The City continues to pay hefty sums to settle personal injury claims pertaining to crashes involving city-owned vehicles—a number that is consistently climbing, according to a new report.
The report, titled Wreckless Spending: The Accelerating Cost of City Car Crash Settlements, was released by the New York City Comptroller’s Office Monday and revealed that the amount the city is paying to cover these settlements continues to soar–from $67.4 million in the fiscal year 2015 to as high as $130 million in the fiscal year 2021.
While the number of claims the city has settled in recent years has declined, the cost of each case continues to rise. For instance, the average amount paid to settle a claim in 2012 was $15,187, in comparison to $242,365 in 2021. The median amount paid to settle a claim also went from $9,000 in 2012 to $50,000 in 2021.