Serious Crash Rule: When TLC Can Suspend Your License

In short: under TLC rule 80-14(h), a Serious Crash is one where someone suffered a Critical Injury (as judged by the EMS crew at the scene) or died. If you get a summons or are charged with a traffic violation or crime in that crash, TLC may suspend your license immediately if it finds your conduct was a substantial cause. If you are convicted and the violation is found to have caused the injury or death, the license will be revoked. Even with no charge at all, TLC reviews your fitness after every Serious Crash it learns about.

This is one of the few TLC rules that can take you off the road before any hearing. Below is what each step means, how to ask for a hearing quickly, and what you still have to report. It is general information, not legal advice — after a Serious Crash, talk to a lawyer before you make statements or plead to anything.

The two definitions that decide everything

TLC's definitions chapter (Chapter 51) and rule 80-14(h) use the same words:

• Serious Crash: "a crash in which any person has suffered Critical Injury or death."
• Critical Injury: "any injury determined to be critical by the emergency medical service personnel responding to" the crash.

Two things follow. First, the person hurt can be anyone — a pedestrian, a cyclist, your passenger, another driver, or you. Second, the label comes from EMS at the scene, not from a later hospital report, the police or TLC. Ask for the names of the EMS unit and the hospital, and request the records later if they matter to your case.

How the rule works, step by step

Step 1: a summons or charge

The suspension power in 80-14(h)(1) starts only when the driver "has been issued a summons for or charged with one or more traffic related violations or crimes in a Serious Crash." A serious crash in which you got no summons and no charge does not trigger this paragraph — but it still triggers the fitness review (below).

Step 2: the "substantial cause" finding

TLC may summarily suspend "upon a finding that the Driver's conduct was a substantial cause of the Serious Crash." The word is "may": suspension is not automatic at this stage. A summary suspension means it takes effect before a full hearing. Our summary suspension guide explains the general process.

Step 3: the outcome of the case

• Conviction: if you are convicted of one or more of the violations or crimes in the summons or charges, and it is determined that one of them caused the Critical Injury or death, the rule says the license "will be revoked". There is no discretion in that sentence.
• Dismissal or acquittal: the suspension may be lifted "upon dismissal of all such charges or upon a finding of not guilty of all" of them — all, not some.
• But: even after dismissal, the Chairperson "may continue to suspend" the license while investigating your fitness, and can revoke it if you are found not fit to hold a license.

The rule also says it does not limit TLC's power to summarily suspend a driver "for other reasons", such as an arrest for certain crimes (rule 68-15(d) lists leaving the scene of an accident and impaired or drunk driving among them).

The fitness review happens after every Serious Crash

The second part of 80-14(h) is broader: after any Serious Crash that TLC is notified of involving a driver operating a licensed vehicle, TLC will review whether the driver is fit to hold a license under rule 80-08(b). TLC "can seek Suspension or Revocation" and can summarily suspend while the review or any enforcement action is pending, under rule 68-15.

Rule 80-08(b) itself is short: if the Chairperson is told that a driver no longer meets the requirements for a license, TLC can deny renewal or seek to suspend or revoke. Fitness cases are explained in the TLC fitness hearing.

Your hearing rights and the deadlines

Summary suspensions follow rule 68-15. Read your notice carefully: it should say why you were suspended and which procedure applies. Key points from the rule text:

If the suspension is based on pending criminal charges (68-15(d)), TLC must prove at the hearing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the charges, if true, show that keeping your license would be a direct and substantial threat to public safety. You can present evidence about the facts, your driving record, your criminal record or lack of one, and your character and standing in the community. Collect letters and records early.

Your reporting duties still apply

A Serious Crash is still a crash, with every normal duty on top:

• At the scene: stop, and if the other party is there, show your licenses and give your name, license numbers, insurer and policy number (80-13(a)(4), $350 and/or up to 30 days' suspension, 3 points — see 80-13(a)(4)).
• Tell the vehicle owner immediately (80-13(a)(5)).
• DMV report (MV-104) within 10 days for any crash with injury or death — see do I need to file an MV-104.
• Injury claim: if you were hurt, notify your employer or the right fund within 30 days.

The full sequence is in crash reporting for TLC drivers, and our crash deadline planner turns your crash date into a dated list.

How often TLC vehicles are in fatal crashes

TLC publishes crash data under Local Law 31. These counts are of TLC-licensed vehicles involved in crashes reported to TLC — involvement does not mean the TLC driver was at fault, and the data does not show which crashes led to a suspension.

More context is on TLC crash statistics. Don't confuse "Critical Injury" with the old Critical Driver Program, a points program that has ended — see its history.