Statute of limitations for car accidents in North Dakota

Rule or statute summary

In North Dakota, the statute of limitations (often abbreviated SOL) for a car-accident lawsuit is determined primarily by what legal claim you plan to bring, not just the crash date.

Most motor-vehicle collision disputes fall into a few common categories:

• Personal injury (for example, bodily injury from negligence)
• Property damage (for example, vehicle or other property damage from the crash)
• Wrongful death (if someone died due to the crash)

North Dakota SOL deadlines are generally measured from when the cause of action accrues—which, for many injury cases, is closely tied to the date of the crash. However, accrual rules and exceptions can vary depending on the facts, such as when an injury is discovered or who is legally eligible to bring the claim. Because those details can change the effective deadline, it’s important to identify the correct claim category before you calculate a “latest time to sue” date.

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator helps you model key timelines in a structured way. You’ll enter a trigger/accrual date (often the crash date, unless a different accrual rule applies) and optionally a filing date. The tool then computes the deadline for filing under the limitations period you select.

Warning (gentle disclaimer): This is a reference snapshot for North Dakota timelines and is not legal advice. SOL outcomes can depend on the claim type, accrual facts, and other special circumstances. If your situation is unusual, consider checking with a qualified attorney.

Citations

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

• N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-18

Capture the source for each input so another team member can verify the same result quickly.

When rules change, rerun the calculation with updated inputs and store the revision in the matter record.

1) Personal injury (negligence / bodily injury from a car accident)

North Dakota generally uses a two-year SOL for many personal injury actions:

• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18 — This statute requires that covered actions be commenced within the prescribed time after the cause of action accrues, including:

  • “An action to recover damages for injuries to the person … within two years …”

Practical takeaway: If your car-accident claim is framed as a typical negligence-based injury case, the two-year period in N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18 is often the starting point for your filing deadline.

2) Property damage (damage to personal property from a crash)

Property damage can be more fact- and theory-dependent. Some cases are pled as negligence/tort actions tied to bodily injury concepts, while other claims may be framed differently (for example, contract-based theories or other causes of action).

Practical takeaway: Because property damage timing can turn on how the claim is legally categorized, you should match the claim theory to the correct limitations category in the North Dakota limitations framework rather than assuming all property-damage claims automatically use the same clock as personal injury.

3) Wrongful death (fatal crashes)

Wrongful death timing is driven by a combination of:

1. The wrongful death statute that creates the cause of action, and
2. The North Dakota limitations provisions that set the time to commence covered actions.

Key citations include:

• N.D.C.C. § 32-03-01 — creates the wrongful death cause of action.
• N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18 — includes limitations periods for covered actions and is the framework that supplies the time-to-file limits for various categories (including those related to wrongful acts/injuries to the person).

Practical takeaway: Wrongful death deadlines can involve how the claim is characterized and when the relevant accrual facts are considered. Use caution when converting “crash date” into a deadline without confirming the applicable accrual trigger.

4) Federal overlay (limited scenarios)

If a claim is brought under a specific federal statute, the SOL could differ from North Dakota’s general limitations approach.

Practical takeaway: For typical car-accident tort claims between drivers, N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18 is often the starting point. For specialized claims (for example, certain federal statutory claims), the limitations period may be controlled by the federal law.

Use the calculator

Use DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator to convert the selected limitations period into a calendar deadline.

Primary CTA: **Use the statute-of-limitations calculator

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

What inputs you’ll use

You’ll typically enter:

• Jurisdiction: US-ND
• Claim type:

  • Personal injury (often the most common car-accident category)
  • Wrongful death (if applicable)
  • Other categories if your attorney/pleading uses a different legal framing
• Trigger/accrual date: often the crash date, unless your accrual rules differ
• Filing date (optional): to check whether the filing falls within the computed deadline

How the output changes

The computed “latest file by” date changes based on:

• Claim type selected (because the limitations period can differ by category)
• Trigger/accrual date (the date used to start the limitations clock)
• Calendar math (including how the calculator counts the time to produce an actual date)

Example workflow (illustrative only)

If you input:

• Crash/trigger date: 2026-04-15
• Claim type: Personal injury
• Limitations period: 2 years under N.D.C.C. § 28-01-18

DocketMath would compute a “latest file by” deadline that is two years from the trigger date (subject to the accrual rule you selected). If your filing date is later than that computed deadline, the tool flags it as potentially outside the limitations window for the selected rule.

Quick checklist before relying on the deadline

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