The Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act removed the contributory bar for pedestrians, cyclists, and scooter riders, so who you were on the road matters enormously in DC. Drivers still face one of the harshest fault rules in the country.
Filing deadline
3 years
From the date of the accident, for injury lawsuits.
Fault rule
Contributory negligence
The District uses pure contributory negligence for drivers — any fault of your own bars recovery — but pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable users are judged under a comparative standard instead.
Required coverage
$25K / $50K
Bodily-injury liability, per person / per accident.
DC applies pure contributory negligence to drivers — any fault on your part, however small, can bar recovery entirely — but the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act carved out a comparative standard for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users.
That split makes who you were at the time of the crash a threshold legal question in DC, not just a factual one: a cyclist struck by a car is judged under comparative fault, while the drivers involved are judged under the older, harsher contributory rule.
Minimum liability coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident, and DC's dense traffic and high volume of pedestrian and cyclist crashes make the vulnerable-user carve-out relevant to a large share of claims.
The 3-year statute of limitations gets the headlines, but it is almost never the deadline people actually miss.
| Deadline | Window | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury lawsuit | 3 years from the crash | D.C. Code § 12-301. |
| Claim against the District government | 6 months notice | Claims against DC government vehicles or agencies require written notice within six months, far shorter than the general three-year deadline. |
Provisions that are specific to District of Columbia and routinely surprise claimants who assumed the national norm applied.
The Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act moved pedestrians, cyclists, and scooter riders to a comparative negligence standard, so a small share of fault no longer automatically zeroes out their claim the way it still can for a driver.
If both parties in the crash were drivers, DC's traditional 1%-fault-bars-everything rule still applies — one of only five jurisdictions in the country where this is true.
DC's mix of federal, District, and private vehicles means government-entity notice rules come up more frequently here than in most states — identify the defendant's status early.
District of Columbia requires at least $25K / $50K in bodily injury liability coverage, uninsured motorist coverage is mandatory, and fault is decided under contributory negligence.
Bodily injury per person / per accident. This is the ceiling on the at-fault driver's policy, not a valuation of your injury.
Every District of Columbia auto policy carries it, so there is almost always a second pot of money when the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured.
The at-fault party's insurer pays, and there is no threshold to clear before claiming pain and suffering.
The District uses pure contributory negligence for drivers — any fault of your own bars recovery — but pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable users are judged under a comparative standard instead.
Coverage minimums and helmet requirements are set by statute and change. Verified August 2026 against the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety helmet law table and state insurance department filings; confirm the current rule before relying on it.
National ranges adjusted for District of Columbia's legal climate. Click an injury for the full District of Columbia breakdown.
| Injury | Typical range | Severe cases |
|---|---|---|
| Whiplash | $3K – $28K | up to $125K |
| Back Injury | $13K – $125K | up to $575K |
| Herniated Disc | $45K – $175K | up to $800K |
| Broken Bones | $18K – $125K | up to $400K |
| Concussion / Mild TBI | $23K – $150K | up to $1.1M |
| Shoulder Injury | $18K – $125K | up to $350K |
| Knee Injury | $18K – $125K | up to $450K |
| Neck Injury | $18K – $150K | up to $700K |
| Spinal Cord Injury | $300K – $1.7M | up to $11.5M |
| Traumatic Brain Injury | $125K – $1.1M | up to $11.5M |
| Internal Injuries | $58K – $300K | up to $1.1M |
| Burn Injuries | $28K – $225K | up to $5.8M |
| PTSD / Emotional Distress | $13K – $88K | up to $300K |
| Wrongful Death | $575K – $2.3M | up to $11.5M |
| Soft Tissue Injuries | $3K – $23K | up to $88K |
| Amputation & Limb Loss | $300K – $2.3M | up to $11.5M |
| Electrocution & Electrical Injury | $58K – $575K | up to $11.5M |
| Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) | $28K – $575K | up to $5.8M |
How the claim is built changes with how you were hurt. Each guide applies DC law to that specific kind of accident.
Car Accident
$4K – $63K
Truck Accident
$28K – $400K
Motorcycle Accident
$23K – $225K
Pedestrian Accident
$28K – $300K
Bicycle Accident
$18K – $175K
Rideshare Accident
$13K – $150K
Slip and Fall
$6K – $70K
Workplace Injury
$6K – $88K
Dog Bite
$18K – $70K
Medical Malpractice
$58K – $575K
Product Liability
$28K – $300K
Nursing Home Abuse
$35K – $350K
Electric Scooter Accident
$13K – $88K
Falling Object Injury
$18K – $175K
These apply to every claim, and each one is a mistake insurers count on.
