Under the NYS Insurance Law, motorcycle operators and their passengers are not able to obtain no-fault insurance coverage, which pays for medical bills, lost income, and other expenses. However, there is a potential benefit to a motorcyclist who is hurt in a motorcycle accident and seeks to file a lawsuit for “pain and suffering.”
§ 5104(a) of the New York Insurance Law provides that when no-fault insurance is available, such as for an operator or passenger of a car, the injured person will not have a right to recover money for personal injuries unless that person has a serious injury.
§ 5102(d) of the New York Insurance Law defines what a “serious injury” is. Unfortunately, just in the last few years, New York courts have interpreted the law in a way to make it very difficult to prove an injury is serious, and the courts have dismissed many cases with injuries you would think are serious.
Even some injuries that a rational person or doctor would consider to be serious, such as a serious back injury; torn rotator cuff (shoulder); torn meniscus (knee), or any other torn ligament, have been ruled by the courts to not be serious enough under the no-fault law and those cases were dismissed.
The benefit to motorcycle riders and passengers is that since they are excluded from obtaining no-fault benefits when hurt in an accident, a motorcycle occupant does not have to prove that an injury is serious.
Thus, a lawsuit on behalf of a motorcyclist cannot be dismissed because the injury is not serious enough. As long as someone else was negligent in causing the accident, the motorcycle occupant will be able to recover money for pain and suffering, even for a scratch.
Philip L. Franckel, Esq. personally authored this page and all articles on NYMotorcycleAttorneys.com.
You may have met Phil Franckel and Rob Plevy at motorcycle events. Phil and Rob created the motorcycle awareness campaign BE AWARE MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE®. They are Founding Partners of 1-800-HURT-911® New York, well-known in New York for representing motorcyclists. Phil is an Avvo Top Motorcycle Attorney with a 10 Avvo rating, Avvo Motorcycle Client’s Choice award with all 5-star reviews, Avvo Top Motorcycle Accident Contributor, and a former Member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association.
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Motorcycle Attorney Phil Franckel talks about how motorcycle accidents are different
Philip L. Franckel, Esq. is the author of all articles and content on this website, one of the Personal Injury Dream Team™ Founding Partners at 1-800-HURT-911® New York, well-known for representing motorcyclists. He has a 10 Avvo rating; Avvo Client’s Choice with all 5-star reviews; Avvo Top Contributor; and is a former Member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Franckel created the motorcycle awareness campaign BE AWARE MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE®.
Founding Partner Rob Plevy, Esq.
New York Motorcycle Accident Lawyer and Founding Partner Rob Plevy, Esq.
Robert Plevy, Esq. is a motorcycle accident lawyer and one of the Personal Injury Dream Team™ Founding Partners at 1-800-HURT-911® New York. Robert began his legal career in 1993 as an Assistant Corporation Counsel defending The City of New York against personal injury lawsuits.
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