Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Accident FAQs

Massachusetts recorded 354 traffic deaths in 2025, at least 76 of them pedestrians, according to MassDOT crash data summarized by WalkMassachusetts in June 2026. Most crash claims, fatal or not, run through the same state rules: no-fault PIP, a threshold for pain and suffering, and a three-year filing deadline. Here is how each one works.

Personal injury protection (PIP) usually pays first, no matter who caused the crash. Massachusetts is a no-fault state, and every auto policy must include PIP worth up to $8,000 per person under M.G.L. c. 90, §§ 34A and 34M.

PIP covers reasonable medical expenses, up to 75 percent of lost wages, and replacement services, such as paying someone to do chores you cannot do while hurt. The statute extends it to the policyholder and household members, authorized drivers and passengers of the insured car, and pedestrians the insured car strikes. Which policy pays you depends on where you fit in that list. Present the claim to the insurer as soon as practicable, and in every case within two years of the crash, with a written description of your injuries (c. 90, § 34M). Only expenses incurred within two years of the crash count.

People entitled to workers' compensation are excluded from PIP, so a crash during work usually goes through comp instead. When PIP runs out, the next step is usually a claim against the at-fault driver.

If your health plan pays or will pay your medical bills, PIP pays no more than $2,000 of those covered expenses, and the health plan handles the rest. PIP still pays the medical costs your health plan does not cover, such as copays and deductibles, along with lost wages, until the $8,000 total runs out. This coordination rule is written into M.G.L. c. 90, § 34A.

Two things can shrink what PIP pays. Many drivers choose a PIP deductible to lower their premium, and that deductible can reduce benefits for the people it covers. On the other side, some policies carry optional medical payments coverage (MedPay), which can pay medical bills that PIP and health insurance leave behind.

The insurer can require you to submit to medical examinations by doctors it chooses and to provide the information it needs, and the statute makes a failure to cooperate a defense to paying (c. 90, § 34M). If your benefits have been cut off or denied, talk with us about what the insurer relied on.

You can recover pain and suffering from the at-fault driver only if your injuries clear the tort threshold in M.G.L. c. 231, § 6D. You clear it if your reasonable and necessary medical expenses are more than $2,000, or if the injury:

• causes death,
• involves the loss of a body member,
• involves permanent and serious disfigurement,
• causes loss of sight or hearing as described in the workers' compensation statute (c. 152, § 36), or
• includes a fracture.

The threshold limits only pain and suffering. It does not stop you from claiming economic losses that PIP does not cover, such as wages beyond PIP's limit. A herniated disc is not one of the listed injuries, so a disc claim has to qualify another way, most often through medical expenses over $2,000. Medical records and bills prove the threshold, which is why our car accident page stresses prompt treatment.

For policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, the Massachusetts minimum is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $30,000 for property damage. The old minimums were $20,000, $40,000, and $5,000.

Many drivers buy more than the minimum, and some buy only the minimum. A driver with minimum limits may have $25,000 available for one injured person, which a surgery can exceed.

Passengers should know one wrinkle. The compulsory bodily injury coverage does not cover guest occupants of the insured car (c. 90, § 34A). A passenger suing their own driver needs the optional bodily injury coverage on that policy, so check the declarations page. See how underinsured motorist claims can fill a gap in limits.

Your own policy's uninsured motorist (UM) coverage pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Every Massachusetts auto policy must include UM at no less than the bodily injury minimums ($25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident) under M.G.L. c. 175, § 113L.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage is different. It is optional, so check your declarations page before assuming you have it. It applies when the at-fault driver's bodily injury limit is lower than your own UIM limit, and it pays your damages above the at-fault driver's limit, up to your UIM limit.

Section 113L bars stacking limits from two or more vehicles or policies, and it has its own rules on which policy applies to a named insured, a resident relative, or an occupant. If your own insurer handles a UM claim unfairly, the rules on bad faith insurance claims may apply. More on uninsured motorist claimsuninsured-motorist.html].

Yes. Uninsured motorist coverage in Massachusetts includes injuries caused by a hit-and-run vehicle, so your own policy, or a household member's, can pay your bodily injury claim even if the driver is never found.

Report the crash to police right away. Auto policies generally require prompt reporting of a hit-and-run, and the police report is the first proof that another vehicle was involved. If the other vehicle never touched yours, expect the insurer to ask for independent proof, such as a witness, that it caused the crash; check how your policy defines a hit-and-run auto.

If the driver is identified later, M.G.L. c. 260, § 4B allows a suit within six months after you learn who it was, but never more than three years after the crash, and only if written notice of the time, place, and facts went to the police and the Registry of Motor Vehicles within 30 days. Sending that written notice early keeps the option open. Learn more about hit-and-run claims.

Yes, if anyone was hurt or killed, or if any one vehicle or piece of property took more than $1,000 in damage. Under M.G.L. c. 90, § 26, every driver in a crash that kills or injures anyone, or that causes more than $1,000 in damage to any one vehicle or other property, must file a written Motor Vehicle Crash Operator Report within five days.

Send copies to the police department where the crash happened, your insurance company, and the RMV crash records unit, following the RMV's instructions. The $1,000 line is lower than many people expect, so do not assume a small crash is exempt. The registrar can suspend or revoke the license of a driver who does not file.

The five-day clock pauses while a driver is physically unable to report. Here is how to get the police report once it is available.

Fault turns on negligence. You have to show the other driver was negligent, meaning they failed to use the care a reasonable driver would have used, and that the failure caused your injuries. Running a red light, speeding, texting, and following too closely are common examples.

