Nevada Motor Vehicle Accident Laws

Insurance System & Requirements

Nevada follows an at-fault state. The driver who causes a crash is financially responsible for the resulting damages, and an injured person can recover through the at-fault driver's insurer, their own applicable coverage, or a lawsuit. The state's mandatory insurance law covers liability only, so there is no automatic no-fault payment for your own medical bills.

Minimum required coverage

Every owner of a registered vehicle must continuously carry liability insurance from a company licensed in Nevada:

• Bodily injury: $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash
• Property damage: $20,000 per crash

This is commonly written as 25/50/20. The $50,000 limit is shared by everyone hurt in the crash, and no single person can collect more than $25,000 from it. Coverage must stay in place for as long as the vehicle is registered in Nevada or present in the state, even if it sits parked. Mopeds are exempt. These limits are a floor, and an at-fault driver remains personally liable for anything a serious crash costs beyond their policy.

Proof of insurance

The policy must come from an insurer licensed and approved to do business in Nevada, and the registered owner must be a named insured. Keep proof in the vehicle and hand it over when a peace officer or DMV representative asks. Electronic proof is accepted, and showing it on your phone doesn't give the officer consent to look through anything else on the device. If you drive someone else's vehicle, make sure proof of its coverage is in the car or available electronically, or carry your own policy that covers you as the driver.

Penalties for driving without insurance

Driving without the required insurance is a misdemeanor with a fine of $600 to $1,000 per violation. For a first violation, the fine drops to $100 if you buy a policy before sentencing (this reduction does not apply to fleet-registered or self-insured vehicles). A court cannot find you guilty or fine you if you can show your coverage was in effect when proof was demanded. It can also suspend part of the fine if you show proof of active coverage every month for 12 months.

Registration suspension for a lapse in coverage

Separate from any court penalty, the DMV checks coverage electronically, and Nevada has no grace period. If the DMV can't verify your coverage, a verification request goes out that you must answer within 15 days. If coverage still isn't confirmed, a certified letter follows, and your registration is suspended 10 days after it's mailed. At a crash scene, an officer who finds a suspended registration with the plates not surrendered must cite the owner and have the vehicle towed and impounded (NRS 484E.060).

Reinstatement costs depend on how long coverage lapsed. For a first offense:

Length of lapse	Fee	Fine	Total	SR-22
1 to 30 days	$250	None	$250	No
31 to 90 days	$250	$250	$500	No
91 to 180 days	$250	$500	$750	3 years
181 days or more	$250	$1,000	$1,250	3 years

A second lapse within five years raises the fee to $500 (totals run $500 to $1,500). A third raises it to $750 (totals run $750 to $1,750) and always brings a 3-year SR-22 and a minimum 30-day driver's license suspension. An SR-22 is a certificate your insurer files with the DMV. If it lapses, your license and the registrations on every vehicle in your name are suspended. Reinstating with an SR-22 must be done at a DMV office, and reinstating a suspended license costs another $75 plus license and testing fees.

If the vehicle sat unused because it was broken down or in seasonal storage, the fee can drop to $50 with notarized affidavits and proof such as repair receipts or storage contracts. The fine can still apply, and financial hardship doesn't qualify. To avoid all of this, cancel your registration and surrender your plates before you drop liability coverage.

Uninsured motorist coverage: included unless you reject it

Under NRS 690B.020, every Nevada liability policy must include uninsured motorist (UM) coverage for bodily injury and death, at a minimum of $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash. The only way to go without it is for a named insured to reject it in writing on a form the insurer provides. That rejection carries over to each renewal unless you later request the coverage in writing. UM does not pay for damage to your vehicle, so collision coverage matters there.

