Hit by a Car in DC? The Step-by-Step Guide: Police Report, PIP Election, Treatment, and Deadlines
The minutes and weeks after a crash are exactly when you are least equipped to make careful legal decisions — you're hurt, shaken, and fielding calls from insurance adjusters who handle a hundred claims a week while you're handling your first. Yet DC law front-loads several decisions with real consequences into that window, including one 60-day deadline most crash victims have never heard of. Here is the step-by-step guide we wish everyone had in the glovebox.
Step 1: At the scene — safety, 911, and the police report
Call 911. Get medical attention for anyone hurt. If you are able, photograph the vehicles, the roadway, and anything else that tells the story — skid marks, debris, traffic signals, the other driver's license and insurance card. Get names and phone numbers of witnesses before they drive away; they are often the difference in a disputed-liability case. Make sure a police report is made — in the District that report (the PD-10) becomes the backbone document of the claim.
Step 2: Get treated — and keep getting treated
See a doctor promptly, even if you feel "mostly okay." Adrenaline masks injury, and soft-tissue, disc, and concussion symptoms often bloom over days. From a legal standpoint, gaps in treatment are the defense's favorite argument: if you were really hurt, why didn't you see anyone for three weeks? Follow medical advice, keep appointments, and keep records.
Step 3: The 60-day PIP election — the trap nobody warns you about
The District has an unusual hybrid insurance system. Every DC auto policy includes optional no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) benefits, and under D.C. Code § 31-2405, a crash victim has 60 days after the accident to elect whether to receive PIP benefits (the period can be extended only by written agreement with the insurer). The election has teeth in both directions:
| Choice | Upside | Downside |
|---|---|---|
| Elect PIP within 60 days | Prompt payment of medical bills and lost wages regardless of fault | You generally cannot sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering unless your injuries meet a statutory threshold — e.g., substantial permanent scarring or disfigurement, substantial and medically demonstrable permanent impairment, or medical expenses exceeding your PIP benefits |
| Don't elect (or miss the 60 days) | Full right to pursue a liability claim against the at-fault driver | No PIP benefits; bills wait on the liability claim or run through health insurance |
Choosing wrong can forfeit a strong pain-and-suffering claim or, in the other direction, leave benefits on the table. This single decision is reason enough to talk to a lawyer in the first weeks — not the last ones.
Step 4: Notify your own insurer — and check your UM coverage
Report the crash to your own carrier promptly; most policies require it, and late notice can jeopardize coverage you paid for. Then find out what that coverage actually is. If the driver who hit you was uninsured — or fled the scene — your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage may be the primary source of recovery, and hit-and-run claims typically carry their own police-report and notice requirements. If the at-fault driver carried only minimal limits, underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage can fill part of the gap. Crash victims routinely leave this money unclaimed because nobody told them their own policy was in play.
Step 5: Watch the real deadlines
- Three years is the general DC statute of limitations for negligence claims, under D.C. Code § 12-301(8).
- Six months — yes, months — is the deadline to give written notice to the Mayor under D.C. Code § 12-309 if your claim is against the District of Columbia itself (a Circulator bus, a DPW truck, a dangerous street defect). Miss it and even a strong case is gone.
- 60 days for the PIP election, as above.
Step 6: Mind the contributory negligence rule
The District remains a contributory negligence jurisdiction: if the defense persuades a jury you were even 1% at fault, you recover nothing. For pedestrians and cyclists this rule has been notoriously brutal, and adjusters lean on it hard in settlement talks. (A bill pending before the DC Council this spring would soften the rule for pedestrians and cyclists — we are watching it closely.) Until anything changes, assume every word you say to the other driver's insurer will be mined for a fault argument, and decline to give a recorded statement before you have counsel.
What this means for injured people in DC
The system is navigable, but it is not self-executing. The people who come out whole tend to be the ones who documented the crash, treated consistently, made the PIP election deliberately rather than by default, and got the deadlines calendared early.
If you or a loved one has been hurt, call Posey Lebowitz at (202) 524-0123 or send us a message for a free consultation.
Part of our DMV case law archive, compiled in 2026 to reflect the archive of some of the most important decisions in injury law.
Update: The bill mentioned here passed — the Motor Vehicle Collision Recovery Act took effect November 26, 2016, ending the 1% bar for pedestrians and cyclists struck by motor vehicles. See our coverage of the new law and what it does not change.