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Car Insurance in New York City

Written by Michele Wilmonen. Posted in Research Last Updated: 04/11/2013

Most people wouldn’t recommend driving in New York City, but if do here are some things to consider.

New York City

Day or night New York City always has traffic.

New York City is the nation’s most populous city. With having the largest population, also comes the biggest driving headache in the nation; which is why experts stress that public transit is the way to travel if you want to get around the city of New York.

But, if you insist on driving you need to educate yourself about their driving laws and insurance rules, because many of them are nothing like what most drivers from other locations are used to.

New York City Accident Statistics

For anyone that doesn’t think they need car insurance, in 2011 alone New York City had a total of 73,060 car accidents over the course of the year. Out of all those crashes only 250 of them were fatal, which is amazing! That means less than ½ of a percent of crashes that happened in the biggest city in the nation ended in death. On the other side though, 49,634 of these crashes did have an injury.

Compared to the rest of the state the fatality percentage is about the same. But the chance of being injured in a car accident in New York City is much higher than in the rest of New York State. In New York City almost 68% of crashes had an injury, whereas just fewer than 42% of the accidents in the rest of the state had an injury.

Car Insurance in New York City

New York City doesn’t create its own insurance laws, but follows the laws set forth by the state of New York. And the state of New York has quite a number of insurance rules for drivers to follow:

  1. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is required with minimum limits of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.
  2. No-fault insurance coverage of at least $50,000 is required. This coverage is also known as personal injury protection coverage.
  3. Property damage coverage of $10,000, at minimum.
  4. Liability coverage of no less than $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident if there are any injuries.
  5. New York also has a separate liability coverage of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in the event of a fatality.

New York City Driving Laws to Remember

  • Don’t drive in NYC unless you absolutely have to, especially if you are just visiting.
  • You cannot turn right on a red light unless there is a sign at the intersection that clearly states you can do so.
  • Pay close attention to signs. Due to heavy congestion during peak driving hours, there are no left turns at some intersections at certain times of the day.
  • Pay attention to no parking zones and parking meters that don’t allow parking during rush hour.
  • Never, ever park less than 15 feet from a fire hydrant or in a crosswalk.

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Michele Wilmonen

Michele's first introduction to insurance was working for a major insurance company as a file clerk and a mailroom supervisor in a regional office. She learned insurance directly from underwriters and claims adjusters from questions and also watching them do their job. Since then, she's earned a number of insurance certifications from the Insurance Institute of America and also a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho. She blogs at Car Insurance Guidebook.

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