New Mexico car accident law: deadlines, fault and your claim

Filing deadlines in New Mexico#

New Mexico's statute of limitationsStatute of limitations. The law that sets the last day to file a lawsuit. After it passes, a court will usually dismiss the case, however strong it is. Glossary depends on what you are claiming for. Injury lawsuits have 3 years, while damage to a vehicle has a longer period, 4 years.

Children get extra time under NMSA 37-1-10: the deadline is extended so that an injured child has one year after reaching adulthood to sue. This is a form of tolling. The rule is stricter for government claims: under the Tort Claims Act, a child under 7 has until their ninth birthday to file, and other children get no extra time.

For a crash with a state vehicle, a city bus or a county truck, the Tort Claims Act requires a written notice stating the time, place and circumstances of the loss or injury within 90 days. It goes to the Risk Management Division for a state claim, the mayor for a city, the county clerk for a county, or the administrative head of another local public body. Without that notice of claimNotice of claim. A written notice that must be sent to a city, county or state agency before you can sue it, often within a few months. Glossary, a court cannot hear the case unless the government body already had actual notice of the occurrence, and courts read that exception narrowly.

How fault is shared in New Mexico#

New Mexico's Supreme Court adopted pure comparative fault in Scott v. Rizzo, 96 N.M. 682, 634 P.2d 1234 (1981). Each person's share of fault is set as a percentage, and your damages are reduced by your share. Unlike most states, there is no cut-off: a driver who was 70% at fault can still recover 30% of their damages.

Because both sides may recover, each driver's insurer usually argues over the percentages. The fault-rule explainer shows how pure comparative fault differs from the rules in neighboring states.

Insurance in New Mexico#

New Mexico is an at-fault state: the driver who caused the crash, through their insurer, pays for the losses. Drivers must carry at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries, plus $10,000 for property damage. New Mexico does not require personal injury protection (PIP).

Uninsured drivers are a real risk. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that 24.1% of New Mexico drivers were uninsured in 2023, one of the highest shares in the country and well above the national 15.4%.

• Uninsured motorist coverageUninsured motorist coverage. Coverage under your own policy that pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or too little. Glossary. Must be included at the state minimums or higher; the named insured can reject it.
• Underinsured motorist coverage. Included in uninsured motorist coverage; can be rejected with it.

If you were hit by a driver with no insurance, your own policy may be the main source of payment; see our guide to uninsured driver accidents. The New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance takes insurance questions and complaints at 855-427-5674.

After a crash in New Mexico#

New Mexico law requires drivers to notify the city police, the county sheriff or the nearest State Police office right away after a crash that injures or kills someone or causes apparent property damage of $500 or more (NMSA 66-7-206). Inside a city, the call goes to the city police; elsewhere, to the sheriff or the State Police.

Within 5 days after the crash, the driver must also send a written report to the New Mexico Department of Transportation when the crash meets the same injury or $500 damage test (NMSA 66-7-207). An officer who investigates must send a separate report within 24 hours after finishing the investigation. The reports drivers file are for the confidential use of the state transportation department and other agencies, and generally cannot be used as evidence at trial.

For the officer's crash report from the State Police, request a copy through the Department of Public Safety's online records request portal, with no fee for records delivered electronically. City police and sheriff's offices keep their own reports. Our guide to the police report explains what to check in it.

Special rules in New Mexico#

Liquor liability. New Mexico's dram shop lawDram shop law. A law that can make a bar or store liable for serving alcohol to someone who then causes a crash. Glossary lets a crash victim sue a licensed bar or store only if it sold or served alcohol to a person who was intoxicated, when it was reasonably apparent and the seller knew from the circumstances that the person was intoxicated (NMSA 41-11-1). A customer who was served while intoxicated faces a higher bar to sue the seller: gross negligence and reckless disregard for their safety.

Claims against government. The Tort Claims Act waives sovereign immunitySovereign immunity. The rule that governments cannot be sued unless a law allows it. Tort claims acts allow some claims, with limits. Glossary for injuries, deaths and property damage caused by a public employee's negligent operation or maintenance of a motor vehicle (NMSA 41-4-5). Those claims come with the short notice period and the 2 years deadline to sue described above, and a judgment against a government body cannot include punitive damages (NMSA 41-4-19).

Crashes on New Mexico roads#

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety counted 409 crash deaths in New Mexico in 2024. That is 19.2 per 100,000 people, far above the national rate of 11.5 per 100,000 people. Speeding was a factor in 36% of deaths, and 64% happened on rural roads.

Finding a lawyer in New Mexico#

The State Bar of New Mexico points the public to its online attorney directory, which you can search by practice area. For people with lower incomes, its Modest Means Helpline is a civil legal telephone helpline and pro bono referral service for New Mexico residents of modest means, up to 500% of federal poverty guidelines.

Before hiring a lawyer, confirm they are licensed in New Mexico; our guide to checking a lawyer's license explains how. Our guide to lawyer referral services covers other ways to find one.