michael Licatesi and our New Jersey trial team secured a $750,000 settlement for our client who was seriously injured in a truck accident.
$350,000
$350,000 Federal Case Result — Truck Rear-End Collision
A 40-year-old woman was rear-ended by a truck while properly restrained. She suffered serious injuries, including an annular tear in her neck, back injuries requiring ablation and multiple injections, and injuries to her right shoulder, knee requiring surgery, hand, and elbow.
$499,000
$499,000 Federal Truck Accident Settlement
Our client was involved in a truck accident that resulted in federal litigation. Despite the complexity of the case, we secured a $499,000 settlement for injuries sustained to multiple parts of the body.
$400,000
$400,000 Settlement
Settlement involving 68 year old male who was rear ended by a truck while driving for UBER requiring a lumbar fusion with a history of prior injury to his lumbar spine.
Hit by a truck in Manhattan?
Camera video and the carrier's records are the first things to protect. Call us and we will send the requests and tell you which deadline applies.
Deadlines
Deadlines that depend on who is responsible
The first clock depends on who you are claiming against and whether the crash caused a death.
If you were injured
These are the first deadlines for an ordinary negligence claim for a non-fatal personal injury. Property-damage and other claims can run on different clocks.
- The other driver or vehicle owner (a private party)
- No notice of claim. A personal-injury lawsuit generally must be started within three years (CPLR 214(5)).
- The City of New York itself (for example, a City-owned vehicle)
- A notice of claim with the Comptroller within 90 days of the incident; a lawsuit within one year and 90 days (NYC Comptroller, GML 50-e).
- The State of New York itself
- A negligence claim against the State goes to the Court of Claims: it must be filed and served on the Attorney General within 90 days after it accrues, or a notice of intention served within those 90 days and the claim then filed and served within two years (Court of Claims Act § 10(3)). A State worker or vehicle being involved does not by itself make the State liable.
If the crash caused a death
A wrongful death claim has its own clocks, which often start from the death or from the appointment of the estate's representative.
- Against a private driver or owner
- The estate's representative generally has two years after the death; if a criminal action is started against the same defendant for the same event, at least one year after that criminal action ends (EPTL 5-4.1).
- Against the City, a county, town or village
- Where a notice of claim is required, it is due within 90 days after the estate's representative is appointed (GML 50-e), and the lawsuit within two years after the death (GML 50-i).
- Against the State
- The claim must be filed and served within 90 days after the executor or administrator is appointed, or a notice of intention served in that time; in any event within two years after the death (Court of Claims Act § 10(2)).
- Against a transit or bridge authority
- Death claims follow separate notice and time-limit provisions, not the injury rules above. Identify the exact operator first.
No-fault still comes first
Your benefits claim has its own short clock, whatever happens with the truck company.
- Within 30 days
- Written notice of the accident to the applicable no-fault insurer.
- 45 days
- Proof of claim for medical services, within 45 days after the date each service is rendered.
- 90 days
- Proof of claim for lost earnings, within 90 days after the work loss is incurred, and for other necessary expenses, within 90 days after the services are rendered.
- If late
- Each of these limits applies unless written proof gives a clear and reasonable justification for the delay (11 NYCRR 65-1.1). Do not wait on that exception.
- Alongside
- A separate file on fault, injuries and any claim against whoever caused the crash. Our no-fault and PIP guide covers denials and medical exams.
2026 changes apply by commencement date. They cover personal-injury actions under New York's no-fault law (Insurance Law article 51) commenced on or after May 26, 2026; what matters is when the lawsuit is commenced, not the accident date (DFS Circular Letter No. 3 (2026)). For those actions:
- the former 90/180 serious-injury category no longer applies;
- a claimant whose culpable conduct is greater than that of the defendant, or of the defendants combined, is barred from recovery; otherwise, including at an even 50/50 split, damages are reduced by the claimant's share (CPLR 1411);
- except in an action for death, non-economic damages are limited to $100,000 for an injured person who is at fault, is not barred under CPLR 1411, and was operating an uninsured vehicle they were responsible for insuring (unless the lapse in coverage was less than 30 days), was operating while impaired and was convicted of that offense, or was operating in the commission of, or immediate flight from, a felony and was convicted of it (Insurance Law 5104(d)).
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Manhattan puts large trucks and delivery vehicles on narrow, crowded streets with heavy foot and bicycle traffic, where turning and backing trucks have limited sight lines. Trucks are also kept to designated routes and barred from parkways such as the FDR Drive. We do not publish crash counts; the City's Vision Zero View map shows where crashes are reported. In a claim, what matters is what this truck and its driver did.
