What to do after a car accident in the District of Columbia

A plain-language guide to the District of Columbia's actual car-crash rules, from the 3-year filing deadline and 60-day PIP election to the pure contributory negligence rule that can wipe out a claim.

ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial
Jul 25, 2026
6 min read

A crash in the District plays by rules that surprise even longtime drivers. D.C. runs a hybrid no-fault insurance system and still follows one of the harshest fault rules left in the country, and its deadlines are short and specific. Here is what is actually true in the District, with the statute and agency sources so you can check each point yourself.

The deadlines that decide your case

You generally have three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in the District. That period comes from D.C.'s general limitations statute, which sets three years for any claim "for which a limitation is not otherwise specially prescribed."1 The same three-year window applies to damage to your vehicle and other personal property.1

Two shorter clocks can quietly end a claim before those three years are up.

If your crash involved a District government vehicle, or you were hurt by a District road or traffic condition, you must give written notice to the Mayor within six months of the injury.2 Miss that notice and the three-year statute won't save you. The second short clock is the no-fault deadline below.

D.C.'s choice no-fault system

The District uses a hybrid model that most drivers never think about until they need it. Every driver has to carry liability (fault-based) coverage, but insurers must also offer optional personal injury protection (PIP), which you can reject in writing.3 If you keep PIP, you have to elect those benefits in writing within 60 days of the crash to collect them.3

PIP pays regardless of who caused the wreck. The statutory minimums are at least $50,000 for medical and rehabilitation expenses, at least $12,000 in lost wages for a single accident, and up to $4,000 in funeral costs.4

There is a trade-off. Once you take PIP benefits, you generally give up the right to sue the at-fault driver unless your injury clears a threshold: substantial permanent scarring or disfigurement, a medically demonstrable permanent impairment, an impairment that keeps you from your usual activities for more than 180 continuous days, or medical and work-loss costs that exceed your available PIP benefits.3 Below that line, PIP is your remedy. Above it, you can still bring a full tort claim.5 That single election, made in the chaotic first two months after a crash, can decide whether you ever get to sue, so it's worth a call to an attorney before you sign anything.

The rule that can wipe out your claim

The District is one of the last places in America that follows pure contributory negligence. If you are found even one percent at fault for the crash, you can recover nothing from the other driver.6 There is no reduction and no split. Any fault at all is a complete bar.

This is why the insurer's adjuster is so interested in what you say at the scene and afterward. An offhand "I'm sorry" or "I never saw them" can become the one percent that ends the claim.

D.C. carved out a major exception in 2016. If you were a pedestrian, a cyclist, or another vulnerable user, contributory negligence no longer bars you. You can recover unless your own negligence was greater than the combined negligence of all the drivers who caused your injury.7 For everyone inside a car, though, the old, unforgiving rule still governs.

What drivers must carry, and what's changing

D.C.'s mandatory minimum liability limits are $25,000 for bodily injury to one person, $50,000 per accident, and $10,000 for property damage, written 25/50/10.8 Those numbers were set in 1986 and have not moved since. Uninsured motorist coverage is also mandatory and matches the bodily-injury limits: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, plus $5,000 in UM property damage subject to a $200 deductible.8

Change is coming, slowly. In June 2026 the Council transmitted the Motor Vehicle Insurance Modernization Act of 2025 (B26-0057) to the Mayor. It would raise the bodily-injury minimums to $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident.9 As of this writing it had not taken effect, so 25/50/10 is still the law and still the floor for what an at-fault driver may carry. Given how low that floor is, buying your own uninsured and underinsured coverage is one of the few real protections available here.

Getting the police report

Crash reports in the District are handled by the Metropolitan Police Department, and the document you want is the PD Form 10 traffic crash report.10 For how to request it, see our D.C. crash report guide.

Distraction, helmets, and drunk drivers as evidence

Three D.C. traffic rules come up constantly as proof of the other driver's fault.

Handheld phone use is banned outright. You cannot hold a phone or use one without a hands-free accessory while driving, and there is no exception for texting.11 It is a primary offense with a $100 fine. A first-time handheld violation can have the fine suspended if the driver shows proof of buying a hands-free device, but that break specifically does not apply to texting.12

Motorcyclists face a universal helmet rule. Every operator and every passenger must wear an approved protective helmet whenever the motorcycle is moving.13 D.C. has no statute addressing lane-splitting, so it is neither expressly legal nor banned.

If a drunk driver hit you, D.C. law reaches past the driver. Selling or serving alcohol to someone who is intoxicated or under 21 is prohibited,14 and the D.C. Court of Appeals has held that a bar or restaurant that does so can be liable to a person later hurt by that patron.15

What you can recover

The District puts no cap on compensatory damages in an ordinary car-accident case, economic or non-economic. There is no ceiling on your medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering. Punitive damages are available too, but the bar is high: you need clear and convincing evidence of actual malice or a conscious, willful disregard for others' safety.16 Drunk-driving crashes are the classic setting where that standard can be met.

If your car was damaged, its post-repair loss in resale value may be a separate claim; our D.C. diminished value guide covers how that works. And because the fault rules here are so punishing, talking to a lawyer early is often the difference between a full recovery and nothing. You can find one through our legal directory.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. D.C. Code § 12-301(8), (3) (statute of limitations). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/12-301

  2. D.C. Code § 12-309 (notice to the Mayor of claims against the District). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/12-309

  3. D.C. Code § 31-2405 (PIP election within 60 days; serious-injury and cost thresholds to sue). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/31-2405

  4. D.C. Code § 31-2404 (minimum personal injury protection benefits). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/31-2404

  5. D.C. Code § 31-2406 (Compulsory/No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/31-2406

  6. Wingfield v. Peoples Drug Store, Inc., 379 A.2d 685 (D.C. 1977) (pure contributory negligence). https://law.justia.com/cases/district-of-columbia/court-of-appeals/1977/11243-3.html

  7. D.C. Code § 50-2204.52 (Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act; comparative rule for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable users). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-2204.52

  8. D.C. DMV, Vehicle Insurance requirements (25/50/10 minimums and uninsured motorist coverage). https://dmv.dc.gov/service/vehicle-insurance

  9. Council of the District of Columbia, B26-0057, Motor Vehicle Insurance Modernization Act of 2025 (transmitted to the Mayor June 2026). https://lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/B26-0057

  10. Metropolitan Police Department, Request an Accident Report (PD-10). https://mpdc.dc.gov/service/request-accident-report-pd-10-or-incidentoffense-report-pd-251

  11. D.C. Code § 50-1731.04 (handheld phone and texting prohibition). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-1731.04

  12. D.C. Code § 50-1731.06 (penalties; $100 fine and suspension exception that excludes texting). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-1731.06

  13. 18 DCMR § 2215 (motorcycle helmet requirement for operator and passenger). http://dcrules.elaws.us/dcmr/18-2215

  14. D.C. Code § 25-781 (prohibition on sale or service of alcohol to intoxicated persons and minors). https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/25-781

  15. Jarrett v. Woodward Bros., Inc., 751 A.2d 972 (D.C. 2000) (dram-shop liability). https://law.justia.com/cases/district-of-columbia/court-of-appeals/2000/96-cv-1715-6.html

  16. Jonathan Woodner Co. v. Breeden, 665 A.2d 929, 938 (D.C. 1995) (punitive damages require clear and convincing proof of malice). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2168023/jonathan-woodner-co-v-breeden/

About This Guide

Written by: ThatCarHitMe.com Editorial

BACK TO DC
60 SEC CONNECTION

NEED LEGAL HELP?

Browse our directory to find qualified attorneys who handle cases like yours.

Find a Lawyer