Massachusetts Car Accident Laws

Massachusetts's rules are stable and haven't changed recently, which is itself useful to know — there's no fresh legislative change to track here, just a well-established system.

Massachusetts pioneered no-fault insurance decades ago. The core structure — your own PIP first, a dollar threshold to sue — hasn't changed since.

Statute of limitations: 3 years

Under M.G.L. c. 260, §2A, you generally have three years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. The same three-year period applies to wrongful death and property damage claims.

Fault rule: modified comparative negligence, 51% bar

Under M.G.L. c. 231, §85, you can recover damages if you're found 50% at fault or less, reduced by your percentage. At 51% or more, you recover nothing.

Insurance: no-fault PIP, $2,000 tort threshold

Massachusetts is a no-fault state — mandatory PIP pays up to $8,000 in medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault. To sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering, you generally need $2,000 or more in reasonable medical expenses, or a serious injury such as death, fracture, permanent disfigurement, or loss of a body member, sight, or hearing (M.G.L. c. 231, §6D).

How this plays out in a real claim

Take an intersection collision where fault is genuinely disputed. If an insurer or court assigns you 40% of the blame, Massachusetts's rule still lets you recover 60% of your damages, and even at exactly 50% you still recover half. But at 51% or more, the claim is barred entirely — not reduced, eliminated. That one-point difference between 50% and 51% is exactly why insurers have a real incentive to push a borderline case just over the line rather than simply discount what they pay.

A mistake worth avoiding in Massachusetts

Because a single percentage point at the 51% threshold can be the entire difference between a reduced payout and nothing at all, careless statements at the scene or to an adjuster carry more weight here than in a pure comparative state. Avoid speculating about fault, even casually, until the full picture — police report, witnesses, any available footage — is in front of you.

If a government vehicle or agency was involved

Massachusetts treats a crash with a government-owned vehicle differently from an injury caused by a road defect itself, and it's worth knowing which applies. For a government vehicle or employee's negligence, the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act (M.G.L. c. 258) requires presenting your claim to the responsible agency, with damages capped at $100,000 per person; you generally can't file suit until either the claim is denied or six months have passed. For an injury caused by a defect in the road itself, such as a dangerous pothole, a separate and much stricter rule applies (M.G.L. c. 84 §18): written notice must reach the responsible government entity within just 30 days, even though the underlying 3-year deadline to sue is unchanged.

If the crash resulted in a death

Massachusetts gives three years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 229, §2), filed only by the estate's personal representative. A 2023 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling (Fabiano v. Philip Morris) clarified that a wrongful death claim is derivative of the deceased's own injury claim — if the underlying personal injury statute of limitations had already expired before death, the wrongful death claim can be barred too, even though it's nominally still within its own three-year window. Punitive damages are available, with no statutory cap, for malicious, willful, wanton, reckless, or grossly negligent conduct.

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage

Massachusetts splits UM and UIM in a way most states don't: uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory, matching your bodily injury liability minimums, but underinsured motorist coverage remains entirely optional. Because UIM only pays the difference between your UIM limit and what the at-fault driver's insurer already paid, carrying only the state-minimum UIM limit is effectively useless — it typically won't exceed what a minimum-limits at-fault driver already owes you, so the coverage only becomes meaningful once you buy UIM limits well above the state floor.

Beyond the deadline and the fault rule

The statute of limitations and the fault rule above decide whether you have a claim and how much of it survives — they don't decide what the claim is actually worth, or whether it's worth handling yourself. For that, see our guides on what affects a settlement, who pays your medical bills while a claim is pending, and whether Massachusetts law makes a lawyer worth it for your specific situation.

When it's worth talking to someone

If your medical expenses are approaching $2,000, or your injuries are more serious, it's worth understanding whether you can step outside the no-fault system. A free, no-obligation conversation can clarify this quickly.