Breaking a traffic law can be evidence of negligence, but a traffic ticket does not decide the civil case, and the lack of a ticket does not end it. The evidence typically includes:

• the police report and any witness statements,
• photos and video of the scene and vehicles,
• vehicle event data, where the car records it,
• medical records linking the injury to the crash, and
• in disputed cases, an accident reconstruction expert.

The police report helps, but an officer's conclusion about who caused the crash does not bind a jury and is often not admissible at trial. Read about specific crash types, such as rear-end collisions.

You can still recover in Massachusetts as long as your share of the fault is not greater than the combined fault of the drivers you are suing. That is the comparative negligence rule in M.G.L. c. 231, § 85.

Your damages are reduced by your percentage. If a jury finds you 20 percent at fault for turning without checking your mirror and the other driver 80 percent at fault for speeding, you recover 80 percent of your damages. At exactly 50 percent, you recover half; above 50 percent, you recover nothing. Fault percentages are argued from the evidence, which is why the scene evidence matters.

Being partly at fault does not affect your PIP benefits, which are paid regardless of fault. Our Boston car accident team can review how fault is likely to be split in your case.

Several people or businesses can share responsibility, depending on the facts:

• The vehicle owner. Under M.G.L. c. 231, § 85A, proof that the car was registered to the defendant is prima facie evidence that the driver was someone the owner was legally responsible for. The owner can try to prove otherwise, but the burden is on the owner.
• An employer. A company can be responsible when its employee crashes while acting within the scope of the job, and commercial policies often carry higher limits. See our truck accident page for commercial vehicles.
• A bar or restaurant. Massachusetts law bars serving alcohol to an intoxicated person (M.G.L. c. 138, § 69). A business that served a customer it knew or should have known was intoxicated can be liable for the resulting crash, and violating that law is evidence of negligence. More on drunk driving crashes.
• A city, town, or the state. A claim for a defect in a local road runs under M.G.L. c. 84, § 15, requires written notice within 30 days (§ 18), and is capped at no more than $5,000. A state highway defect claim runs under M.G.L. c. 81, § 18, capped at no more than $4,000, and does not apply during construction or repair of the highway. A claim that a public employee drove carelessly is a different claim under M.G.L. c. 258, generally capped at $100,000.

When the at-fault driver has only minimum limits, these other parties can decide how much is actually recoverable. Your own underinsured motorist coverage is not reduced by the public-defendant caps above (M.G.L. c. 175, § 113L).

Three years from the date of the crash in most cases, under M.G.L. c. 260, § 2A. If you miss it, the court will usually dismiss the case, no matter how strong it is.

Several shorter deadlines can apply first:

• A road-defect claim requires written notice to the city, town, or state within 30 days (M.G.L. c. 84, § 18).
• A claim against a public employer requires written presentment to the proper official within two years (M.G.L. c. 258, § 4), and suit generally waits until the claim is denied or six months pass.
• A PIP claim must be presented within two years (M.G.L. c. 90, § 34M).
• Your own policy may set notice requirements for UM and hit-and-run claims.

Death cases follow their own rules, covered in our wrongful death FAQs. Separate from any deadline, video is often overwritten, and vehicle data can be lost when a car is repaired or scrapped, which is a practical reason to contact a lawyer while it still exists.

You can recover the losses the crash caused that PIP did not pay, and pain and suffering too once you clear the tort threshold. That generally includes:

• medical expenses PIP did not cover, past and future,
• lost wages and lost earning capacity,
• pain and suffering, including emotional distress, and
• loss of the ability to enjoy daily life.

A spouse may also have a claim for loss of consortium. Punitive damages are not available in an ordinary Massachusetts injury case; the wrongful death statute (M.G.L. c. 229, § 2) is the main exception. Your health insurer or another payer may have a right to be repaid from the recovery, which affects what you keep. More on how losses are proven is on our damages page.

You can claim the repair cost against the at-fault driver's property damage liability coverage, which must be at least $30,000 on policies issued or renewed since July 1, 2025 (M.G.L. c. 90, § 34O). Property damage claims are not limited by the no-fault system or the tort threshold.

If you carry collision coverage, you can also go through your own insurer, pay your deductible, and let your insurer seek repayment from the other driver's company. Rental costs depend on the coverages on each policy.

Loss of resale value after a repair, often called diminished value, is harder. In Cubberley v. Commerce Insurance Co. (SJC, January 30, 2025), the Supreme Judicial Court held that the property damage part of the 2016 standard Massachusetts policy does not pay it to other drivers' claims. The court did not decide whether it can be recovered from the at-fault driver directly. Settling the car damage should not require you to give up your injury claim, so read any release before you sign it, and send it to us if the wording is unclear.

A signed release almost always ends your claim for good, including injuries that get worse later. Massachusetts courts set a release aside only in narrow cases. In LaFleur v. C.C. Pierce Co., 398 Mass. 254 (1986), a case about a settled workers' compensation claim, the Supreme Judicial Court drew the line between a mistake about whether an injury existed at all, which can matter, and a known injury that turns out worse than expected, which usually does not.

One protection is specific to hospital patients. Under M.G.L. c. 271, § 44, a settlement or general release obtained from a hospital patient about the injuries being treated, within 15 days after the injury, is null and void, and it and any written statement obtained then cannot be used at trial, unless the patient said in writing at least five days earlier that they were willing to give it. Police officers, family members, and the patient's own lawyer are exempt.

Before settling, know your full medical picture, your future care needs, the at-fault driver's limits, and whether your own UIM coverage applies. Our car accident lawyers can review an offer before you respond.

Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Glassman, founding attorney. Updated September 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts, and insurance terms vary by policy.