Under the statute, a driver counts as uninsured if they:

• Have no liability insurance
• Carry less than the legal minimum
• Have an insurer that denies coverage or is insolvent (the insolvency must exist at the time of the crash or within 2 years after)
• Drive without the owner's permission or outside the owner's policy, with no other coverage applying

A hit-and-run driver also qualifies, but only if the crash involved physical contact with you or your vehicle and you reported it on time to the police, the sheriff, or the Nevada Highway Patrol. A vehicle in an injury crash is presumed uninsured if no proof of insurance reaches the DMV within 60 days.

Underinsured motorist coverage and higher limits

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage pays the difference when the at-fault driver's policy is too small to cover your losses, up to your own UIM limit. Under NRS 687B.145, insurers must offer UM and UIM at limits equal to your bodily injury liability limits. They do not have to re-offer it on a replacement or amended policy, but you can buy it at any time by requesting it in writing, and every renewal must include a copy of the offer form. UIM can also cover damages above the state's $200,000 cap when a government employee caused your injuries, which the Compensation section covers.

Other optional coverage

Nevada only requires liability coverage, so these are optional:

• Medical payments (MedPay): Insurers must offer at least $1,000 in coverage for reasonable and necessary medical expenses from a crash. Higher limits are available and vary by insurer. It pays regardless of who caused the crash, and you can add it at any time by requesting it in writing. Nevada's Supreme Court has also held that an insurer can't use a subrogation clause to recover MedPay payments from you (Maxwell v. Allstate, 1986)
• Collision: Pays for damage to your own vehicle in a crash
• Comprehensive: Pays for non-crash damage such as theft, vandalism, or weather

Rideshare drivers

Nevada sets two tiers, based on what the driver is doing:

• Logged into the app and available, but no ride accepted: $50,000 per person / $100,000 per crash for injuries, plus $25,000 for property damage
• From the moment the driver accepts a ride until the last passenger exits: at least $1,000,000 combined for injury, death, and property damage, for crashes on or after October 1, 2025. The minimum was $1,500,000 before that date

The required insurance can come from the driver's policy, the rideshare company's, or both, and the company's policy is primary if the driver's lapses. UM/UIM, medical payments, collision, and comprehensive are allowed but not required. A rideshare company is not vicariously liable for a driver's or passenger's acts, though other legal theories against the company remain available if they can be proven.

Fault Laws

Modified comparative negligence: you can still recover at 50%

Nevada enacts a modified comparative negligence law under NRS 41.141. If you share the blame for a crash, your compensation drops by your percentage of fault. You lose the claim only if your fault is greater than the other driver's, or greater than the combined fault of several drivers. In practice, that means you recover at 50% fault and recover nothing at 51%.

Take a $100,000 verdict:

• At 20% fault, you recover $80,000
• At 50% fault, you recover $50,000
• At 51% fault, you recover $0

Because the cutoff is so sharp, evidence that shifts even a few points of fault matters. Police reports, photos, dashcam footage, and witness statements all feed into how a jury splits the percentages.

If the at-fault driver was convicted of the crime that caused your injury, that conviction is conclusive evidence of the facts needed to establish civil liability, so you generally don't have to prove those facts again (NRS 41.133).

When more than one driver is at fault

When several defendants are held responsible, each one is liable only for their own percentage of the judgment. Say a jury awards $100,000 and finds you not at fault, Driver A 70% at fault, and Driver B 30% at fault. Driver A owes $70,000 and Driver B owes $30,000. If Driver B is uninsured and can't pay, you generally can't collect that $30,000 from Driver A. Your own uninsured motorist coverage, covered in the Insurance section above, may help fill that gap.

The statute keeps joint liability in a few situations, where each defendant can be made to pay the whole judgment. They are claims based on strict liability, intentional torts, toxic or hazardous substances, defendants acting in concert, and injuries caused by a defective product. If one defendant settles before judgment, the court deducts the settlement amount from what you can collect from the rest.

Multi-vehicle collisions

In a crash involving several vehicles, the jury assigns each party remaining in the case a percentage of fault, and the rules above apply to each. These cases often need accident reconstruction, since a single investigation may have to sort out who hit whom and in what order.

Passengers and seat belts

An injured passenger can bring a claim against any driver who caused the crash, including the driver of their own vehicle, even a friend or family member. A claim against your own driver goes through that driver's liability insurance. If several drivers share the blame, a passenger can pursue all of them in the same case, subject to the several-liability rule above.

Passengers rarely bear fault because they aren't driving. One can be assigned a share only when their own actions contributed to the crash, such as grabbing the steering wheel or distracting the driver. A passenger's recovery is reduced only by their own percentage of fault, so in most cases it isn't reduced at all.

Seat belts work differently in Nevada than in many states. The law requires them for drivers and for passengers who are 6 or older or at least 57 inches tall, and violators face a civil penalty of up to $25. But under NRS 484D.495, not wearing a belt may not be considered as negligence or as causation in any civil action. A defendant can't use it to reduce your compensation.

Statute of Limitations

Standard filing deadlines in Nevada

• Personal injury: 2 years from the date of the crash (NRS 11.190(4)(e)). This covers drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists injured by another's wrongful act or neglect
• Property damage: 3 years (NRS 11.190(3)(c)), the deadline for injury to personal property such as your vehicle. If you're suing for both injury and property damage, treat the shorter 2-year deadline as your deadline
• Wrongful death: 2 years from the date of death (NRS 11.190(4)(e)). Under NRS 41.085, the decedent's heirs (the people who would inherit if there were no will) and the estate's personal representative can each bring a claim, and the claims can be joined in one case
• Injury to a pet: 2 years (NRS 11.190(4)(f))

Nevada enforces strict deadlines, and missing one typically ends the claim, however strong it would have been.

Exceptions that can extend the deadline

• Minors: Under NRS 11.250, the time a person is under 18 doesn't count toward the deadline. An injured minor has until their 20th birthday to file an injury claim, and until their 21st birthday for a property damage claim. In practice, a parent or guardian usually files well before that
• Other disabilities: The same statute pauses the clock for a person who was insane when the claim arose (the statute's term) and for a child placed in state custody before 18, except during any period of imprisonment, parole, or probation
• Discovery rule: In 2024, the Nevada Supreme Court held that the 2-year injury and wrongful death deadline can start later than the crash. The clock can wait until you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the facts supporting your claim (Adkins v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.). Courts expect reasonable diligence, and the general rule still applies to injuries you knew about at the scene: a claim accrues when the wrong occurs and you can seek relief. Don't plan around it
• Defendant out of state: Under NRS 11.300, if the at-fault person is out of state when the claim arises, you can file within the normal period after they return. If they leave afterward, the time they're gone doesn't count. Nevada courts have declined to apply this pause when the defendant could still be served with legal papers, so don't rely on it if you can find the person

Your insurance policy also sets its own deadlines for reporting a crash and filing a claim. Those are usually much shorter than these statutory deadlines, so check your policy.

Claims against government entities

If a government vehicle or employee was involved, a separate process applies, and the Compensation section below covers the $200,000 damages cap.

• Written claim: Under NRS 41.036, you must file a written claim within 2 years with the Attorney General (for the state or a state agency) or with the governing body (for a city, county, school district, or other political subdivision)
• Lawsuit: The statute says filing a claim isn't a condition of bringing a lawsuit against the government, but it also ties the government's waiver of immunity to complying with these rules. Because of that tension, file the written claim within 2 years regardless. For a city or county employee, a valid claim against their employer must be filed before you can sue the employee personally (NRS 41.039)
• Where to sue: A lawsuit against the State must name the State and be filed in the county where the claim arose or in Carson City, with the summons served on the Attorney General and the agency head (NRS 41.031)
• Road-condition claims: Nevada bars claims based only on a government's failure to inspect a street or highway for hazards, or failure to discover one, and claims based on discretionary decisions (NRS 41.032 and 41.033). A road-defect case against a public entity needs more than "they should have found the hazard"

MVA Procedures & Police Involvement

At the scene

These duties apply on highways and on premises open to the public, such as parking lots. The one exception is the police-notice rule for unattended property, which applies only on highways.

