Hit by a car fleeing a police pursuit in New York: who can be sued, and the ninety-day clock that runs against a police agency

Attorney Answer

Two defendants are possible here and they are judged by different standards: the fleeing driver answers under ordinary negligence, while a police agency whose officers pursued him answers for reckless disregard only as to the conduct the emergency-vehicle statute privileges, and under ordinary negligence for anything else — and a claim against a public agency must be started within ninety days.

The driver who ran the stop sign is liable in the ordinary way, but a person fleeing in a stolen car is frequently uninsured, and Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388(1) makes an owner responsible only for negligence by someone using the vehicle with the owner's permission, express or implied — which a thief is not.

A claim over the pursuit itself is measured differently. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1104 gives an authorized emergency vehicle's driver in an emergency operation privileges ordinary drivers lack, then sets the limit in subdivision (e): "(e) The foregoing provisions shall not relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons, nor shall such provisions protect the driver from the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of others." Whether it is met turns on the agency's own records: radio traffic, pursuit policy, speeds, supervisory decisions.

The deadline against a public agency is the most urgent thing here. A city, county, town or village police department is a public corporation, and General Municipal Law § 50-e(1)(a) requires a notice of claim within ninety days after the claim arises. General Municipal Law § 50-i(1)(c) runs a second clock: the action itself within one year and ninety days after the event. General Municipal Law § 50-e(5) lets a court extend the time to serve the notice, weighing whether the public corporation acquired actual knowledge of the essential facts within ninety days or a reasonable time after — so someone past ninety days should ask about that relief, not assume the claim is over. If the pursuing agency was an arm of New York State, such as the State Police, this is not a General Municipal Law claim: it runs under the Court of Claims Act §§ 10 and 11, in the Court of Claims. Your passenger has his own claim, on the same clocks.

Insurance Law § 5104(a) governs what can be recovered: "Notwithstanding any other law, in any action by or on behalf of a covered person against another covered person for personal injuries arising out of negligence in the use or operation of a motor vehicle in this state, there shall be no right of recovery for non-economic loss, except in the case of a serious injury, or for basic economic loss." Insurance Law § 5106(a) makes first-party benefits overdue if not paid within thirty days after proof of the loss is supplied, so the no-fault application should go in now.

Has a lawsuit been filed yet? That date, not the crash date, decides the threshold. For an action commenced on or after May 26, 2026, the current Insurance Law § 5102(d) governs: "(d) 'Serious injury' means a personal injury which results in 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; or significant limitation of use of a body function or system." For an action commenced before that date, the former Insurance Law § 5102(d) governs and carried a ninth category, the ninety-of-one-hundred-eighty-days one, with CPLR 1411 (former text) applying so a claimant's share only reduces the award. On or after it, CPLR 1411(b) bars a claimant whose culpable conduct is greater than the defendants', and Insurance Law § 5104(d) caps non-economic recovery at $100,000 for certain at-fault injured people.

What you can do

1. Speak with a New York attorney now — the ninety-day period is the shortest deadline here.

2. Get the police accident report, and note which agency was involved and whether it is municipal or State.

3. Make the no-fault application to the insurer in writing and keep a dated copy.

4. Ask your own insurer in writing about uninsured motorist coverage for you and your passenger.

5. Keep every medical record from the ambulance forward, and photograph the vehicles and intersection.

⏱ Time limits apply. Against a public corporation, General Municipal Law § 50-e(1)(a) sets ninety days from when the claim arises and General Municipal Law § 50-i(1)(c) one year and ninety days from the event; against the State, the Court of Claims Act § 10 sets its own periods, which differ by claim type. Against the driver, CPLR 214(5) gives three years from the accident. Each runs from your own accident date, so have a New York attorney key them to your facts rather than calculating from this page.