Car Accident Laws in North Dakota: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

North Dakota is a no-fault state. Every driver is required to carry personal injury protection (PIP) that pays your own medical bills and lost wages after a crash, regardless of who caused it. You generally cannot sue the other driver for pain and suffering unless your injury is "serious" under state law. If you do have the right to sue — for property damage, for economic losses your PIP doesn't cover, or because you meet the serious-injury threshold — North Dakota gives you six years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit under N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16. That deadline shrinks dramatically, to a matter of months, if a government-owned vehicle (city, county, state, or school district) was involved. Confirm current deadlines and dollar figures with the North Dakota Insurance Department or a licensed North Dakota attorney before relying on anything below — legislatures and courts adjust these numbers over time.

1. Is North Dakota a no-fault or at-fault state?

North Dakota is one of a small group of true no-fault states, governed by the Auto Accident Reparations Act, North Dakota Century Code Chapter 26.1-41. After a crash, you first turn to your own insurer's PIP (personal injury protection) coverage for medical bills, lost income, and related out-of-pocket losses — no matter who caused the collision. This is meant to get injured people paid quickly without a fight over fault.

The trade-off is that your right to sue the at-fault driver for pain, suffering, and other noneconomic harm is limited. Under N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-01 (which defines "serious injury") and § 26.1-41-08 (which limits recovery of noneconomic loss), you can only bring that kind of tort claim if you meet the "serious injury" threshold: death, dismemberment, serious and permanent disfigurement, disability lasting more than 60 days, or medical expenses exceeding $2,500. If you don't meet that threshold, your recovery is generally limited to what PIP and your own policy provide, plus any property damage claim (property damage claims fall outside the no-fault bar and can be pursued against the at-fault driver directly). Because the exact dollar figure and definitions can be amended, verify the current threshold with the North Dakota Insurance Department (insurance.nd.gov) or an attorney before assuming you're locked out of a tort claim.

2. Minimum auto insurance required in North Dakota

North Dakota law sets a floor for coverage; buying more than the minimum is almost always smart if you can afford it. As of this writing, required coverage includes:

• Bodily injury liability: $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident
• Property damage liability: $25,000 per accident
• Personal injury protection (PIP): $30,000 per person, mandatory basic no-fault coverage for medical expenses and economic loss
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): required on every policy, at minimum limits of $25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident, so you're protected if the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough

These figures (often written as "25/50/25") are set out in North Dakota's insurance and motor vehicle statutes. Insurance minimums are periodically revisited by the legislature, so confirm current numbers with the North Dakota Insurance Department before you buy or renew a policy, and consider whether higher PIP and UM/UIM limits make sense given your own health coverage and assets.

3. Statute of limitations after a North Dakota crash

North Dakota's general civil statute of limitations, N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16, gives you six years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for personal injury and six years for property damage — one of the longer windows in the country. If a crash victim later dies from their injuries, a wrongful death action must be filed within two years of the date of death under N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18, which can be a much shorter window than the underlying six years, especially if death occurs well after the crash.

These deadlines run regardless of whether an insurance claim is still open, and missing them typically ends your ability to sue entirely. Because the clock can be affected by the victim's age, capacity, or other case-specific facts, don't wait — talk to a North Dakota attorney well before any deadline approaches.

4. Shared-fault rule: modified comparative negligence

North Dakota follows a modified comparative fault rule with a 50% bar, codified at N.D.C.C. § 32-03.2-02. If you were partly at fault for the crash, your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault — but you are barred from recovering entirely once your fault is as great as the combined fault of everyone else, which in a two-driver crash means 50% or more. For example, a jury verdict of $100,000 with the injured person 20% at fault results in an $80,000 award; a finding of 50% fault (an even split) or higher bars recovery completely. Fault percentages are typically contested, so how an insurer or jury allocates fault can make or break a claim.

5. Crash reporting requirements

Under N.D.C.C. § 39-08-09, a driver involved in a crash must immediately report it to local police (if inside a city) or the county sheriff or North Dakota Highway Patrol (if outside a city) when the crash results in:

• Injury or death to any person, or
• Combined property damage of at least $4,000 (this dollar threshold has been adjusted before and can change — confirm the current figure with the North Dakota Highway Patrol or NDDOT)

Investigating officers are required to forward their crash report to the state Department of Transportation within 10 days. Even in minor crashes that fall under the reporting threshold, exchanging information and documenting the scene protects you — and if the other driver is uninsured or unidentified, a report is often essential to any UM claim. If in doubt, call law enforcement; it's rarely wrong to report a crash and can be very costly not to.

6. Damage caps and claims against a government vehicle

North Dakota does not impose a general cap on compensatory damages in an ordinary crash lawsuit between private drivers. That changes if a government vehicle or government employee was involved — a city bus, snowplow, police cruiser, school bus, county vehicle, or state agency vehicle:

• Notice deadline: Claims against the state generally require written notice to the Office of Management and Budget within 180 days of the injury (N.D.C.C. § 32-12.2-04); claims against a city, county, or other political subdivision require prompt written notice to that entity under N.D.C.C. Chapter 32-12.1 — often on a similarly short, months-not-years timeline. Missing this short notice window can bar your claim even though the six-year lawsuit deadline hasn't passed.
• Damage caps: Claims against political subdivisions are capped under N.D.C.C. § 32-12.1-03, with per-person and per-occurrence limits (adjusted periodically) and no separate allowance for punitive damages against the government. State-claim recoveries are likewise capped under Chapter 32-12.2.

Because these notice periods are so much shorter than the standard six-year deadline — and because the exact notice deadline, recipient, and cap amounts vary by whether the state or a local government is involved — treat any crash involving a government vehicle as urgent and confirm the specifics immediately with the North Dakota Attorney General's office, the relevant city or county clerk, or an attorney.

What to do after a crash in North Dakota

1. Check for injuries and call 911 if anyone is hurt or if there's significant damage; get police to the scene.
2. Move to safety if the vehicles are drivable and it's safe to do so, but don't leave the scene before exchanging information or reporting as required.
3. Exchange information — names, contact information, insurance details, and license plate numbers with all drivers involved.
4. Document the scene with photos of vehicle damage, license plates, road conditions, skid marks, traffic signals, and any visible injuries.
5. Get a copy of the crash report once available (typically about 10 days after a police-investigated crash) from the North Dakota Highway Patrol or local police department.
6. Notify your own insurer promptly and open a PIP claim for medical bills and lost wages, even if you weren't at fault — that's how North Dakota's no-fault system works.
7. Seek medical care and keep records — prompt treatment protects your health and creates the documentation you'll need to show medical expenses, especially if you may meet the serious-injury threshold.
8. Note if a government vehicle was involved and, if so, contact an attorney immediately given the short notice deadlines described above.
9. Track your six-year deadline for any lawsuit, and don't assume an open insurance claim pauses that clock.
10. Consult a North Dakota attorney before signing a settlement release, especially for anything beyond a minor property-damage claim.

This article is general information about North Dakota law, not legal advice for your specific situation — confirm current statutes and deadlines with a licensed North Dakota attorney or the North Dakota Insurance Department.