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How Did New York Change the Serious Injury Threshold?
New York’s 2026 automobile insurance and tort reforms eliminate the 90/180-day “serious injury” category, change how fault and serious injury are addressed at trial and establish a modified comparative fault standard for motor vehicle accidents.
On May 27, 2026, New York enacted these major automobile insurance and tort reforms as part of Governor Kathy Hochul’s fiscal year 2027 budget that focus on limiting liability payouts and tightening injury claims.
The law removed the “90/180-day” non-permanent injury rule from New York Insurance Law § 5102(d), meaning claimants can no longer qualify for non-economic damages by showing a temporary, self-reported inability to perform normal activities for 90 out of 180 days following an alleged accident. This change in the law applies to actions commenced on or after May 26, 2026.
Before the amendment, § 5102(d) recognized nine categories of a “serious injury,” including what was typically referred to as the 90/180 threshold, or the “medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts constituting his or her usual and customary daily activities for at least 90 of the first 180 days following the accident.” Under this amendment to the Insurance Law, claimants must now prove other objective definitions of a “serious injury,” such as death; dismemberment; significant disfigurement; fracture; loss of a fetus; permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system; permanent consequential limitation of use; or a significant limitation of use of a body function or system.
This amendment was part of a 2026 budget package aimed at reducing automobile insurance costs and limiting what lawmakers viewed as excessive litigation over subjective soft-tissue injuries. This change in the law will likely place a greater emphasis on objective medical evidence, minimize claimed temporary impairments and potentially open the door for dismissal of more temporary injury claims.
How Do the Amendments Affect New York Motor Vehicle Trials?
The tort reform law also directed that trials first proceed with a determination by a jury and/or court on fault before addressing the “serious injury” threshold, which is followed by damages. What this means is that interest does not accrue until there are findings of both negligence and that a plaintiff has suffered a “serious injury,” as defined by Insurance Law § 5102. This change in the law will likely alter existing litigation practice by limiting the ability to obtain early “serious injury” threshold determinations through dispositive motion practice and will likely significantly reduce interest accruing on cases in which a “serious injury” is being disputed.
How Does New York’s Modified Comparative Fault Standard Apply to Motor Vehicle Accidents?
Finally, a modified comparative fault standard has been enacted in New York for motor vehicle accidents, which bars plaintiffs who are more than 50% at fault from recovering non-economic damages. Under the new standard, a claimant is barred from recovery if the claimant’s share of fault is greater than the culpable conduct of the tortfeasor or the combined culpable conduct of multiple tortfeasors. Before this amendment, New York was a pure comparative fault jurisdiction with respect to motor vehicle accidents, meaning that a plaintiff can receive tort recovery even if the plaintiff is 99% at fault. New York remains a pure comparative fault jurisdiction for all other personal injury cases other than motor vehicle accidents.
There will also be a cap on non-economic recovery for at-fault drivers who were uninsured, impaired or committing a felony during a motor vehicle accident. Non-economic recovery typically includes damages such as pain and suffering in personal injury cases. These caps apply only to motor vehicle accidents, not other personal injury cases.
What Do the Reforms Mean for New York Motor Vehicle Cases?
From a litigation perspective, these amendments represent a notable tightening of the New York “serious injury” threshold, as well as a shift in limiting recoveries for cases in which a plaintiff is significantly at fault. Those involved in motor vehicle accident cases should be aware of these recent changes in New York law and how the changes may affect their cases moving forward.