Get treated within 72 hours, and do not skip visits
Treatment delay and gaps in care are the two most common reasons claims get discounted. If you have to pause treatment for money, work, or childcare, tell the provider so the reason appears in the chart rather than reading as recovery.
Photograph everything while it is fresh
Both vehicles from multiple angles, the scene, road conditions, skid marks, traffic controls, and your visible injuries as they develop. Bruising often looks worse on day three than on day one — photograph it again.
Keep a dated symptom journal
Pain scores, sleep disruption, and specific activities you could not do. Contemporaneous notes carry weight that a recollection twelve months later does not, and they are what make non-economic damages concrete.
Document work impact through your employer
A letter confirming missed shifts, modified duty, or lost overtime turns lost income from an assertion into a provable number.
Decline the early recorded statement
You are not obligated to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer. Early statements are taken before symptoms peak and are quoted back for the life of the claim.
Report every symptomatic area at the first visit
Injuries that hurt less at first get mentioned later, and the delay becomes the insurer's causation argument. List everything that hurts, even mildly.
Six phases, and the first is the longest — nothing can be valued until treatment ends or plateaus.
Nothing can be valued until your doctor says you have stopped improving — maximum medical improvement. Settling before that point means paying for your own future care.
Records, bills, wage documentation, and a written demand go to the adjuster. Assembling complete records from every provider is usually what takes the time.
The adjuster reviews the file, often runs it through claims-evaluation software, and sets an authority range. Complex or disputed claims go to a supervisor or a committee.
Offers and counters. Straightforward claims resolve in a handful of exchanges; disputed liability or serious injury can take many rounds, and sometimes a lawsuit filing to move.
You sign a release ending the claim permanently. Read it — a broad release can extinguish claims against parties you did not intend to release.
The check goes to your attorney's trust account. Liens and medical providers are paid first, then fees and case costs, then the balance reaches you. Many states require the insurer to pay within roughly 30 days of the signed release.
The questions people actually search for on this topic, answered in full.
Three years from the crash. Claims against the District government require written notice within six months — much faster than the general deadline.
Both, depending who you were. Drivers face pure contributory negligence — any fault bars recovery. Pedestrians, cyclists, and scooter riders are judged under a comparative standard thanks to the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act.
No. DC is an at-fault jurisdiction with no PIP requirement — the at-fault driver's liability insurer pays, subject to whichever fault standard applies to you.
$25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $10,000 in property damage.
It determines which fault rule applies. A pedestrian with 20% fault still recovers 80% of damages under the comparative carve-out; a driver with the same 20% fault could see the entire claim barred under contributory negligence.
The questions people actually search for on this topic, answered in full.
Contingency fees typically run 33% to 40%. The common structure is one third if the case settles before a lawsuit is filed, rising to 40% once litigation begins or the case approaches trial. Case expenses — filing fees, records, expert reports — are usually deducted on top of the fee rather than out of it, so ask specifically which structure the agreement uses.
Compensation for physical injury or physical sickness is generally not taxable federally. Portions allocated to lost wages, punitive damages, and interest generally are, and previously deducted medical expenses can be taxable when reimbursed. How the settlement is allocated among those categories has real consequences, so it is worth addressing before the documents are signed rather than at tax time.
The order of payment is liens and medical providers first, then attorney fees and case expenses, then you. On a $100,000 settlement with a one-third fee, $4,000 in costs, and $15,000 in medical liens, the net is roughly $48,000 — and lien negotiation is frequently where the largest gains are available, because providers often accept substantial reductions.
The insurer typically issues the check within two to four weeks of receiving the signed release, and most states require payment within a reasonable period commonly understood as 30 to 45 days. Disbursement to you then depends on how quickly liens are resolved, which can add several weeks.
Usually not. Industry analysis consistently places first offers at roughly half of a claim's fair value, and adjusters are evaluated in part on savings against reserves. Cases involving a genuine lowball frequently resolve for several times the opening number once the file is properly documented — but the first offer is also final if you accept it, because the release closes the claim permanently.
In most cases yes. Health insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, and hospitals hold subrogation or lien rights against injury recoveries. Those liens are frequently negotiable — sometimes substantially — and reducing them raises your net recovery dollar for dollar without any further negotiation with the insurer.
Answer six questions and your range appears right here — free, no sign-up, no email wall. It is already set to District of Columbia, so the contributory negligence rule and this state’s settlement climate are built into the number.
Estimated range
1/6 answered
Laws summarized for general education and may change; verify current deadlines and rules with a licensed District of Columbia attorney before acting. Not legal advice. InjurySage is not a law firm. Page updated August 2026.