Sep 16, 2026 · LawyerUnc editorial · New York · Tort reform · YMYL

New York's 51% bar is a car-crash carveout, not the whole house

On May 26, 2026, CPLR 1411(b) started barring recovery in Article 51 motor-vehicle cases if you are more at fault than the other side. A slip in a store is still pure comparative. Do not borrow Florida's rewrite.

Last checked Sep 16, 2026 · LawyerUnc editorial. Educational only, not legal advice.

For fifty years New York told juries: even if you caused most of the wreck, you still take the slice you did not cause. People still say that. After May 26, 2026, it is only half true.

Part EE of Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026 (the budget bill, S9008-C / A10008-C) added CPLR 1411(b). In a personal-injury action subject to Insurance Law Article 51, the no-fault motor-vehicle world, your own blame bars recovery if it is greater than the other driver's, or greater than the other drivers combined. Equal fault can still recover. More-at-fault can recover nothing. The rule applies to actions commenced on or after May 26, 2026, so an older crash filed after that date can still sit on the new bar.

CPLR 1411(a) is still the general rule. A fall in a grocery store, a dog bite, a defective product: sharing blame cuts the check. It does not zero it out. Florida's HB 837 (Mar. 24, 2023) rewrote ordinary negligence. New York rewrote the car docket. Those are not the same statute, and they are not the same filing deadline. New York ordinary injury is still three years (CPLR 214(5)). Florida is two.

There is also no general pain-and-suffering cap. Insurance Law § 5104(d) puts a $100,000 noneconomic cap on a narrow set of at-fault auto claimants (certain uninsured, impaired, or felony-related drivers, not death cases). That is a box in the statute. It is not a valuation of anyone else's file. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict future case outcomes.

This is a map of the 2026 carveout, not a ruling on your wreck, and not legal advice. Last checked 16 September 2026 against CPLR 1411 as published on the NYS Senate open legislation text (updated 29 May 2026) and Chapter 58 of the Laws of 2026, Part EE.