Car Accident Laws in Nebraska: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

Short answer: Nebraska is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state, and you generally have four years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury or property-damage lawsuit. If a government-owned vehicle was involved, that deadline is much shorter — you must send written notice within one year. Details and citations below.

Is Nebraska a no-fault or at-fault state?

Nebraska is a tort (at-fault) state. There is no state-mandated personal injury protection (PIP) coverage and no restriction on suing the at-fault driver for pain and suffering after a minor crash, as you'd find in true no-fault states. In practice this means:

• The driver who caused the crash — and their liability insurer — is financially responsible for the other driver's injuries and property damage.
• You can file a claim directly against the at-fault driver's bodily-injury and property-damage liability coverage, or sue them in court.
• Nebraska does not require insurers to sell PIP/no-fault coverage. Some companies offer optional medical payments ("med-pay") coverage, but it is not mandatory — ask your agent if you want it.

Minimum auto insurance required in Nebraska

Under Nebraska's Motor Vehicle Registration Act, every vehicle registered and operated in the state must be covered by liability insurance (or an approved alternative such as a bond) meeting these minimums:

• $25,000 bodily injury or death, per person
• $50,000 bodily injury or death, per accident (two or more people)
• $25,000 property damage, per accident

This is commonly shorthanded as "25/50/25" coverage, and it's set out in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-3,167.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is mandatory on Nebraska auto policies and cannot be waived — every policy must include it at least at the $25,000-per-person / $50,000-per-accident minimum. You can request higher UM/UIM limits in writing, up to $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident, under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-6408. Because Nebraska's liability minimums are relatively low, and a meaningful share of drivers on the road carry only the minimum (or no insurance at all), UM/UIM coverage matters — it's worth asking your agent about limits above the statutory floor.

Insurance minimums are set by statute and can change. Confirm current requirements with the Nebraska Department of Insurance or your carrier before relying on these numbers.

Statute of limitations: how long do you have to sue?

• Personal injury: four years from the date of the crash, under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207. A "discovery rule" can toll (pause) the clock in limited situations where an injury isn't immediately apparent, and the deadline can be extended for minors or people who are mentally incompetent at the time of the crash (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-213).
• Property damage (vehicle repair/replacement costs): also four years, under the same statute, § 25-207.
• Wrongful death: only two years, under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-810 — much shorter than the injury deadline, so families should not assume they have four years.

Four years sounds like a long time, but insurers negotiate very differently once the filing deadline is close, and evidence (crash-scene photos, black-box data, witness memories) degrades fast. Don't wait.

Shared-fault rule: what if you were partly to blame?

Nebraska uses modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar, codified at Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09. In plain terms:

• If you were partly at fault, your damages award is reduced by your percentage of fault.
• You can still recover money as long as your share of fault is less than 50% of the total negligence of everyone you're seeking recovery from.
• If your fault is equal to or greater than 50%, you recover nothing.

Example: if a jury finds you 30% at fault and awards $100,000 in damages, you'd collect $70,000. Because insurance adjusters routinely try to shift fault percentages onto the injured person to shrink payouts, how "shared fault" gets argued is often the single biggest factor in what a Nebraska claim is worth.

Crash reporting requirements

• Regardless of damage amount, Nebraska law requires drivers involved in any crash to stop, stay at the scene, and exchange name, address, phone number, and driver's license information (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-696).
• If the crash was not investigated by a law enforcement officer and it resulted in injury, death, or property damage of $1,500 or more to any one person's property, the driver must file a Driver's Motor Vehicle Crash Report with the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) within 10 days (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-699). If police responded and completed their own report, you generally don't need to file this separate driver's report.
• You can find the current reporting form and rules on NDOT's Crash Reporting page.

Damage caps and claims against government vehicles

In an ordinary crash between private drivers, Nebraska does not cap compensatory damages (money for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering) the way some states cap malpractice or punitive awards; Nebraska's constitution also bars punitive damages generally in personal injury cases.

Claims are different if the at-fault vehicle was owned or operated by a government entity — a city bus, county vehicle, school district car, or state trooper's cruiser, for example:

• Against a city, county, or other political subdivision: you must submit written notice of your claim within one year of the crash to the political subdivision's clerk (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-919), and any lawsuit must generally begin within two years. Total recovery is capped at $1,000,000 per person (and $5,000,000 per occurrence across all claimants) under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-926.
• Against the State of Nebraska (a state-owned vehicle or state employee): similar shortened notice and filing deadlines apply under the separate State Tort Claims Act.

These government-claim deadlines and caps are far less forgiving than the four-year rule for private drivers, and missing the notice deadline can permanently end your claim even if you're clearly not at fault. If a government vehicle was involved, confirm the exact notice deadline and correct recipient with the political subdivision's clerk (or the Nebraska Attorney General's office for state claims) right away.

What to do after a crash in Nebraska

1. Stop and check for injuries. Call 911 if anyone is hurt or if damage looks significant. Nebraska law requires you to stop at the scene.
2. Get a police report whenever possible. If officers respond, ask for the report number. If they don't respond and the crash meets the injury/death/$1,500+ property-damage threshold, file the Driver's Motor Vehicle Crash Report with NDOT within 10 days.
3. Exchange information with every driver involved — name, address, phone number, driver's license number, and insurance details.
4. Document the scene. Photograph vehicle positions, damage, license plates, road conditions, skid marks, and any visible injuries. Get names and contact information for witnesses.
5. Get medical care promptly, even if you feel okay. Some injuries (concussions, soft-tissue injuries) don't show symptoms right away, and a documented medical visit close to the crash date supports your claim.
6. Notify your own insurer of the crash, generally required regardless of fault, and be factual — avoid speculating about fault percentages before you understand what happened.
7. Be careful with the other driver's insurance adjuster. You don't have to give a recorded statement to the other side's insurer, and early settlement offers often come in well below what a claim is worth once the full extent of injuries is known.
8. Note the deadline that applies to you. Four years for a typical injury or property-damage claim against another driver; one year's written notice if a government vehicle was involved; two years for a wrongful-death claim.
9. Keep records of medical bills, repair estimates, lost wages, and all correspondence with insurers.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice; confirm current Nebraska law and deadlines with the Nebraska Department of Insurance, the Nebraska Legislature's official statutes, or a licensed Nebraska attorney before acting.