What to do after a car accident in Nevada

The minutes after a crash are chaotic, and Nevada law puts a few specific duties on you right away. Knowing them protects your safety and any claim you might file later. Here is what actually applies in Nevada, with the statute behind each rule.

Stop, check for injuries, and report it

Nevada law requires every driver involved in a crash to stop at the scene, or as close to it as possible, and stay there.¹ You also have to give your name, address, and vehicle registration to the others involved, show your license on request, and render reasonable help to anyone hurt, such as arranging a ride to a doctor.² If someone is injured or killed, or the crash happened on a highway and no officer is present, report it to the nearest police office or the Nevada Highway Patrol without delay.² Get the cars out of traffic if they're drivable, then check on everyone before anything else.

When an officer responds, they investigate and write the report. If no officer comes and the crash caused injury, death, or property damage of $750 or more, you or the vehicle owner must send a written or electronic report to the Nevada DMV within 10 days.³ That $750 threshold is low, so most crashes with any real body damage trigger it.

Collect the other driver's name, license, insurance carrier, and plate number. Photograph the vehicles and the scene, including anything that shows how the crash happened. Nevada splits fault by percentage, and good photos can decide how much of the blame lands on you.

Nevada is an at-fault state, not no-fault

Nevada runs on the traditional at-fault system, and there is no personal injury protection (PIP) sold here.⁴ The driver who caused the crash pays for the harm they caused through their liability insurance, and you can pursue that driver directly. There's no 14-day treatment window like Florida's and no injury threshold you have to clear before filing suit.

Fault gets divided under Nevada's modified comparative negligence rule. You can still recover if you were partly to blame, as long as your share of the fault is not greater than the other side's.⁴ Cross 51 percent and you recover nothing. Below that line, your award drops by your own percentage, so a $100,000 claim with 20 percent fault on you pays $80,000. This is why an adjuster will look hard for any way to shift blame onto you.

The insurance you can tap

Every Nevada driver must carry liability coverage of at least $25,000 for injury to one person, $50,000 per crash, and $20,000 for property damage, known as the 25/50/20 minimum.⁵ That is just the legal floor, and a serious injury can blow past $25,000 fast.

Your own policy is where the gap often gets covered. Nevada insurers have to offer you uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage equal to your bodily injury limits, and you can decline it only in writing.⁶ If the other driver has no insurance or too little, UM/UIM steps in. Insurers must also offer medical payments coverage of at least $1,000, which pays your medical bills regardless of who was at fault.⁷ Pull out your declarations page and look. Plenty of people carry these coverages without knowing it.

Your deadlines

You have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit in Nevada.⁸ Miss it and the court will dismiss the case no matter how strong it is. Claims for vehicle damage and other property get three years.⁹ When the injured person is a minor, the two-year clock is generally paused until they turn 18.¹⁰

Deadlines shape your evidence too. The Nevada Highway Patrol crash report is usually ready 7 to 14 days after the wreck and costs $10. Our Nevada crash report page covers how to get it.¹¹ If your car is worth less at resale even after a solid repair, that lost value is a separate claim from the repair bill, and our Nevada diminished value page explains how it works.

When the other driver was texting or drunk

Nevada bans handheld phone use behind the wheel. You can't type, send, or read texts or data, and you can't hold the phone for a call, though hands-free calling is allowed.¹² Fines run $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second, and $250 for a third within seven years, and an officer can stop you for this alone.¹³ If the driver who hit you was on their phone, that citation is strong evidence of negligence.

Drunk-driving crashes carry more weight. Punitive damages in an ordinary case are capped at three times your compensatory damages, or $300,000 when those are under $100,000, but that cap does not apply at all when a drunk driver injures someone.¹⁴ Nevada also does not hold bars or social hosts liable for serving an adult who later crashes; that responsibility stays with the drinker.¹⁵ So in a DUI crash your recovery comes from the driver and their insurer, and it can include uncapped punitive damages.

When to bring in a lawyer

You don't need a lawyer for a minor scrape you can settle in a week. But if someone was injured, if fault is in dispute, or if the insurer is already hinting you were partly to blame, the comparative-fault math and the two-year deadline make early advice worth it. Most Nevada personal injury attorneys work on contingency and give a free first consultation. You can find one through our legal directory.

Handle the basics well in the first few days. Get the report, see a doctor even if you feel fine, keep every bill and photo, and tell your own insurer promptly. Those steps protect your options while the law's clocks run.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Nevada Legislature, NRS 484E.010 (duty to stop at the scene of a crash). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

2. Nevada Legislature, NRS 484E.030 (duty to give information, render aid, and report the crash to police). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

3. Nevada Legislature, NRS 484E.070 (written or electronic report of crash to the Department; $750 threshold, 10-day deadline). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-484e.html

4. Nevada Legislature, NRS 41.141 (comparative negligence; recovery barred only if the plaintiff's negligence is greater than the defendant's). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-041.html

5. Nevada Legislature, NRS 485.185 (minimum motor vehicle liability coverage of 25/50/20). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-485.html

6. Nevada Legislature, NRS 687B.145 (insurers must offer UM/UIM equal to bodily injury limits; declined only in writing). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-687B.html

7. Nevada Legislature, NRS 687B.145(3) (insurers must offer medical payments coverage of at least $1,000). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-687B.html

8. Nevada Legislature, NRS 11.190(4)(e) (two-year limitation for injury to a person). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-011.html

9. Nevada Legislature, NRS 11.190(3)(c) (three-year limitation for injury to personal property). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-011.html

10. Nevada Legislature, NRS 11.250 (limitation tolled for persons under legal disability, including minors under 18). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-011.html

11. Nevada Highway Patrol, Crash Report Request (Nevada Department of Public Safety; $10 per report, available 7 to 14 days after the crash). https://nhp.nv.gov/Reports/Crash_Report_Request

12. Nevada Legislature, NRS 484B.165 (prohibition on handheld wireless communications devices while driving). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-484B.html

13. Nevada Legislature, NRS 484B.165 (civil penalties of $50, $100, and $250 within seven years). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-484B.html

14. Nevada Legislature, NRS 42.005 and NRS 42.010 (punitive damages caps and the DUI exemption from those caps). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-042.html

15. Nevada Legislature, NRS 41.1305 (no liability for serving alcohol to a person 21 or older). https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-041.html