Early on Sunday, October 11, 2026, a man crossing Jamaica Avenue near 184th Street in Queens was struck by a car. According to amNY, the driver "did not remain on scene and instead fled eastbound on Jamaica Avenue," and the man was taken to the hospital in critical condition. No arrests had been made as of that report.
We do not know who was driving, and nothing here is a comment on anyone involved. But when a driver flees, the injured person is left with a hard question: if no one knows who the driver was, who pays for the injuries and damage the driver caused?
Leaving the Scene Is a Crime, but Your Claim Is Separate
A driver who knows, or has cause to know, that a crash has injured someone must stop, show a license, and give his or her name, address, and insurance information to the injured person, if practical, and to the police (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 600(2)(a)). A driver who flees may face criminal charges, brought by the District Attorney. An injury claim is separate, and it is the injured person's to pursue.
If the Driver Is Found
Video, witnesses, and police work may still identify the car. If they do, the driver can be sued, and so can the owner if the driver was using the owner's car with permission. New York makes every vehicle owner "liable and responsible for death or injuries to person or property resulting from negligence in the use or operation of such vehicle" by anyone using it "with the permission, express or implied, of such owner" (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388(1)). Our post on drunk or impaired drivers explains more about claims against owners.
If the Driver Is Never Found
Even without the driver, there may be insurance. Where it comes from depends on whether you, or a relative you live with, had an auto policy.
No-Fault benefits for medical bills and lost earnings. According to the Department of Financial Services, "If you do not know the vehicle that struck you or if the vehicle was uninsured, you may file a claim with the insurer of a household family relative who had an auto policy at the time of the accident." And "[i]f there was no auto policy in the household, you should file a claim with the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corporation (MVAIC)." Written notice of a No-Fault claim is due within 30 days of the accident (11 NYCRR 65-1.1). No-Fault benefits have limits. They pay up to $50,000 per person for what the law calls "basic economic loss," which includes medical expenses and lost earnings of up to $2,000 a month for up to three years, and the lost-earnings payment is reduced by 20 percent (Insurance Law § 5102(a) and (b)).
Uninsured motorist coverage. A New York auto liability policy must include uninsured motorist coverage, and that coverage reaches injuries caused by "an unidentified motor vehicle which leaves the scene of an accident." The required minimum is $25,000 for injury to one person in one accident, and payment for pain and suffering under this coverage requires a "serious injury" (Insurance Law § 3420(f)(1)), the same threshold as in other car crash cases (see our post on New York's 2026 changes). Supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, which a policyholder may buy "at the option of the insured," can raise the amount available (Insurance Law § 3420(f)(2)(A)). Whether a relative's policy covers you depends on its terms. Our post on adding uninsured motorist coverage explains more about how families can protect themselves by not accepting the state minimums.
MVAIC, if no one in your household had auto insurance. MVAIC protects a "qualified person," which the law defines to include a New York resident "other than an insured or the owner of an uninsured motor vehicle" (Insurance Law § 5202(b)). For a person who qualifies, MVAIC may pay No-Fault benefits, and it may also pay a claim for pain and suffering against a driver who cannot be identified, if the person has a serious injury (Insurance Law § 5221(b)) and meets the conditions below.
Two Rules That Can End a Hit-and-Run Claim
Report within 24 hours, and file within 90 days. For an MVAIC claim against a driver "whose identity is unascertainable," the crash must have been "reported within twenty-four hours after the occurrence to a police, peace or judicial officer in the vicinity or to the commissioner," and the injured person must file an affidavit with MVAIC "within ninety days of the accrual of the cause of action" (Insurance Law § 5208(a)(2)(A)). A late report does not hurt the claim "if it is shown that it was not reasonably possible to make such a report or that it was made as soon as was reasonably possible" (§ 5208(a)(2)(B)).
An auto policy's uninsured motorist coverage has its own notice conditions, written into the policy. When a policy requires notice "as soon as practicable," one appeals court has explained that "such notice must be given within a reasonable time under all of the circumstances" (Matter of New York Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v Vento, 63 AD3d 841 [2d Dept 2009]). Read the policy, or have a lawyer read it, right away.
Physical contact. Both kinds of hit-and-run protection require that the unidentified vehicle actually made contact. For uninsured motorist coverage, the law says the protection does not apply to a claim against a person whose identity is unascertainable "unless the bodily injury to the insured person arose out of physical contact of the motor vehicle causing the injury with the insured person or with a motor vehicle which the insured person was occupying" (Insurance Law § 3420(f)). MVAIC has the same rule (Insurance Law § 5217). As the court put it in Vento, "[p]hysical contact is a condition precedent to an arbitration based upon a hit-and-run accident involving an unidentified vehicle." So if a driver forced you off the road and drove away without touching you or your vehicle, you may have a claim against that driver if he or she is identified, but if the vehicle cannot be identified, the hit-and-run protections of both uninsured motorist coverage and MVAIC may not apply.
What to Do After a Hit-and-Run
- Get medical care, and follow your doctor's advice.
- Report the crash to the police within 24 hours, sooner if you can, and ask for a report number. A 911 call may count, and so may a call or visit to the local precinct later, as long as it is within the 24 hours. As we read the law, what counts is that you reported the crash, not whether the police wrote it up, so keep a record of the call, such as your phone's call log.
- Write down everything you remember about the car: the color, the make, any part of the plate, any damage, and the direction it went. Get the names and phone numbers of witnesses. In our experience, a few seconds of video can sometimes be enough to find the car.
- Look for cameras on buildings, stores, buses, and doorbells. Video can be recorded over in a matter of weeks; see our Decision Day entry on Fernandez v Port Authority.
- Give written notice of your No-Fault claim within 30 days of the accident. We suggest speaking to a lawyer before you file, because anything you write or say in your claim may be used against you if there is a lawsuit.
- Talk to a lawyer early. The 30-day No-Fault deadline, the 90-day MVAIC deadline, and the notice conditions in auto policies leave little room. If the car turns out to belong to a government agency, a Notice of Claim generally must be served within 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-e). In some circumstances, your time to act may be even shorter.
If you were hurt by a hit-and-run driver, contact The Eskesen Law Firm for a free consultation. Calls are answered live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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