New York's Pure Comparative Negligence: How Shared Fault Affects Your Injury Claim

New York follows a pure comparative negligence system, which means an injured party can recover damages even if they were predominantly at fault for the accident. Under pure comparative negligence, if you are found 40% at fault for a car accident and your total damages are $200,000, you recover $120,000—your damages reduced by your share of fault.

This system encourages litigation in cases where other states' laws might foreclose recovery. A pedestrian who jaywalked and was struck by a speeding driver might still recover meaningful compensation in New York even if they bear some fault.

For defendants—and their insurers—pure comparative negligence creates an incentive to build detailed cases around plaintiff conduct. Medical records, social media posts, cell phone records, and accident reconstruction are all fair game in establishing how the plaintiff contributed to their own injury.

New York's comparative negligence system reflects a policy choice to allow injured people access to the courts even when they aren't entirely blameless. But navigating this system effectively requires experienced legal representation to counter the fault-allocation strategies defendants routinely employ.