Maine Gives Most Car Accident Victims Six Years To File A Lawsuit
Maine gives people injured in most car accidents more time to file a lawsuit than many other states. Under state law, the general limitations period for many civil injury claims is six years. But that long window can create a false sense of security.
Some accident claims have much shorter deadlines, and evidence needed to prove what happened can disappear years before the statute of limitations expires. Surveillance footage may be overwritten, damaged vehicles may be repaired or destroyed, and witnesses' memories can fade while an insurance company is already building its side of the case.
At Jabar LaLiberty, LLC, our car accident lawyers have been helping injured Mainers since 1979. Knowing how much time you legally have is important, but protecting a car accident claim often means acting well before the final filing date.
Most Maine Car Accident Lawsuits Have A Six-Year Deadline
Under Maine Revised Statutes Title 14, § 752, civil actions generally must be commenced within six years after the cause of action accrues unless another law establishes a different deadline.
For a typical car accident injury claim, that generally means an injured person has six years to bring a negligence lawsuit arising from the crash.
Six years may sound like plenty of time, especially when you're focused on medical treatment, getting back to work, replacing a damaged vehicle, and dealing with insurance companies. But the statute of limitations only preserves the legal window for filing suit. It doesn't preserve the evidence needed to win the case.
Waiting several years can turn a claim that once had strong physical and eyewitness evidence into one that depends heavily on incomplete records and fading memories.
A Long Filing Period Doesn't Mean You Should Wait
Insurance companies usually begin investigating immediately after a serious crash. Adjusters collect statements, review police reports, inspect vehicle damage, obtain medical information, and evaluate fault while the injured person may still be trying to understand the extent of their injuries.
Your own investigation shouldn't begin years later.
Evidence with a limited lifespan can include:
- Surveillance and Dashcam Footage: Businesses, homes, traffic systems, and vehicle cameras may overwrite recordings within days or weeks.
- Vehicle Evidence: Damaged vehicles may be repaired, sold, salvaged, or destroyed before they can be inspected.
- Electronic Data: Event data recorder information and other digital evidence may become unavailable if it isn't preserved.
- Witness Testimony: Witnesses move, change contact information, and forget details as time passes.
- Crash Scene Evidence: Skid marks, debris, road conditions, construction zones, and other temporary conditions can change quickly.
Getting a copy of your Maine car accident report can provide an early record of the crash, including information about the vehicles, road conditions, witnesses, and the responding officer's observations.
Wrongful Death Claims Follow A Shorter Deadline
Families who lose a loved one in a fatal Maine crash shouldn't assume the general six-year deadline applies.
Under Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C, § 2-807, a wrongful death action generally must be commenced within three years after the person's death.
That deadline is separate from any criminal investigation or prosecution arising from the crash. A family generally can't assume that waiting for a criminal case to conclude will extend the time available to pursue a civil wrongful death claim.
Fatal crashes also often involve evidence that needs immediate preservation, including vehicle data, toxicology evidence, video, witness statements, and accident reconstruction findings. The shorter filing period makes early investigation especially important.
Government Vehicle Claims Can Require Action Within One Year
A collision involving a government vehicle can trigger a very different set of deadlines.
Examples may include crashes involving municipal vehicles, state-owned vehicles, school district vehicles, snowplows, or other public entities and employees, depending on the circumstances.
Under the Maine Tort Claims Act notice requirements, a claimant generally must provide formal written notice within 365 days after an eligible claim accrues. The law contains specific requirements governing what the notice must include and where it must be sent.
There can also be a much shorter deadline for the lawsuit itself. Title 14, § 8110 generally requires permitted claims against governmental entities or employees under the Act to be filed within two years after the claim accrues.
That means relying only on Maine's general six-year rule after a crash involving a government entity can be a serious mistake.
Minors And Other Legal Disabilities Can Affect The Timeline
Maine law also contains tolling provisions that can affect certain injured people who were under a legal disability when their claim accrued.
