Maine gives injury victims more time to sue than most states do, but "more time" doesn't mean unlimited, and a handful of Maine-specific rules can cut that window down fast if a government vehicle, a death, or a minor is involved.
The six-year deadline that applies by default
If you're hurt in a Maine car accident, the general rule is six years from the date of the crash to file a civil lawsuit against the at-fault driver.1 Maine doesn't carve out a shorter period for ordinary personal injury the way many states do. The same six-year window in 14 M.R.S. Section 752 covers most negligence claims and contract disputes generally, and car accident injury suits fall under that general rule rather than a separate, shorter one.1 The same statute governs property damage from the same wreck, so a claim over a totaled car, damaged cargo, or a wrecked motorcycle also runs six years from the date of loss.1
If the dispute is really about what the crash did to your car's resale value rather than your medical bills, the filing deadline is the same, but the practical steps for building that kind of claim are different. Our diminished value guide for Maine walks through that process separately.
When the clock actually starts running
Section 752 starts the six years on the date the cause of action "accrues," and for a standard crash that's the date of the collision itself, not the day symptoms peak or the day you stop treating.1 An injury that takes weeks to show up, like whiplash or a back problem that worsens after physical therapy stalls, doesn't move that date. Treat the day of the wreck as day one and count forward from there.
Exceptions that pause the clock
Two situations toll, or pause, the six-year period.
- If the injured person was a minor, mentally ill, imprisoned, or outside the United States when the crash happened, Maine lets them file within the normal time limit measured from when that disability ends rather than from the crash date.2 For a child hurt in a crash, that generally means the clock doesn't start until they turn 18, giving them until their 24th birthday to sue.
- If the at-fault party fraudulently conceals the cause of the crash, such as a driver who flees and is never identified, or someone who lies about who was actually behind the wheel, the law restarts the clock. You get six years from the date you actually discover you have a case, not six years from the crash.3
Government vehicles and road defects run on a shorter clock
Crashes involving a state, county, or municipal vehicle, or a claim that a public road, guardrail, or traffic signal was negligently maintained, don't get six years. The Maine Tort Claims Act requires written notice to the governmental entity within 365 days of the crash, spelling out the date, time, place, and circumstances of what happened.4 Miss that notice window and the claim can be barred outright, though a court can excuse a late notice if the claimant shows good cause for the delay.4 Separate from the notice requirement, the lawsuit itself has to be filed within 2 years of the crash.5 Minors get a narrower version of the tolling described above here: a child hurt by a government vehicle has until 2 years after turning 18 to sue, not the full six.5 If a plow truck, a police cruiser, or a poorly maintained intersection was involved, the 365-day notice is usually the deadline that matters most, since it arrives long before the ordinary clock would.
Wrongful death claims run on their own clock
When a Maine car accident is fatal, the personal representative of the estate has 3 years from the date of death, not the date of the crash, to bring a wrongful death action.6 That period is relatively new: Maine extended it from two years to three, and raised the caps on recoverable damages at the same time, through legislation enacted in 2023.7 Anything written before that still describes the old two-year rule, so as of 2026 the three-year figure is the one that controls. When the death results from a homicide rather than ordinary negligence, such as a driver later convicted of vehicular manslaughter, the estate's representative instead gets 6 years from the date they discover there's a legitimate case to bring.6
Smaller deadlines that can sneak up on you
The lawsuit deadline isn't the only clock running after a crash. Maine's mandatory medical payments coverage only reimburses treatment costs incurred within one year of the crash, so if you're leaning on your own med-pay coverage rather than waiting for a liability settlement, that one-year window closes long before any statute of limitations does.8 A claim against your own insurer for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits is a different animal too. Maine requires insurers to offer UM/UIM coverage at least equal to your bodily injury limits, with a floor of 50/100 even if you've signed a reduction, so most drivers carry it whether they realize it or not.9 That claim runs on your policy's contract terms rather than the six-year tort deadline above, and many auto policies set their own, often shorter, deadline for demanding arbitration, so check your declarations page rather than assuming you have years to spare.
Locking down the date of the crash matters for every deadline above. A copy of the official report settles disputes over when the clock started, and Maine's crash report request process is worth handling early rather than after a dispute over dates comes up.10
What happens if you miss the deadline
Once the applicable period runs out, a Maine court will dismiss the case no matter how strong the underlying facts are. Insurance adjusters track these dates closely, and settlement offers tend to dry up as a deadline approaches, since the insurer has less reason to negotiate once a lapsed claim can no longer be filed. If your case involves a government vehicle, a death, or an injured child, treat whichever deadline is shortest as the one that governs, not the six-year default.
None of this replaces having your specific timeline checked against your facts. If you're looking for a Maine attorney to confirm where your case stands, the legal directory is a place to start.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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14 M.R.S. Section 752, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec752.html
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14 M.R.S. Section 853, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec853.html
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14 M.R.S. Section 859, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec859.html
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14 M.R.S. Section 8107, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec8107.html
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14 M.R.S. Section 8110, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/14/title14sec8110.html
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18-C M.R.S. Section 2-807, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec2-807.html
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LD 934 / Public Law 2023, chapter 390, Maine Legislature bill status: https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?ld=934&snum=131
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29-A M.R.S. Section 1605-A, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-a/title29-Asec1605-A.html
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24-A M.R.S. Section 2902, Maine Legislature: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/24-a/title24-Asec2902.html
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Maine Crash Reporting Online Search and Ordering Service, Maine State Police: https://apps1.web.maine.gov/online/mcrs/index.html