Content reviewed by:
Alex Shulman
If you were hurt as a passenger in a car accident, you can take legal action and pursue compensation for your injuries. As the victim of the incident, you can file a personal injury claim if the driver you were riding with or another driver caused the crash.
Instead of trying to handle these responsibilities on your own, contact Shulman & Hill Injury Lawyers for representation from a car accident lawyer in New York. Your attorney can investigate the crash, identify available insurance coverage, and fight for a fair outcome.
Passengers Have Legal Rights After a Crash
You do not have to be the driver to have a personal injury claim. New York’s no-fault insurance system provides first-party benefits to covered people who are hurt as passengers in a car accident.
The law generally applies to people who are occupants of the insured vehicle, with specific rules governing which insurer provides those benefits. That means being a passenger does not automatically leave you without insurance coverage. The bigger question often focuses on these two details:
- Which insurance policy applies
- Whether you have a separate claim against the person responsible
At Shulman & Hill, a lawyer can investigate the accident and insurance policies involved to determine where your claim should be made. You do not have to prove that the driver you were riding with caused the collision before seeking medical benefits. Your status as an injured passenger is important when determining the insurance coverage available to you.
Fault Can Belong to the Driver Who Caused the Collision
Passengers are often in a unique position because they did not control either vehicle. If another driver caused the crash, you could have a personal injury claim against that driver. For example, the collision could have happened for any of these reasons:
- The other driver was speeding.
- They ran a red light.
- The other driver failed to yield.
- They followed too closely.
- The other driver otherwise drove negligently
Your own driver’s actions can also matter. If the person driving the vehicle you occupied caused the accident, you could potentially have a claim against that driver even if you know them personally. That can feel awkward.
However, the legal claim is generally directed toward the responsible person’s insurance coverage rather than simply asking that person to personally pay your medical bills. At Shulman & Hill, a lawyer can evaluate the evidence and determine who could be legally responsible without requiring you to make that decision on your own.
Insurance Coverage Depends on the Circumstances
Passenger injury cases do not all involve the same insurance arrangement. For instance:
- You could have been riding in a privately owned car.
- You might have been riding with a friend whose driving caused the crash.
- You could have been a passenger in a taxi, bus, or another commercial vehicle.
New York’s no-fault rules contain specific provisions for different types of vehicles and circumstances. For example, the Department of Financial Services explains that special rules apply to people injured while occupying a bus or school bus. This includes rules concerning the passenger’s own automobile insurance or the insurance of a relative in the same household.
That is why an injured passenger should not assume that the answer is simply, “Call the driver’s insurance company.” However, at Shulman & Hill, we can help. Your lawyer can identify the applicable policies, determine which insurer should handle particular benefits, and investigate additional coverage that could become relevant to a personal injury claim.
Another Driver’s Negligence Could Support Your Claim
Sometimes the passenger’s driver did nothing wrong. For example, your vehicle could have been stopped at a red light when another driver crashed into it. In that situation, the other driver’s conduct could be the basis for a negligence claim.
Evidence can help establish what happened. At Shulman & Hill, our lawyers can investigate the following factors:
- Traffic signals and signs
- Vehicle damage and the location of the impact
- Statements from people who witnessed the crash
- Available surveillance or traffic-camera footage
- Police reports and other accident records
- Photographs from the scene
- Vehicle and roadway conditions
- Driver statements and insurance records
The goal is to establish responsibility using evidence rather than relying solely on competing accounts of the crash.
If You Were Hurt as a Passenger in a Car Accident, Call Shulman & Hill ASAP
At Shulman & Hill, we focus on helping injured New Yorkers pursue the compensation available to them according to state laws. That includes assisting those who were hurt as a passenger in a car accident.
As a law firm based in Manhattan, we have offices across the boroughs. We focus on combining big-city litigation experience with local access for our clients.
Founded in 2013, our attorneys have over 200 years of combined experience. We’ve helped over 26,000 people recover more than $1 billion in compensation. Every Borough, Every Block, New York, We Got You. The sooner you call, the more time we’ll have to work on your case.