A New York boat accident lawyer at Silver Law Group can tell you in one free call whether you have a claim. Unlike a car crash, a boat injury case does not have to clear New York’s no-fault serious-injury threshold to move forward, which shapes what your case is worth from day one.
The firm takes these cases across all five boroughs: powerboat and ferry crashes, jet ski wrecks, charter and tour injuries, and swimmers or passengers hurt by another vessel. Your claim runs on contingency, so there is no fee unless we recover for you. Every case starts with a free consultation, available 24 hours a day in English, Spanish, and Russian. Call 212-470-4544.
Do You Have a Boat Accident Case in New York?
Your boat accident claim rests on negligence: someone owed you a duty of reasonable care, broke it, and caused your injury and losses. That is the same four-part structure behind most injury cases, but boating injury claims skip the hurdle that traps car accident victims. New York’s no-fault system does not cover boats. There is no serious-injury threshold under Insurance Law 5102(d) to cross, so you are not forced to prove a fracture, permanent limitation, or 90-day disability before you can sue for pain and suffering.
On the water, the duty of reasonable care means keeping a proper lookout, controlling speed for the conditions, and not putting an unfit operator or an overloaded boat in motion. When an operator ignores those basics, proving the breach often turns on New York Navigation Law. An operator who skipped the safe-boating certificate now required under Brianna’s Law, or who ran above a posted limit or too fast for the water, has broken a rule written to keep people safe, and that violation is evidence of negligence a jury can weigh.
You do not have to have been driving the boat to have a case. Injured passengers, operators of other vessels, and swimmers or paddlers struck on the water can each bring a claim against the party at fault.
Which Law Governs Your Boat Accident: New York State Law or Federal Maritime Law
Two different bodies of law can govern a New York boat accident, and which one applies changes your deadlines and your rights. Most recreational accidents on inland state waters — lakes, reservoirs, and rivers used for pleasure boating — fall under New York Navigation Law and ordinary state negligence rules.
Accidents on navigable waters tied to maritime commerce can pull your case into federal admiralty jurisdiction instead. New York Harbor, the Hudson River, the East River, and Long Island Sound all carry commercial traffic, and a crash there may be governed by maritime liability and deadline rules that differ from state law. If you were working as a crew member when you were hurt, the Jones Act — not state negligence law — controls your claim against your employer.
Sorting out which law applies is the firm’s job, not yours. We determine jurisdiction before the clock runs and route commercial-crew and Jones Act matters down the right track from the start.
Who Can Be Held Liable for a New York Boat Accident
More than one party may owe you money, and each one carries its own insurance. A boat accident claim can reach:
- The operator who caused the crash through careless or reckless handling.
- The boat’s owner, including under negligent entrustment when the owner handed the controls to someone drunk, unlicensed, or plainly inexperienced.
- Rental and charter companies that put an unsafe vessel or an unqualified renter on the water.
- Tour and ferry operators, who as common carriers are held to a higher standard of care than an ordinary boater and answer for even slight lapses.
- Manufacturers of a defective boat, engine, or safety device, under product liability law.
Finding every party at fault widens the pool of insurance available to pay for your injury, which often decides whether a serious case gets paid in full.
Common Causes and Types of Boat Accidents on New York Waters
New York recorded 136 reported boating accidents statewide in 2024, according to the state’s Recreational Boating Report. The causes repeat year after year:
- Operator inattention and inexperience, the most common human factor on the water.
- Boating while intoxicated, illegal under New York Navigation Law at the same 0.08% blood alcohol limit that applies on the road.
- Excessive speed for the conditions or the waterway.
- Equipment and machinery failure.
- Sudden weather a boater was not prepared for.
When those failures cause a crash, the injury usually comes from one of a handful of accident types: collisions between vessels, capsizing, falls overboard, propeller strikes, groundings, and onboard fires. Collisions between two or more vessels remain the type that produces the most injuries.
What Your New York Boat Accident Claim Is Worth
A New York boat accident claim can recover several kinds of losses:
- Medical bills, from the emergency room through surgery, rehabilitation, and future care.
- Lost income, including wages missed now and reduced earning power later.
- Pain and suffering.
- Permanent disability and disfigurement, such as scarring from a propeller strike or burns from a fuel fire.
- In a fatal accident, the wrongful death losses a family can claim.
Because no-fault does not apply to boats, none of this is gated behind a serious-injury threshold. Your right to pain-and-suffering damages does not depend on clearing a statutory bar.
Fault can be shared. Under New York’s pure comparative negligence rule, CPLR 1411, your award is reduced by your own percentage of fault but never eliminated by it. A swimmer found 40% responsible for entering a marked channel still recovers 60% of the damages. Even a person found mostly at fault can recover the remaining share. The firm does not publish verdict or settlement figures; what your specific case is worth is something to work out in a free evaluation, and you pay nothing unless money comes in.
What to Do After a Boat Accident in New York
Take these steps in order after a boating accident:
- Get medical care immediately. Cold water, adrenaline, and shock can hide a serious injury for hours, and a documented exam also ties your injury to the crash.
- Report the accident to New York State Parks (OPRHP). A written report is required when the accident causes death or disappearance, an injury needing more than basic first aid, or property damage over $2,000. File within 48 hours for a fatal or injury accident and within 5 days for all others, using form OPRHP-1.
- Preserve the evidence before it disappears. Photograph the vessels, your injuries, and the scene, and collect names and numbers for every witness. Evidence on the water is gone with the next tide or tow.
- Say nothing recorded to an insurer until you have spoken with a lawyer. Adjusters call early, and an offhand answer can be used to cut your claim.
Deadlines to File a New York Boat Accident Claim
A boat accident case runs on more than one clock, and the shortest one controls:
- Three years to file a personal injury lawsuit under New York’s statute of limitations, CPLR 214.
- Two years to bring a wrongful death claim under EPTL 5-4.1.
- Three years for a federal maritime claim on navigable waters, under 46 U.S.C. 30106.
- 90 days to file a Notice of Claim under General Municipal Law 50-e when a public or city-operated ferry, agency, or municipal vessel is involved.
The ticket in your pocket can be the tightest deadline of all. Cruise, sightseeing, and ferry passenger tickets often bury a clause shortening your window to sue to as little as one year, and courts enforce it. Have a lawyer read the ticket terms right away, before a printed line on a receipt quietly ends your claim.
What It Costs to Hire a New York Boat Accident Lawyer
Nothing upfront. Silver Law Group takes New York boat accident cases on a contingency fee, which means the fee comes only out of the money the firm recovers for you — a share of the settlement or verdict, and nothing at all if there is no recovery. You do not pay by the hour, you do not write a retainer check, and you are not billed if the case does not win.
The consultation is free and carries no obligation. You can learn whether you have a claim, and what the next step is, without spending a dollar to ask.
Why Choose Silver Law Group for Your New York Boat Accident Case
Silver Law Group offers the injured the practical things that matter after a boat accident:
- Free consultations, 24 hours a day, in English, Spanish, and Russian.
- Contingency representation, with no upfront cost to you.
- Trial-ready preparation of every case, so insurers and large vessel operators know the claim can go the distance.
- An attorney who will come to your home or hospital room when you cannot travel.
The office is in Midtown Manhattan at 49 West 37th Street, 7th Floor, and serves clients citywide. Call 212-470-4544 to start.