Quick answer: If you were hurt in a crash in Greenbelt or anywhere in Prince George’s County, you generally have three years to file an injury lawsuit, your own PIP pays at least $2,500 of medical bills no matter who caused the wreck, and most cases are venued right here in the Prince George’s County courts. The catch is Maryland’s pure contributory negligence rule: if the other side pins even 1% of the blame on you, you can recover nothing. What you do in the first weeks decides whether that rule sinks your claim.
I’m David Waranch. My office is in Greenbelt, I handle car, truck, motorcycle, and pedestrian injury claims across Prince George’s County, and the consultation is free — I work these cases on a contingency fee, so I don’t get paid unless you recover.
Where Greenbelt Crashes Happen
Greenbelt sits on some of the busiest road in the state. The Capital Beltway (I-495) and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway both cut through, merge-and-weave traffic backs up at the interchange daily, and the commuter crush funnels onto US-1 and MD-193 (Greenbelt Road) at rush hour. Add the park-and-ride volume around Greenbelt Metro and you get the collisions I see most: rear-end hits in stop-and-go Beltway traffic, sideswipes from lane-changers on the Parkway, and left-turn and red-light crashes at the big MD-193 intersections.
Where the crash happened matters for more than the story. A wreck on the Beltway or the BW Parkway can involve Maryland State Police or a park police report rather than a city department. Either way, a Prince George’s County injury case is almost always filed and tried in the county’s own courts in Upper Marlboro, which is where I practice.
What to Do After a Crash in Prince George’s County
The first hours set up everything that follows. Call 911 and get a police report started — it anchors the location, the vehicles, and often the fault. Get checked by a doctor even if you feel okay; adrenaline hides soft-tissue and head injuries for a day or two, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an adjuster uses against you. Photograph the vehicles, the lane positions, the signals, and your injuries. Get names and insurance for every driver and every witness before they scatter.
Then be careful who you talk to. The other driver’s insurer will call fast, sound friendly, and ask for a recorded statement. In most states that is low-stakes. In Maryland it can end your case, because a single admission — you were going a little fast, you glanced down, you stepped off the curb early — hands them the contributory negligence defense. Here’s a fuller checklist of the six steps to take after a Maryland car accident, and my straight answer on whether to speak to your own insurance company before you give any statement.
Maryland’s Pure Contributory Negligence Rule
This is the rule that decides Maryland injury cases, and it surprises almost everyone. Most states use comparative fault: if you’re 20% at fault, you collect 80%. Maryland does not. It is one of only a handful of jurisdictions — with Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and the District — that still applies pure contributory negligence. If a jury finds you even 1% at fault, your recovery is zero. Not reduced. Gone.
That is why the defense fights over trivia and why the early recorded statement gets requested in week one. A narrow escape hatch called the last clear chance doctrine can rescue a partly-at-fault plaintiff when the other driver had a real final opportunity to avoid the crash and blew it, but it is hard to prove and no substitute for protecting your side of the fault question from the start.
“It was mostly their fault, so I’ll get most of my money.” In Maryland, you get nothing. There is no sliding scale here. An adjuster who can convince a jury you were going five over, or looked at your phone, or edged into the intersection does not shave a percentage off your award — they wipe it out. That is why what you say to an insurer in the first week matters more in Prince George’s County than it would almost anywhere else.
Which Insurance Pays After a Maryland Crash
A Maryland crash usually involves three separate pots of money, and knowing which one to tap first keeps you from leaving coverage on the table.
| Coverage | What it pays | Whose policy |
|---|---|---|
| PIP (personal injury protection) | At least $2,500 toward medical bills and lost income — paid regardless of who was at fault | Yours, unless you waived it in writing |
| Liability (bodily injury) | Your full damages — but only if you prove the other driver’s fault and survive a contributory negligence defense | The at-fault driver’s |
| UM / UIM | Steps in when the at-fault driver has no insurance, too little, or was never identified | Yours |
How PIP Works — and Why $2,500 Is the Minimum
PIP is the most important coverage in a contributory negligence state because it pays no matter who caused the crash. Under Md. Code, Ins. § 19-505, every Maryland auto policy must provide at least $2,500 in medical, hospital, and disability benefits unless the policyholder waived it in writing. And Ins. § 19-507 makes those benefits payable without regard to fault:
“The benefits described in § 19-505 of this subtitle shall be payable without regard to … the fault or nonfault of the named insured or the recipient of benefits in causing or contributing to the motor vehicle accident.”
