Statute of limitations for car accidents in Michigan

Rule or statute summary

Run this scenario in DocketMath using the Statute Of Limitations calculator.

In Michigan, the statute of limitations (SOL) for most car accident injury claims filed as “lawsuits” in court is 6 years. This is the general/default rule for qualifying civil actions seeking damages for personal injuries and related injury-based claims governed by Michigan’s limitation statute.

Important clarity point: This snapshot shows the general/default SOL period. It is not presented here as a claim-type-specific sub-rule (meaning it’s not broken out into different, shorter/longer deadlines for particular car-accident theories). If a separate rule applies in your situation, that would be an exception to this baseline, not the default rule shown here.

What this means in practice (timeline mindset)

Use these milestones to plan your next steps:

• Date of accident / injury event: Generally, that’s the date the SOL clock starts (in many straightforward cases).
• Last day to file suit (typical baseline): Count forward 6 years using the rule below.
• Filing after the deadline: The defendant may raise the SOL as a defense. If successful, that can lead to dismissal or other adverse outcomes.

Gentle note (not legal advice): SOL calculations can depend on case-specific factors (for example, issues involving minors, certain procedural postures, delayed discovery concepts, or other statutory/ equitable exceptions). Treat the 6-year rule here as a planning baseline and verify whether any exception might apply.

Citations

Michigan’s general SOL period for qualifying injury-related civil actions is set by:

• MCL § 767.24(1) — establishes a 6-year limitations period for qualifying actions under Michigan law.

Reference source: Michigan government website — https://www.michigan.gov

Use these sources to confirm the authoritative text before finalizing the calculation.

• MCL § 600.5807

How the 6-year number ties to the statute

Based on the Michigan jurisdiction data provided for US-MI, the General SOL Period: 6 years corresponds to the rule referenced above in MCL § 767.24(1). This is why the calculator’s baseline computation uses a 6-year window starting from the accident/injury date you enter.

Use the calculator

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator converts the Michigan default SOL rule into a usable calendar deadline.

You can use it here: /tools/statute-of-limitations

Run the Statute Of Limitations calculation in DocketMath, then save the output so it can be audited later: Open the calculator.

Inputs to enter (and how outputs change)

To get a result you can use for planning, enter:

• Accident date (YYYY-MM-DD):
  This is the start date used for the calculation. A later accident date generally pushes the deadline later.
• Jurisdiction:
  Select Michigan (US-MI) so the tool applies the Michigan general/default 6-year SOL period tied to MCL § 767.24(1).
• Action type (if the calculator offers it):
  This snapshot reflects the general/default period. If the tool offers a more specific category and displays a different deadline, treat that difference as a prompt to check the underlying authority for that specific situation.

Output you’ll typically get

The calculator will generally compute:

• “Statute-of-limitations deadline” = accident date + 6 years
• A resulting calendar date you can use to guide your filing timeline.

Example (baseline computation)

If an accident occurred on January 15, 2022, then under the general/default 6-year rule in MCL § 767.24(1), the baseline deadline would be January 15, 2028.

Checklist for interpreting the result:

Related reading

• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Vermont — How to choose the right calculator
• Statute of limitations in Singapore: how to estimate the deadline — Full how-to guide with jurisdiction-specific rules
• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Connecticut — How to choose the right calculator