Car Accident Settlement Statistics: How Many Cases Settle, Go to Trial, and Pay
Reference Guide
Most car accident settlement statistics you see online have no base, no year and no source. These do. We counted every federal motor-vehicle injury lawsuit closed between October 2020 and September 2025 and 60,783 paid car accident claims from public payment records. Each figure below states its base, period and source, so you can check it or quote it.
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The Short Answer
How many car accident cases settle? In federal court, 52.2% of 29,069 motor-vehicle injury lawsuits closed in fiscal years 2021–2025 were coded as settled. Another 17.0% were voluntarily withdrawn by the plaintiff, which often follows a private deal but is not counted as a settlement here.
How many go to trial? 338 cases, about 1.2%. The plaintiff won judgment in 214 of them (63.3%).
How long? A settled case took a median of 12.2 months from filing to closure; a tried case took 26.7 months.
How much? Across 60,783 paid car accident claims in our car accident settlement data, the median payment was $5,000. The typical amount is covered on our average car accident settlement page; this page is the number collection behind it.
Case details
These car accident lawsuit statistics come from the Federal Judicial Center's Integrated Database, the case-level record that federal courts report for every civil case. We used the release that covers cases closed through June 30, 2026, selected nature-of-suit code 350 (Motor Vehicle Personal Injury), and kept cases closed from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2025, excluding multidistrict-litigation cases. That leaves 29,069 closed lawsuits.
How they ended:
— Settled: 15,161 (52.2%)
— Dismissed in total: 9,384 (32.3%), including 4,952 voluntary withdrawals
— Sent back to state court: 2,037 (7.0%)
— Decided on a motion before trial: 516 (1.8%)
— Trial: 338 (about 1.2%) — 215 jury verdicts, 116 bench trials, 7 directed verdicts
Most of these cases are in federal court because the parties live in different states: 23,734 (81.6%) were filed on diversity jurisdiction. Another 3,636 (12.5%) named the U.S. government as defendant, the route for crashes with federal vehicles. New filings rose from 5,599 in fiscal 2021 to 6,920 in fiscal 2025.
Limits: federal courts handle a small slice of car accident lawsuits; most are in state courts, which publish no comparable national case file. The federal file also carries no usable payout amounts — the FJC codebook says the amount field is “not used uniformly by the 94 district courts.” Method and code: Settlement Insight analysis of FJC IDB civil file, field definitions per the FJC civil codebook.
Five Car Accident Lawsuit Statistics You Can Quote
1. Of 29,069 federal motor-vehicle injury lawsuits closed between October 2020 and September 2025, 52.2% ended in a settlement and about 1.2% ended at trial (FJC Integrated Database, nature-of-suit code 350; analysis by Settlement Insight, 2026).
2. In federal car accident lawsuits decided at trial between October 2020 and September 2025, the plaintiff won judgment in 214 of 338 cases, or 63.3% (FJC Integrated Database, code 350; Settlement Insight, 2026).
3. A federal car accident lawsuit that settled took a median of 12.2 months from filing to closure, and one decided at trial took 26.7 months (FJC Integrated Database, cases closed fiscal 2021–2025; Settlement Insight, 2026).
4. Plaintiffs without a lawyer settled 16.7% of their federal car accident lawsuits, against 53.0% in cases with no self-represented plaintiff (652 vs. 28,417 cases closed fiscal 2021–2025; FJC Integrated Database; Settlement Insight, 2026).
5. The median of 60,783 paid car accident claims against U.S. federal agencies, New York City and Chicago was $5,000, and 4.9% paid $100,000 or more (public payment records 2009–2026; Settlement Insight, 2026).
With a Lawyer vs. Without One
The federal file flags cases where a plaintiff had no lawyer (“pro se”). In motor-vehicle cases closed in fiscal 2021–2025 that was rare: 652 of 29,069, or 2.2%.
— Settled: 16.7% without a lawyer vs. 53.0% with one
— Dismissed: 57.5% without vs. 31.7% with
— Trials: the self-represented plaintiff won 3 of 9
This is a correlation, not proof that a lawyer causes the difference: people who cannot find a lawyer often have weaker or smaller claims to begin with. What a lawyer costs is on car accident lawyer fees; how to choose one is on car accident lawyer.
Our other car accident pages each answer one step, without repeating these numbers: filing an insurance claim, when a claim becomes a lawsuit, injury lawsuits and the lawsuit process step by step, plus the cash-advance side in lawsuit funding and car accident loans.
