New York's Comparative Negligence Rule
In most New York cases, being partly at fault does not end your claim. It reduces it. That single difference is why cases other states would throw out are still worth bringing here — with one exception for motor-vehicle injury claims, explained below.
The rule in one sentence
Under CPLR § 1411, your own share of the fault reduces what you recover in proportion. Since a 2026 amendment, that rule has one limit: in a motor-vehicle injury claim, recovery is barred if your share of the fault is greater than the other side’s.
Outside motor-vehicle injury claims, New York applies pure comparative fault and there is no cut-off percentage: someone found 80% responsible for their own injury in a fall or a dog bite can still recover the remaining 20%. In a motor-vehicle injury claim, the same 80% share now bars recovery, while a share of 50% or less still reduces it in proportion. That rule governs any lawsuit filed on or after May 26, 2026, even if the accident happened earlier.
What that looks like with numbers
Suppose a case is valued at $200,000 and you are found 25% at fault. You recover $150,000 — the full value less your quarter of the blame. At 60% at fault you would recover $80,000. The claim shrinks; it does not disappear.
Why this matters more than it sounds
Most states are less generous. Some bar recovery entirely once you cross 50% or 51% fault. A handful still follow contributory negligence, where being even slightly responsible defeats the claim outright.
So advice you read online, or hear from someone who was injured in another state, may not apply here. People talk themselves out of viable New York claims because they assume being partly to blame is fatal. It is not.
Who has to prove it
Not you. Comparative fault is an affirmative defense, which means the burden sits with the party raising it — under CPLR § 1412 the defendant has to plead and prove your share.
In practice this is what an insurer's early phone call is often about. Questions that sound sympathetic are frequently aimed at establishing your percentage, because every point of fault they can attach to you is a point off what they pay.
Where fault gets argued
- Crashes — speed, following distance, whether a turn was signaled, who had right of way.
- Pedestrian cases — crossing outside a crosswalk, or against a signal. It reduces the claim, and because a pedestrian hit by a car brings a motor-vehicle claim, it bars recovery only if the pedestrian’s share is greater than the driver’s. See pedestrian accidents.
- Falls — whether a hazard was open and obvious, footwear, whether you were looking where you were going. See slips, trips and falls.
- Restraints and helmets — non-use can reduce damages for injuries a restraint would have prevented, without affecting who caused the collision.
What this means for you practically
Two things. Do not decide you have no case because you think you contributed to it — that judgment is worth checking with someone who does this for a living. And be careful what you concede early, particularly to an insurer, because a percentage assigned to you in a recorded call is difficult to argue away later.
Talk to us
If you have been told you were at fault, or you think you might have been, it is still worth a conversation. The consultation is free. Call (718) 328-8001 or tell us what happened.