The law that applies to your claim
The freight corridor here
The Cross Westchester Expressway is the east-west freight route between the Tappan Zee crossing and I-95, and the interchanges at Exits 5 through 8 concentrate merging trucks with commuter traffic. Add distribution to the Central Park Avenue retail corridor and deliveries into the downtown grid, and heavy vehicles are present on streets with tight turning radii and short blocks.
Preserve the evidence within days
Trucking evidence is destroyed on a schedule: the engine control module can be overwritten, logging data has limited retention, dashcam footage cycles. A preservation demand needs to go out immediately — the mechanics are set out on our New York truck accident page.
Where it is heard
Westchester County Supreme Court, 111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Interstate carriers routinely appear here, and out-of-state ownership does not move the case.
The collisions we see here
- Merge and lane-change impacts at the I-287 interchanges
- Wide right turns downtown catching a vehicle or cyclist alongside
- Backing incidents during delivery on Mamaroneck Avenue and the side streets
- Underride collisions on the expressway at speed
- Loading and unloading injuries at retail and warehouse docks
- Box trucks and delivery vans on residential streets with parked-car sight lines
Delivery vehicles are trucking cases too
Not every claim involves a tractor-trailer. Delivery vans, box trucks and contractor vehicles carry commercial policies, and the companies behind them face the same questions about hiring, training, routing and hours.
Where the driver was working for a delivery or logistics company, the employer is generally responsible for negligence in the course of that work — which usually means far higher available coverage than a private policy.
The insurer moves first
Serious collisions here often bring a carrier’s investigator to the scene the same day, working in the carrier’s interest while you are still at the hospital. You are not obliged to give them a statement, and you should not before speaking to your own lawyer.
How long you have to act
- Three years from the date of the accident for most negligence claims (CPLR §214).
- Two years for wrongful death (EPTL §5-4.1).
- 90 days to serve a notice of claim where a city, county, school district, transit authority or other public body is involved (General Municipal Law §50-e), with suit generally within one year and 90 days.
The 90-day rule is the one that quietly ends otherwise strong cases. If a public entity may be involved, that is the first thing to check — not the last.
What it costs
Nothing up front. These cases are handled on contingency: there is no fee unless we win, and the consultation is free. You will be told the percentage and how expenses are handled, in writing, before you sign anything.
Common questions
The truck company is based out of state.
Interstate carriers must maintain agents for service and comply with federal rules. A collision here supports a claim here.
It was a delivery van, not a semi.
Still a commercial claim, usually with commercial coverage and an employer responsible for the driver’s negligence.
The police did not cite the driver.
The absence of a ticket does not decide civil liability. Physical evidence, logging data and the vehicle’s own recorded data frequently tell a different story.
