Most people hurt in a car accident assume the law gives them a path to sue for pain and suffering. In Rochester, N.Y., attorney John Wright says that assumption is wrong for most victims, and the reason is a legal standard that rarely gets explained at the scene of a crash. A new HelloNation article by Wright identifies that standard, known as the "serious injury threshold," a minimum level of harm a victim must prove before a lawsuit for pain and suffering can proceed at all.

What the serious injury threshold means

The serious injury threshold is the legal bar that separates victims who can sue for pain and suffering from those who cannot. It applies regardless of how much pain a person is carrying, according to Wright's HelloNation article. If an injury falls short of the definition the law requires, the right to pursue pain and suffering damages does not exist, even when the suffering is real and ongoing.

Wright, a personal injury law expert, makes the point that most Rochester accident victims are shocked when they learn about this restriction. Wright describes it as little-known. A person in genuine pain expects the legal system to offer recourse, and the threshold denies that expectation for the majority of cases, according to the article.

The exception that shifts the legal outcome

The HelloNation article centers on what Wright calls a critical exception to the threshold rule. When a victim's injury meets the specific criteria that exception covers, the right to sue for pain and suffering becomes available where it otherwise would not be.

Wright's broader argument is about awareness. A victim who does not know the threshold exists cannot make an informed decision about what to do next. The published summary does not spell out the exception's specific criteria. What the article establishes is that the exception is real, that it applies in specific circumstances, and that knowing it exists changes the legal picture for some Rochester accident victims.

The article by John Wright appeared in HelloNation on July 20, 2026.