Can You Sue for Emotional Distress After a Car Accident?

In Upper Marlboro, MD, you can get compensation for emotional distress following a car accident if it’s part of a broader personal injury claim. Emotional distress falls under the umbrella term “noneconomic damages” in this type of lawsuit, along with categories like pain and suffering, mental anguish, or loss of enjoyment of life. A personal injury lawyer can tell you more and help you understand if you have a case.

Suing for Emotional Distress After an Upper Marlboro, MD Car Accident

Establishing Negligence

The first step in a claim of this sort is to establish that someone else’s negligence caused an accident that caused you damages, including your emotional distress. Your lawyer will help you build a case that proves:

1. The at-fault party owed you a duty of care
2. They did not faithfully fulfill this duty
3. Their breach of the duty caused your injury
4. Your injury brought you demonstrable economic harm

All these elements are important. The first one is usually pretty easy to prove, since all drivers on the road have a duty of care toward other drivers. Proving the breach of duty means showing that the other driver did something like break a traffic law or drive while impaired. Then, you will have to show that it was specifically this breach of the duty of care that caused the accident or materially contributed to it.

Showing Your Economic Damages

In Maryland personal injury cases, non-economic damages, such as emotional distress, have to be linked to actual tangible damages. This will usually include a physical injury of some kind. In most cases, you cannot bring a claim just for mental or emotional harm unless there is something to link it to.

Minimizing Any Contributory Negligence

Maryland has a very strict contributory negligence rule. If you are found partially at fault for the accident, even by as little as 1%, you may be barred from recovering any damages at all, including for emotional distress. Your lawyer can help you dig through the evidence and establish a strong case for why you should not be held liable for any part of the accident.

Meeting the Time Limit Rules

Maryland has a statute of limitations for personal injury claims that will normally give you just three years from the date you were harmed or the date you realized you had been harmed to bring a lawsuit. If you don’t bring a lawsuit within this time limit, you won’t be able to bring one at all.

Understanding the Damage Cap

Maryland caps non-economic damages, including emotional distress, by an amount that increases by $15,000 each year on Oct 1. For most of 2026, the cap is $965,000.

Talk with a Personal Injury Lawyer Right Away

If you’ve been in a car accident and suffered an injury that’s caused you distress, you have the right to seek compensation under Maryland law. Reach out to us at the Farmer and Klopfer Law Firm in Upper Marlboro or Waldorf today to set up a free consultation.

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