Rhode Island car accident law: deadlines, fault and your claim

Filing deadlines in Rhode Island#

Rhode Island'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 for injuries is longer than in many states. The deadline for vehicle damage comes from the state's general catch-all limit for civil actions, which is much longer still.

Injured children. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-19, a person under 18 when the claim arose can sue within the normal time limit after turning 18. This pause is called tollingTolling. Pausing the limitations clock, for example while the injured person is a child. Glossary. For a crash injury, that generally means a child has until three years after the 18th birthday to sue.

Claims against a city or town. Before suing a city or town, you must present a detailed account of the claim to the city or town council, explaining how the claim arose. If the claim is not paid within 40 days of that presentment, you can then sue. The general three-year deadline still applies, so the presentment needs to leave enough time.

You can compare deadlines in other states with the deadline lookup tool.

How fault is shared in Rhode Island#

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-20-4, your own negligence does not bar a claim. You can recover even if you were mostly at fault; your award is reduced by your share of the fault. This is the most forgiving fault rule used in the US, and it means fault arguments in Rhode Island are about how much you recover, not whether you recover.

Try the fault-rule explainer to compare Rhode Island with states that cut off recovery at 50% or 51%.

Insurance in Rhode Island#

Rhode Island drivers must carry liability insurance of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries, plus $25,000 for property damage. Rhode Island is an at-fault state: the driver who caused the crash, through their insurer, pays for the losses. Personal injury protectionPersonal injury protection (PIP). Coverage under your own policy that pays medical bills and some lost income after a crash, whoever caused it. Glossary (PIP) is not required.

• Uninsured motorist coverageUninsured motorist coverage. Coverage under your own policy that pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance, or too little. Glossary: Required: equal to your bodily injury limits; can be lowered in writing (not below 25/50), or dropped only if you buy minimum coverage and sign an advisory notice.
• Underinsured motorist coverage: Included in uninsured motorist coverage (Rhode Island law treats underinsured drivers as uninsured).

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that 12.4% of Rhode Island drivers were uninsured in 2023, compared with 15.4% nationally. See uninsured driver accidents. The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Insurance Division answers questions about insurers at 401-462-9520.

After a crash in Rhode Island#

Rhode Island law puts two reporting duties on drivers:

1. Call the police. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-26-3.2, drivers must notify the nearest police authority right away if anyone is hurt or killed, or a vehicle is disabled so that it cannot be operated normally and safely.
2. File a written report. Under § 31-26-6, if anyone is hurt or killed, or any one person's property damage is more than $1,000, the driver must send a written report to the Division of Motor Vehicles within 21 days, on the division's forms.

If police came to the scene, ask the officer for the report number and how to request a copy of the crash reportCrash report. The official report an officer writes after investigating a crash, with the drivers, vehicles, witnesses and the officer's notes. Glossary from that department. Insurers will ask for that number. Read more about police reports.

Special rules in Rhode Island#

Damage caps for government claims. In a tort case against the state, damages cannot exceed $100,000. The same cap of $100,000 applies to a city, town or fire district. Neither cap applies when the government was engaged in a proprietary function; a licensed attorney can tell whether that exception fits a particular crash.

A long deadline for property damage. Because vehicle damage falls under the general limit of 10 years, the property part of a claim can outlast the injury part by years.

Crashes on Rhode Island roads#

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety counted 52 crash deaths in Rhode Island in 2024, or 4.7 per 100,000 people, the lowest rate of any state and well below the national rate of 11.5 per 100,000 people. An estimated 48% of passenger vehicle drivers killed had a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or more. Speeding played a part in 31% of deaths, and 13% happened on rural roads. See drunk driver accidents for how those claims work.

Finding a lawyer in Rhode Island#

The Rhode Island Bar Association runs a lawyer referral serviceLawyer referral service. A service, often run by a state or local bar association, that listens to a caller's problem and refers them to a lawyer on its panel who handles that kind of case. Glossary, its Lawyer Referral Program, which the state courts list among their access-to-justice resources. Before you hire anyone, look the lawyer up in the Rhode Island Judiciary's Attorney Search. See how to check a lawyer's license for what else to look for.