New Jersey car accident help: injuries, medical bills and claims

How many people are hurt in New Jersey crashes each year?

More than 70,000 people a year: our count of NJDOT records shows 72,767 injured in 2023 and 81,389 in 2024. Preliminary 2025 records already list 79,363.

Crashes, deaths and county and town rankings by year are on New Jersey car accident statistics. Local counts are on the Newark crash data page, the Jersey City crash data page and the Garden State Parkway crash page.

County hubs list every town and road. See Bergen County, Middlesex County, Hudson County, Camden County, Morris County, Union County and Cumberland County.

Which kinds of crashes hurt the most people in NJ?

Rear-end crashes: 30.7 percent of injury crashes in 2023 and 2024, in our NJDOT count. See rear-end collision claims, pedestrians hit by a car, and the full crash-type table on NJ car accident statistics.

Other situations have their own guide: hurt as a passenger, truck accident claims and motorcycle accident claims. So do Uber and Lyft accident claims, drunk driving crash claims and hit and run claims, or help if you hit a deer in New Jersey.

What is the first thing you do after a car accident?

Get medical care, then write down what you saw and mark what you did not see.

The full order is in the first 24 hours checklist. Pain that starts days later is covered in the delayed symptom timeline; original files in using photos and videos.

How long do you have to report a car accident in NJ?

Call the police at once if anyone is hurt or one person's property damage tops $500. The driver also owes the Motor Vehicle Commission a written report within 10 days, unless an officer files one.

A knowing failure to report carries a $30 to $100 fine. If police did not investigate, NJDOT's SR-1 form gives an online acknowledgment you can send to an insurer.

The report stays with the agency that took it. The basic report is a public record; serious or fatal investigation files are not.

Town police reports, CrashDocs and the State Police portal steps are in getting your NJ crash report, and each box is explained in reading a NJ crash report. Who took yours: our NJ crash report finder.

Who pays my medical bills after a car accident in NJ?

Your own PIP pays first, whoever was at fault, unless you made health insurance primary. So yes, New Jersey is a no-fault (PIP) state.

The common PIP limit is $250,000, and bills above it can be claimed from the at-fault driver. In May 2026 the NJ Supreme Court held that future bills within your remaining PIP limit still go through PIP.²

Deductible, co-pay and limits are in PIP limits and medical bills, the primary choice in PIP or health insurance first. What no-fault does not mean is in is NJ a no-fault state; pay you missed is in claiming lost wages.

What happens if the other driver is at fault?

You claim from that driver's bodily injury liability insurer, which DOBI says pays pain, suffering and economic losses such as lost wages.

Pain and suffering depends on your lawsuit option. Under "limitation on lawsuit", the default if you never chose in writing, the injury must fit a listed type such as a displaced fracture or a doctor-certified permanent injury.

That filter bites in court: of 13 New Jersey appeals rulings on it since 2018, 7 found the injury did not qualify, and 2 upheld verdicts of $240,000 and $930,500. Every ruling is in our index of NJ car accident court decisions and the verbal threshold appeals rulings.³

Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?

Yes, if your share is not greater than the other side's. DOBI's example: at 10% fault you get 90%, at 80% nothing. Jury splits are in real NJ fault splits.

What if the driver had no insurance, or someone died?

Your own UM or UIM coverage may pay: see the uninsured motorist claim guide and UM and UIM appeals decisions. After a death, start with the wrongful death claim guide and what families should know after a serious crash. If you were hurt driving your own uninsured car, read hurt driving without insurance in NJ.

How long do you have to sue after a car accident in NJ?

Two years for an injury lawsuit, but a claim against a public body needs written notice within 90 days.

• Injury lawsuit: two years after the claim arises, under state law.
• Town, state, NJ Transit or Turnpike Authority: notice by day 90; late notice within one year only in extraordinary circumstances.
• Unpaid PIP benefits: a separate clock, generally two years, tied to when expenses arose and PIP last paid.⁴

All seven clocks, including suing the state, are in every deadline after a NJ car accident. A crash with a town, county or NJ Transit vehicle needs a tort claim notice within 90 days. Your dates: our NJ accident deadline checker.

Can someone sue you personally after a car accident in NJ?

Yes: a person hurt in a crash you caused can sue you, and DOBI says bodily injury liability coverage pays for claims and lawsuits like that.

A Standard Policy issued or renewed from 2026 carries at least $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident; one from 2023 to 2025, $25,000 and $50,000. The Basic Policy leaves this coverage out, and DOBI warns its insurer will not defend you.

Whether you owe anything above your limit depends on the claim. See NJ minimum insurance limits in 2026 and the injured person's two-year clock in every deadline after a NJ car accident.⁵

What should I tell the insurance company?

Only the facts you know, with gaps marked, and ask for separate claim numbers for medical bills, the car and the injury claim.

Read the full written release before signing, and treat a policy limit as a ceiling, not a value: there is no public NJ settlement average. Recorded statements and what not to say are in what to expect from an insurance adjuster.

To complain about an insurer, use its internal appeal first, then DOBI's Insurance Claims Ombudsman.⁶