We do not rank roads without data; the City publishes crash maps through Vision Zero View. In a claim, the road matters for other reasons: whether the truck was allowed there (trucks are barred from the FDR Drive, the Harlem River Drive and the Henry Hudson Parkway, and the October 4, 2026 changes removed Broadway between West 31st and East 14th streets from the truck-route network) and which cameras recorded the crash.
Against a private driver, owner or carrier, an injury suit is generally due within three years. Against the City for an injury, a notice of claim is due within 90 days of the incident and suit within one year and 90 days. Against the State, the claim must be filed and served, or a notice of intention served, within 90 days of accrual. Death claims run on separate clocks, and exceptions are case-specific.
Go wherever emergency care is fastest; ambulance crews choose the receiving hospital. People hurt in Manhattan are often treated at hospitals such as Bellevue and NYU Langone. For a claim, keep every treatment record and follow-up. Getting care does not by itself make you eligible for benefits; if no-fault applies, written notice to the applicable insurer is ordinarily due within 30 days, unless a reasonable written justification is shown.
Depending on the facts: the driver; the motor carrier or business that employed or dispatched the driver; the truck's owner, who may be liable for a permissive driver's negligence under VTL 388, subject to exceptions such as federal protection for rental and leasing companies; a shipper or loader; a maintenance contractor; a parts manufacturer; another driver; or, for a City truck or a road defect, a public body with short notice deadlines.
No-fault pays eligible medical bills and part of lost earnings, up to $50,000 of basic economic loss. A claim against those responsible can add other losses; where the no-fault law applies, pain and suffering needs a serious injury. In those actions commenced on or after May 26, 2026, a claimant more at fault than the defendants is barred, and specified at-fault claimants who are not barred face a $100,000 non-economic limit, except in death actions.
Delivery trucks stop, double-park and turn across crosswalks and bike lanes many times a day. A claim asks whether the stop and the route were lawful, whether the driver was within federal hours limits where they apply, and which company employed or dispatched the driver, because a box truck may belong to a leasing company, a carrier or the business itself. We name companies from the evidence, not from assumptions about who usually delivers.
If no-fault applies and you were walking, you generally claim against the striking vehicle's insurer, even if you do not own a car; in a car or taxi, against that vehicle's insurer. Motorcycle riders are excluded. Benefits reach $50,000 of basic economic loss; written notice is ordinarily due within 30 days absent a reasonable written justification. Where the no-fault law applies, pain and suffering requires a serious injury; the 90/180 category does not apply to suits commenced on or after May 26, 2026.
Call 911 and get medical care. If it is safe, photograph the truck, including the company name and USDOT number on the cab, the plates and the scene, and get witnesses' names; many Manhattan buildings and stores have cameras, so note them. Ask for the police report number. If no-fault applies, give the applicable insurer written notice, ordinarily within 30 days, and call us before speaking to the truck's insurer.
You can file a no-fault claim yourself. A lawyer helps when injuries are serious, several companies may share responsibility, or a City vehicle or street defect is involved and a notice is due within weeks. We identify the carrier and owner, ask for video before it is overwritten, track every deadline and deal with the insurers. Manhattan clients are served from our New York offices. The consultation is free, and there is no fee unless there is a recovery.
Serving all of Manhattan
Manhattan clients are served from our New York offices; we do not have a Manhattan office. See Manhattan locations or call (516) 227-2662.
- Financial District
- Tribeca
- SoHo
- Chinatown
- Lower East Side
- East Village
- Greenwich Village
- Chelsea
- Flatiron
- Gramercy
- Murray Hill
- Midtown
- Garment District
- Hell's Kitchen
- Hudson Yards
- Upper East Side
- Upper West Side
- Harlem
- East Harlem
- Washington Heights
- Inwood
Manhattan truck accident? Ask for the video first
Tell us the block and the time. We will request camera footage, identify the carrier and owner, send preservation demands and explain the deadline that applies. Free consultation; no fee unless there is a recovery.
What to bring
- The exact location and time of the crash
- Photos of the truck, its company name and USDOT number
- Police report number
- Medical records so far
Related
Other truck accident guides
- New York truck accident lawyer
- Brooklyn truck accidents
- Queens truck accidents
- Bronx truck accidents
- Staten Island truck accidents
- Nassau County truck accidents
- Long Island truck accidents
- New Jersey truck accidents
- Find the office nearest you
- Manhattan auto accidents
- Manhattan wrongful death
- NY no-fault and PIP benefits guide
- All verdicts and settlements
Photo credits: Trans-Manhattan Expressway from the Amsterdam Avenue overpass by Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized; FDR Drive from the Manhattan Bridge by Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized.