Understanding Car Accidents in Delaware: liability timing, document control, and next steps

Delaware car accident law occupies a paradoxical position for the nation's smallest state: Delaware is simultaneously the legal home of more than 1.4 million corporations (including more than 60% of Fortune 500 companies) and a state where US Route 1, US Route 40, and Interstate 95 compress significant traffic into narrow geographic corridors that produce car accident rates that, when adjusted for road miles and vehicle miles traveled, are among the more concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic region. Delaware's traffic is shaped by the state's position as a corridor state -- with I-95 routing traffic between the New York metropolitan area and the Baltimore-Washington corridor through Wilmington and Newark, and the Delaware Memorial Bridge (one of the longest twin suspension bridges in the world, connecting Delaware with New Jersey at Pennsville) funneling enormous truck and passenger vehicle volumes.

Delaware's modified comparative fault standard (R.I. Gen. Laws equiv.: Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, sec. 8132) bars recovery if the plaintiff is 51% or more at fault -- a majority-bar rule. Delaware's statute of limitations for personal injury claims arising from car accidents is 2 years from the date of the accident (Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, sec. 8119). Delaware requires minimum auto insurance of $25,000/$50,000 bodily injury and $10,000 property damage (Del. Code Ann. tit. 21, sec. 2118) -- but Delaware is also a no-fault state for medical expenses: Delaware's Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law (Del. Code Ann. tit. 21, sec. 2118(a)(2)) requires that all Delaware auto insurance policies include PIP coverage of at least $15,000 per person for medical expenses, regardless of fault. The Delaware Department of Insurance (Rodney Building; 841 Silver Lake Boulevard; Dover) regulates auto insurance in Delaware.