• Injury or death: Stop at or near the scene and stay until you've given your information and helped anyone hurt. Leaving is a category B felony: 2 to 20 years and a $2,000 to $5,000 fine, charged separately for each person hurt, with no probation (NRS 484E.010)
• Damaged attended vehicle or property: Stop immediately, and move your vehicle out of traffic if it's a hazard and can be moved safely (NRS 484E.020)
• Unattended vehicle or property: Stop, find the owner or leave a conspicuous note with your name and address and the vehicle owner's. On a highway, also notify police or the Highway Patrol right away (NRS 484E.040 and 484E.050)

In any crash with injury, death, or damage to an attended vehicle or property, you must also give your name, address, and registration number, show your license on request, and help anyone injured, including arranging a ride to a hospital. If no officer is present, report the crash to police or the Highway Patrol right away, but only if someone was hurt or the crash was on a highway (NRS 484E.030). Apart from leaving an injury crash, each of these violations is a misdemeanor.

Police reports

Officers who investigate a crash with an injury, death, or $750 or more in damage must submit a report within 10 days. Unlike a driver's DMV report, an officer's report is not confidential (NRS 484E.110).

DMV crash report (Form SR-1)

Within 10 days, report to the DMV any crash that caused injury, death, or $750 or more in damage. You're exempt only if police investigated and the officer's report lists each driver's insurer, policy number, and coverage dates. If the driver can't file, the vehicle's owner must.

Attach:

• A copy of the insurance card in effect on the crash date
• A repair estimate or total-loss statement if damage reached $750, from a repair garage, licensed adjuster, or licensed appraiser
• A doctor's statement for each person injured in your vehicle

Incomplete reports are void. Mail the form to the Nevada DMV, 555 Wright Way, Carson City, NV 89711. Signing authorizes the DMV to share your name, address, and insurance with the other drivers and their insurers. Otherwise the report is confidential and can't be used as trial evidence. A willful failure to file can suspend your driving privilege for up to 1 year, and false information is a gross misdemeanor (NRS 484E.070 and 484E.080).

Special situations

• Hit-and-run: Report immediately. Uninsured motorist coverage for an unidentified driver requires physical contact and a timely report
• Private property: A private home's driveway or a private farm road isn't covered by these duties, but fault and your insurance claim work the same way. A property owner may share liability if a hazard contributed
• Animals: Nevada's crash statutes don't address animal strikes. If one injures someone or causes $750 or more in damage, the safest course is to treat it like any other crash and file the SR-1

Getting your report

• Nevada Highway Patrol: Request it at crashdocs.org with the crash number (it starts with "NHP"), an involved person's last name, and the crash date. Reports are available 7 to 14 days after the crash and cost $10. Fatal crash reports and all crash photos ($5 for photos) must be requested from a regional office, open Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM
• City or county police: Ask the investigating agency. Fees vary
• The DMV: It doesn't release crash records to the public. If you don't know the other driver or their insurer, the DMV may disclose that to people involved in the crash and their insurers (NRS 484E.070(6))

Compensation Limits

Economic damages

Medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and property damage have no cap in a crash claim. You must prove them, and your percentage of fault reduces them. The practical limit is collectability: the at-fault driver's policy, then your own UM/UIM coverage.

Non-economic damages

Pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life are uncapped in a crash claim against a private party. Nevada caps them only in medical malpractice. If a medical provider's negligence worsens your injuries after a crash, that separate claim carries its own cap ($590,000 in 2026, rising to $750,000 in 2028).