So even in the nightmare case where fault defeats your claim against the other driver, your own PIP still pays. It covers your early medical bills and a share of lost wages, your insurer has no right to get it back out of your settlement, and it pays on top of any health insurance. The $2,500 is a floor — many drivers carry more — and waiving it to trim a premium is a decision that comes back to bite in exactly this situation.
Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Plenty of drivers on the Beltway and US-1 carry the bare state minimum or no insurance at all, and hit-and-runs near the Metro are real. That is what uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is for. Under Md. Code, Ins. § 19-509, every Maryland policy must include UM coverage, and it responds when the at-fault driver has no coverage, not enough to cover your injuries, or was never found.
Here’s the part people don’t expect: a UM/UIM claim is on your policy, but it is adversarial. Your own insurer steps into the at-fault driver’s shoes and can raise every defense that driver could — contributory negligence included. So the same care you’d take with the other side’s adjuster applies to your own. I walk through this in detail on uninsured and underinsured motorist claims in Maryland.
The Injury Claim Process, Start to Finish
Most cases follow the same arc. First, you treat and get better while I gather the police report, photos, witness statements, and your medical records and bills. Once your treatment stabilizes, I put together a demand showing fault and damages and open negotiations with the insurer. Many claims settle there. If the offer doesn’t reflect what the case is worth, we file suit — in Prince George’s County for a crash here — and move into discovery, where both sides exchange information under oath.
Your damages fall into two buckets. Economic losses — medical bills, future care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, property damage — are not capped. Noneconomic losses — pain, suffering, inconvenience, disfigurement — are subject to Maryland’s statutory cap, which the court applies after a verdict. The large majority of cases resolve by settlement, but preparing every one as if it will be tried in Upper Marlboro is what produces the better number.
How Long You Have to File — the 3-Year Deadline
The general rule is three years from the date of the crash, under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101:
“A civil action at law shall be filed within three years from the date it accrues unless another provision of the Code provides a different period of time within which an action shall be commenced.”
Miss that window and the court will almost certainly throw the case out, however strong it is. And three years is not always your real deadline. If a government vehicle or government property is involved — a county truck, a transit bus, an unrepaired road hazard — separate and much shorter written-notice deadlines apply, often within a year. If there’s any chance a public entity is on the hook, don’t wait to find out. The safe move is to get the claim evaluated early rather than discover a notice deadline passed months ago.
If you were hurt in a crash in Greenbelt or anywhere in Prince George’s County, call 301-563-9575 or toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Tell me what happened and I’ll tell you honestly whether you have a claim — including when the answer is no. For the bigger picture, see my overview as a Maryland personal injury attorney, and if your crash also came with a ticket, my page for drivers facing a citation as a Prince George’s County traffic lawyer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually no. Maryland follows pure contributory negligence, so if a jury finds you even one percent at fault your recovery is zero rather than a reduced amount. That is why you should be careful about giving a recorded statement to any insurer before talking to a lawyer. A narrow doctrine called last clear chance can sometimes rescue a partly at fault plaintiff when the other driver had a genuine final opportunity to avoid the crash, but it is hard to prove.
Three years from the date of the crash under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings section 5-101. If a government vehicle or government property is involved, separate and much shorter written notice deadlines can apply, sometimes within a year, so it is best to have the claim evaluated early. Missing the deadline almost always ends the case no matter how strong it is.
Yes. Personal injury protection is paid without regard to fault under Maryland Insurance section 19-507, so your own PIP covers your early medical bills and part of your lost income no matter who caused the crash. Maryland requires at least 2,500 dollars in PIP unless you waived it in writing, and your insurer cannot take it back out of your settlement. It also pays on top of any health insurance you have.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: October 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101; Ins. §§ 19-505, 19-507, 19-509. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Deadlines and coverage depend on facts specific to your case.