Were you injured in a car accident in Queens, NY?
Car accident lawyers who pursue full recovery for injured clients and their families.
A car crash can be over in seconds, but the medical bills, lost paychecks, and insurance disputes it sets off often drag on for months. A Queens, NY car accident lawyer can take the insurance fight off your hands and pursue full compensation for your injuries while you concentrate on getting better. For 25 years, Rosenberg & Rodriguez Personal Injury Lawyers has represented injured drivers and passengers across New York City and recovered millions of dollars for them. Contact our office to discuss your car accident claim and learn what it may be worth.
Car Accident Lawyer Queens, NY
Car accidents remain the most common way New Yorkers get hurt on the road, and the range of causes, from a distracted driver to a mechanical failure, means every claim has its own set of facts to untangle. What stays constant is the goal: identifying who caused the crash and pursuing full compensation from every available source, whether that means the at-fault driver’s insurance policy, an employer’s coverage, or another party entirely.
Deaths among drivers and passengers in cars and SUVs fell 48 percent citywide in the first half of 2025, according to NYC DOT. That decline reflects real safety gains across every borough, but Queens drivers and passengers still face crowded expressways, busy commercial corridors, and intersections where a single distracted moment can cause a serious crash.
Types of Car Accident Cases We Handle in Queens
Car accidents in Queens happen for a wide range of reasons, and identifying the cause is often the first step in building a claim. Some crashes come down to a single traffic violation, while others involve multiple drivers and a genuine dispute over who had the right of way. Our Queens car accident lawyer handles the following types of cases:
- Side-impact accidents. A driver who runs a red light or stop sign can strike another vehicle broadside at an intersection, often causing severe injury.
- Rear-end collisions. A driver following too closely or distracted by a phone can strike a vehicle from behind at a light or in slow-moving traffic.
- Drowsy driving accidents. A driver who falls asleep or grows fatigued behind the wheel can drift out of a lane or fail to brake in time to avoid a crash.
- Speed-related accidents. Excessive speed reduces a driver’s reaction time and increases the severity of a crash when one occurs.
- Truck accidents. A collision between a passenger car and a commercial truck can cause catastrophic injuries given the size and weight difference between the vehicles.
- Rideshare accidents. A Lyft or Uber driver distracted by the app or rushing to a pickup can cause a serious collision.
- Drunk driving accidents. An impaired driver’s slowed reaction time and poor judgment put everyone on the road at risk.
- Hit-and-run accidents. A driver who causes a crash and leaves the scene leaves the injured party to pursue uninsured motorist coverage or other legal options.
- Fatal car accidents. When a crash takes a loved one’s life, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim against the at-fault driver.
Why Choose Rosenberg & Rodriguez as My Car Accident Lawyer in Queens, NY?
Rosenberg & Rodriguez Personal Injury Lawyers represents injured people exclusively, never insurance companies or the drivers who cause crashes, and that singular focus is at the center of every car accident claim we handle in Queens. It’s a distinction worth considering when you’re choosing a personal injury lawyer in Queens, NY to represent you.
Robin Halstrom’s Experience With Car Accident Claims
Robin Halstrom has represented injured clients in New York for more than 25 years, with a practice that includes car, boat, bus, and train accidents, along with wrongful death, catastrophic negligence, and premises liability matters. Before representing injured clients, she spent years handling defense-side matters for co-operatives, condominiums, and Mitchell-Lama housing developments, giving her insight into how insurance carriers evaluate a claim from the other side of the table. She earned her law degree from Saint Louis University Law in 1990 and has built her practice around that combination of plaintiff and defense-side experience ever since.
How We’ve Helped Injured Drivers and Passengers
Rosenberg & Rodriguez Personal Injury Lawyers has secured results in motor vehicle cases including a $550,000 rear-end accident settlement, a $475,000 settlement before trial, a summary judgment motion won on behalf of an injured client, and a successful dismissal defense that kept a client’s case moving forward toward trial. None of these figures were guaranteed going in, and each one reflects hours spent gathering medical records, accident reconstruction evidence, and insurance policy details specific to that case.
Understanding Car Accident Cases
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Car Accident Cases
After a car crash, an injured driver or passenger can pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and vehicle damage. How much of that a claimant ultimately keeps can hinge on New York’s fault rules, which the state revised for motor vehicle cases in 2026.
Under CPLR Section 1411(b), a driver who files a motor vehicle personal injury action on or after May 26, 2026 and turns out to be more responsible for the crash than everyone they sue combined can be shut out of recovery. When a claimant’s fault stays under that threshold, the older comparative negligence rule applies and only shrinks the award by their share of responsibility.
Damages in a car accident case can include:
- Medical treatment from the initial emergency care through any surgery and long-term rehabilitation
- Paychecks missed during recovery and reduced earning power in the years afterward
- Pain and suffering for the physical injuries and their emotional toll
- Repair or replacement of your vehicle and any damaged belongings
- Compensation for a family bringing a fatal accident claim after a deadly crash
What Are Important Aspects of a Car Accident Case?
Several factors shape how a car accident claim unfolds, starting with the police report and what it says about who was found at fault. Small details in that report often carry outsized weight later in settlement talks.
- Whether either driver was cited for a traffic violation at the scene of the crash
- Traffic camera or nearby business surveillance footage, if any exists
- The point of impact and what it suggests about how the crash actually happened
- Any comparative negligence argument the insurer raises about your own driving conduct
- Witness statements, especially in disputes over who had the right of way at the time
Most Dangerous Locations for Car Accidents in Queens
Certain roads in Queens see a disproportionate share of serious car accidents each year, often tied to heavy commuter traffic and multiple lanes merging at once, a pattern Transportation Alternatives has documented across the borough’s widest corridors.
Dangerous highways:
- Long Island Expressway
- Grand Central Parkway
Dangerous streets and avenues:
- Northern Boulevard
- Hillside Avenue
What Is the Car Accident Case Timeline?
A car accident claim tends to unfold in a familiar order, though how long each stage lasts depends on the severity of the injuries and on how cooperative the insurer proves to be.
- Emergency care followed by whatever ongoing treatment recovery requires
- An investigation gathering the police report, scene photos, and statements from witnesses
- A claim filed with the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier
- Negotiation, or filing a lawsuit in Queens County if the insurer will not pay fairly
- A settlement or, when a fair agreement proves impossible, a verdict at trial
New York generally gives an injured driver or passenger three years from the crash to file suit, under CPLR Section 214.
What Should You Bring to Your Car Accident Consultation?
We can move through your car accident claim more efficiently when you show up with the right paperwork already in hand, and it helps us give you a realistic sense of where your case stands. We typically ask clients to bring:
- A copy of the police accident report, if one was filed at the scene
- Photos of the accident scene, vehicle damage, and any visible injuries you sustained
- Medical records and bills related to the accident and your treatment
- Insurance information for your own vehicle and for the other driver involved
- Contact information for any witnesses who saw what happened
Consultations are free, and we’ll carefully review what happened, look at any evidence you already have, and explain the options available to you.
Reach Out to Rosenberg & Rodriguez to Schedule a Consultation
An adjuster may call within days of the crash, sometimes before you have even seen a doctor, and what you say early can quietly undercut your claim later. You pay nothing up front, and you owe a fee only if the firm secures a recovery, and a first meeting to talk through your options costs nothing at all. Contact us to speak with our Queens car accident lawyer before you talk to the insurance company.