Wrongful death

• Heirs can recover grief and sorrow, lost support, companionship, society, comfort, and consortium, plus the decedent's pain, suffering, and disfigurement. Those proceeds can't be used to pay the decedent's debts
• The estate can recover medical and funeral expenses and any punitive damages the decedent could have recovered, but not pain and suffering. These proceeds can be used to pay the decedent's debts

Punitive damages

You must prove oppression, fraud, or malice by clear and convincing evidence (NRS 42.005). They're capped at 3 times compensatory damages if those are $100,000 or more, or at a flat $300,000 if less, and the jury isn't told about the cap. The cap doesn't apply to:

• Injuries caused by driving under the influence in violation of NRS 484C.110, 484C.130, or 484C.430, which NRS 42.010 treats as its own claim
• Defective products, insurer bad faith, housing discrimination, toxic or hazardous material, and defamation

A company is liable for an employee's punitive damages only if the company knew in advance the employee was unfit, authorized or ratified the act, or was personally guilty of it (NRS 42.007).

If the at-fault driver was convicted of the crime that caused your injury, that conviction is conclusive evidence of the facts needed to establish civil liability (NRS 41.133).

Claims against government entities

Total damages are capped at $200,000 per claimant, economic and non-economic combined, plus interest from the date of judgment. Punitive damages aren't allowed (NRS 41.035). Your own UIM coverage can pay damages above the cap, up to your UIM limits.

Pets

Up to $5,000 per pet, for dogs and cats only. It covers veterinary costs, lost market value or market value if the pet dies, and burial, with attorney's fees listed separately. Noneconomic and punitive damages aren't available (NRS 41.740).

Medical Coverage Considerations

No no-fault coverage, so expect to front the bills

Nevada has no PIP, so nothing pays your medical bills automatically after a crash. In practice, bills are paid in roughly this order: MedPay if you have it, then your health insurance, with recovery from the at-fault driver's insurer (or your own UM/UIM) coming later, once fault is settled.

Medical Payments coverage (MedPay)

MedPay is optional, pays regardless of fault, and covers reasonable and necessary medical expenses up to your limit. Insurers must offer at least $1,000, higher limits vary by insurer, and you can add it at any time by requesting it in writing (NRS 687B.145). A Nevada Supreme Court decision bars an insurer from using a subrogation clause to recover MedPay payments from you (Maxwell v. Allstate, 1986). It's a good fit for deductibles, copays, and early costs like an ambulance ride.

Health insurance

Your health insurer is the next payer for crash-related care. Nevada lets group health policies include a lien on your recovery from the at-fault party, capped at what the insurer actually paid (NRS 689B.034). A "made whole" principle may limit what an insurer can take when your recovery doesn't cover all your losses, but clear plan language can override it. Self-funded employer plans, which follow federal rules, generally go by their plan documents. Medicaid has its own statutory lien on your recovery, though the state can reduce it in recognition of your attorney's work (NRS 422.293). Medicare follows separate federal rules, so report the claim to Medicare and Medicaid promptly.

The at-fault driver's liability insurance

Once fault is established, the at-fault driver's bodily injury coverage is the main source of recovery for medical bills. Payment often waits until fault is resolved, and the $25,000 per-person minimum can run out fast in a serious crash.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage

Your UM coverage can pay medical bills when the at-fault driver is uninsured or leaves the scene (a hit-and-run needs physical contact and a timely report). UIM covers the gap when their policy is too small. Both are covered in the Insurance section above. If your UM insurer pays and you later recover from the at-fault driver, the insurer is entitled to be repaid from that recovery, up to the amount paid (NRS 690B.020(5)).

Hospital liens

A hospital that treats your crash injuries can claim a lien on any judgment or settlement, up to the reasonable value of the hospital care you received before the settlement (NRS 108.590). Key limits:

• Perfecting the lien: Before any money is paid to you, the hospital must record an itemized notice of lien with the county recorder. Before the judgment or settlement, the hospital must also serve the at-fault party and their insurer by certified mail (NRS 108.610)
• Contracted insurers: If your health insurer has a contract with the hospital, the hospital must first send a notice of intent within 90 days after your hospitalization ends, then start collection efforts within 30 days, or the notice is void (NRS 108.605)
• What's off limits: No lien attaches to the part of your recovery that pays your attorney's fees, costs, and expenses, or to care provided after a settlement (NRS 108.600)
• Public programs: If you may be eligible for Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, or another public program, the hospital can't collect more than 55% of its billed charges through the lien (NRS 108.655)

The lien doesn't reach workers' compensation claims.