Under Title 14, § 853, special timing rules can apply when a person entitled to bring certain claims is a minor or falls within another category identified by the statute when the cause of action accrues.
Government claims involving minors have their own specific notice and filing provisions as well.
These rules shouldn't be treated as a reason to postpone investigating a child's injury claim. Evidence can still disappear while a filing period is tolled or extended.
Settlement Negotiations Don't Automatically Stop The Clock
Many injured people spend months communicating with an insurance company before considering a lawsuit. That can create a dangerous assumption that ongoing negotiations somehow pause the legal deadline.
In general, simply discussing settlement with an insurer doesn't mean the statute of limitations has stopped running.
An adjuster may continue requesting medical records, reviewing bills, questioning treatment, or making settlement offers while the filing deadline gets closer. Once the applicable limitations period expires, the injured person can lose the ability to use a lawsuit as leverage if no valid exception applies.
That doesn't mean every car accident case needs to be filed immediately. It means negotiations should take place with a clear understanding of the actual deadline and enough time remaining to file suit when necessary.
Medical Treatment Can Take Years While Evidence Gets Older
One reason Maine's six-year period can seem useful is that serious injuries sometimes take a long time to stabilize.
A person with a traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, fracture, shoulder injury, or chronic pain may undergo surgery, rehabilitation, follow-up testing, and additional treatment over months or years. Doctors may not immediately know whether the person will fully recover or face permanent limitations.
Waiting for the medical picture to become clearer isn't the same as waiting to investigate the crash.
A strong claim can preserve evidence early while medical treatment continues. That allows the eventual demand for car accident compensation to reflect both the evidence of fault and the full extent of the injured person's losses.
Missing The Correct Deadline Can End A Valid Claim
Once the applicable statute of limitations expires, the defendant can raise that deadline as a defense and seek dismissal of the lawsuit.
The consequences can be severe. An injured person may lose the ability to pursue compensation for:
- Medical Expenses: Past treatment as well as reasonably anticipated future medical care.
- Lost Income: Wages lost while recovering from crash-related injuries.
- Reduced Earning Capacity: Future financial losses caused by lasting physical or cognitive limitations.
- Pain and Suffering: Physical pain and the broader effects of serious injuries on daily life.
- Other Accident-Related Losses: Additional damages that may be recoverable based on the circumstances of the claim.
A missed deadline can matter regardless of how clear the other driver's fault may have seemed when the accident happened.
Early Action Protects More Than The Filing Deadline
Knowing that Maine allows six years for many car accident lawsuits shouldn't change the basic steps that help protect a claim immediately after a crash.
When possible, injured people should get medical attention, preserve photographs and video, identify witnesses, obtain the crash report, save insurance and repair documents, and keep records showing how the injuries affect their work and daily lives.
The earlier those steps begin, the less likely the case will depend on trying to reconstruct events years later.
A long statute of limitations is valuable because it gives injured people time to pursue a claim properly. It shouldn't be mistaken for six years in which nothing needs to happen.
A Maine Car Accident Lawyer Can Identify The Deadline Before It Becomes A Problem
Different deadlines can apply depending on who was involved, whether someone died, whether a government entity may be responsible, and whether special tolling rules apply. Guessing wrong can put an otherwise valid claim at risk.
At Jabar LaLiberty, LLC, our attorneys investigate car accidents, preserve evidence, identify the deadlines that apply, deal with insurance companies, and prepare cases for court when a fair resolution can't be reached. We've been helping injured Mainers since 1979, including people facing serious injuries and disputed insurance claims.
You may have six years to file a typical Maine car accident lawsuit, but there's rarely a good reason to wait years to find out where your case stands. Contact us for a free consultation and learn which deadlines apply to your claim.
"It's not just about the case. It's about the person, and when the person is hurt, he's very understanding about everything that goes on with it; the doctors, the surgery. Nobody could have done any better than Jason did. It was really a hard case; it involved a lot of depositions because the insurance companies didn't want to pay. They wanted to say it was my fault or just a bad accident. And like I said, he never backed down." - Personal injury client, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