Car Accident Settlement Data: What Paid Claims Actually Paid
— 10th percentile: $1,603
— 25th percentile: $2,976
— Median: $5,000
— 75th percentile: $11,292
— 90th percentile: $35,000
— 95th percentile: $95,000
30,052 claims (49.4%) paid under $5,000; 3,002 (4.9%) paid $100,000 or more and 473 paid $1 million or more. The arithmetic mean is $38,616 — nearly eight times the median, because a few large payments pull it up. Quote the median, not the mean, for a typical claim.
These are claims against government bodies, not a sample of all crashes. For an estimate on your own facts use the car accident settlement calculator; for injury types beyond car crashes see personal injury statistics.
Where These Numbers Come From
2005 — The Last National State-Court Count
A Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state-court civil trials found motor vehicle accident cases were 35% of civil trials disposed of by trial in 2005; plaintiffs won 64% of motor vehicle accident trials and the median award was $15,000.
2009–2026 — Paid Claims Collected
Our car accident settlement data spans federal Judgment Fund, New York City and Chicago payment records: 60,783 paid claims in total.
October 2020 – September 2025 — The Federal Window
Fiscal years 2021–2025: 29,069 federal motor-vehicle injury lawsuits closed. This is the base for every federal percentage on this page.
April 2026 — NHTSA Counts 2024
NHTSA reports 39,254 traffic deaths in 2024, down 4.3% from 41,025 in 2023, plus 2.42 million people injured and 6.18 million police-reported crashes.
June 30, 2026 — Federal Data Cutoff
The Federal Judicial Center's current civil file covers cases closed through June 30, 2026. We use only complete fiscal years, so fiscal 2026 is left out.
October 2026 — This Analysis
Settlement Insight ran the code-350 analysis and the paid-claims percentiles. Figures will be updated when the next federal release arrives.
Three Ways Car Accident Statistics Mislead
Numbers are used to set your expectations — sometimes by people who profit from them:
The “average settlement” quoted as typical
In our data the mean is $38,616 but the median is $5,000. An ad quoting the mean makes a typical claim look nearly eight times larger than it is.
A percentage with no base, year or source
A settlement rate is meaningless without saying which cases, which court and which years. Federal court shows 52.2% settled; a state court or an insurer's claim file would show something else. Ask what was counted.
Funding pitches built on long timelines
A tried federal case took a median of 26.7 months, and cash-advance offers lean on that wait. Read the terms first: see lawsuit funding before signing anything.
Car Accident Settlement Statistics — Questions People Actually Ask
Short answers to the questions people ask most about this case.
How many car accident cases settle?
In federal court, 15,161 of 29,069 motor-vehicle injury lawsuits closed in fiscal 2021–2025 were coded as settled — 52.2%. Another 17.0% were voluntarily withdrawn, which often follows a private settlement but is coded separately. Only about 1.2% reached a trial.
How long do most car accident settlements take?
For federal lawsuits that settled, the median was 12.2 months from filing to closure (371 days). Cases decided at trial took a median of 26.7 months. Across all outcomes the median was 10.3 months. Claims settled with an insurer before any lawsuit are not in court records.
What percentage of car accident lawsuits go to trial?
About 1.2% in federal court: 338 of 29,069 cases closed in fiscal 2021–2025 — 215 by jury verdict, 116 by a judge and 7 by directed verdict.
How often do plaintiffs win car accident trials?
In federal court the plaintiff won judgment in 214 of 338 trials (63.3%) and the defendant in 112 (33.1%), fiscal 2021–2025. The most recent national state-court study, from 2005, found plaintiffs won 64% of motor vehicle trials.
What is a typical car accident settlement amount?
The median of 60,783 paid claims in our data is $5,000; half paid less. The 90th percentile is $35,000. For what drives the amount, see average car accident settlement.
Do people without a lawyer get worse results?
In federal motor-vehicle cases, self-represented plaintiffs settled 16.7% and saw 57.5% dismissed, against 53.0% and 31.7% for represented plaintiffs. The groups differ in more than representation, so this shows an association, not cause.
Why don't court records show settlement amounts?
Most settlements are private contracts, and the federal file's amount field is unreliable — the FJC says it is “not used uniformly by the 94 district courts” and advises against analyzing it. That is why our dollar figures come from public payment records instead.
How many car accidents happen each year?
NHTSA estimates 6.18 million police-reported crashes in 2024, with 2.42 million people injured and 39,254 killed. Against that, 6,399 motor-vehicle injury lawsuits were filed in federal court in fiscal 2024.
About This Information
Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology. Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated - $236 billion in real payouts analyzed · See what we found
This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Lawsuit status, eligibility, and compensation can change. Settlement Insight is not a law firm and does not represent any party. Consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation.
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