Hochul should veto the lawsuit-boosting bills that will cost New Yorkers big

News that a Bronx jury awarded $50 million to a guy clipped by a city garbage truck as he was crossing the street while on his cellphone is just the latest sign of how out-of-whack New York’s liability laws are — and they’re about to get even worse unless Gov.Kathy Hochul vetoes a pack of lawsuit-boosting bills headed for her desk.This legal regime is actually a huge affordability issue: Juries often figure the insurance company can afford to pay big, but insurers then just raise their rates so that everyone winds up covering the costs of insane payouts.It may well be that Darcy Bottex deserves compensation for that 2021 garbage truck incident: He says it inflicted injuries that have left him unable to work ever since.But $50 million is nuts, especially since he shares at least some blame: Gabbing on your phone as you cross a major avenue like Bruckner Boulevard is pretty foolish.Yet the Legislature, instead of looking at reforms to cap damages in a case like this, has sent the gov several bills that encourage frivolous lawsuits and fraud.A report from the American Tort Reform Association last year lists NYC as the nation’s 2nd-worst “judicial hellhole,” with $89 billion a year in excessive litigation costs to taxpayers and companies .The Partnership for New York City breaks it down further: Insurance premiums in New York average 15% higher than the rest of the country; health-insurance premiums are 12% higher, auto coverage a whopping 52% higher.Democratic state Sens.

Jamaal Bailey, Brian Kavanagh and James Skoufis are holding a public hearing this week to “investigate” these high insurance costs, when the cause is abundantly clear: Higher risks of being sued for insane damages means higher insurance premiums across the board.Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Please provide a valid email.

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And Skouf...