Unique Local Factors

Open range and livestock on rural highways

Much of rural Nevada is "open range," meaning unenclosed land outside cities and towns where livestock graze by custom, license, lease, or permit. On an open-range highway, a livestock owner has no duty to keep animals off the road and isn't liable for a collision between a vehicle and their animal. If you hit a cow on an "Open Range" stretch, expect to cover your own damage through your own policy.

The exception is a fenced highway right-of-way: an owner who negligently lets an animal inside one is liable for the resulting collision. Courts don't treat that as automatic fault, so the owner's negligence still has to be shown. Note exactly where the crash happened, since it can decide who is responsible.

High speeds and long distances

Nevada law bars speeds above 80 mph, and NDOT can post up to that limit where it's safe (NRS 484B.600 and 484B.613). NDOT has posted 80 mph on sections of I-80 between Fernley and Winnemucca, excluding the Lovelock area. At those speeds, crashes tend to be more severe, and the distances between towns mean emergency response can take longer. Know your location before you call for help on a remote road.

Winter driving around Reno and Lake Tahoe

On Mt. Rose Highway (SR 431), Kingsbury Grade (SR 207), and US 50 between Glenbrook and Carson City, vehicles must carry approved chains or be four-wheel or all-wheel drive with snow tires whenever a chain restriction is posted. Ignoring it can get you cited. Check conditions before you go by dialing 511 in Nevada or visiting nvroads.com. A crash in a restricted zone can raise fault questions about whether a driver had the required traction equipment.

Heat, storms, and tourist traffic

Summer heat across southern Nevada strains tires and engines and makes breakdowns on remote roads more dangerous, and desert storms can flood washes and low crossings without warning. Never drive into water covering a road. In Las Vegas, heavy tourist traffic means drivers unfamiliar with the roads, rental cars, rideshares, and pedestrians near the Strip. If an out-of-state driver hurt you, check early that their insurance is valid and that your own UM/UIM coverage is in place.

Local Resources & Contacts

Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
Handles driver’s licenses, vehicle registration, insurance verification, and the state-level crash reporting requirement (Form SR-1).

• Website: dmv.nv.gov
• Insurance requirements and suspensions: dmv.nv.gov/insurance.htm
• SR-1 crash report form: dmv.nv.gov/pdfforms/sr1.pdf
• Mail SR-1 reports to: Nevada DMV, 555 Wright Way, Carson City, NV 89711
• Records Section: (775) 684-4590

Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP)
Investigates crashes, particularly on state highways and interstates, and is a source for crash reports. The agency's website now carries the name Nevada State Police Highway Patrol.

• Website: nhp.nv.gov
• Crash report requests: crashdocs.org
• Fatal crash reports and crash photos: regional offices, Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM.
• Northern Command West (Reno): (775) 687-9600
• Northern Command East (Elko): (775) 753-1111
• Southern Command (Las Vegas): (702) 668-4100

Nevada Division of Insurance
Regulates auto insurers and handles consumer questions and complaints about denied, delayed, or unfairly handled claims.

• Website: doi.nv.gov
• Northern Nevada: (775) 687-0700
• Southern Nevada: (702) 486-4009
• Toll-free: (888) 872-3234

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT)
Maintains state highways and posts road conditions, chain restrictions, and winter driving requirements.

• Website: dot.nv.gov
• Road conditions: nvroads.com or dial 511 within Nevada
• Traction and chain requirements
• General line: (775) 888-7000

Nevada Legal Services
Provides income-based civil legal help statewide. Eligibility depends on income and the type of case.

• Website: nevadalegalservices.org
• Las Vegas office: (702) 386-0404

For accident laws in other states, visit our state-specific legal information page.