Colorado Car Accident Laws

Colorado is a good example of why a generic "personal injury deadline" isn't always the right number: the state carves out a specific, longer statute of limitations just for motor vehicle accidents.

Colorado’s general personal injury deadline is two years — but car accidents specifically get three. Reading the wrong statute is an easy, costly mistake.

Statute of limitations: 3 years for motor vehicle accidents

Colorado's general negligence deadline is two years (C.R.S. §13-80-102), but the legislature carved out a specific, longer deadline for motor vehicle accidents: three years from the date of the crash, under C.R.S. §13-80-101. This applies to personal injury and property damage claims arising from a car accident. Wrongful death is the one exception — it is not swept into this 3-year rule; see below.

Fault rule: modified comparative negligence, 50% bar

Under C.R.S. §13-21-111, you can recover damages if you're found less than 50% at fault, reduced by your percentage of fault. At 50% or more, you recover nothing.

Note Colorado's bar sits at 50% (not 51% like Texas) — an even split in fault is enough to end the claim, which makes the exact fault percentage especially contested in Colorado cases.

Insurance: at-fault system, 25/50/15 minimum

Colorado is an at-fault state. It's worth noting explicitly: Colorado repealed its no-fault insurance system in 2003 and has operated as a standard at-fault (tort) state since — a detail some older or unreliable sources still get wrong. Minimum liability limits, per the Colorado Division of Insurance, are 25/50/15: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $15,000 for property damage.

Colorado does not require PIP or MedPay coverage. Given the relatively low minimums, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is worth checking on your own policy.

How this plays out in a real claim

Take an intersection collision where fault is genuinely disputed. If an insurer or court assigns you 40% of the blame, Colorado's rule still lets you recover 60% of your damages. But if that assessment creeps to 50% or above, the claim is barred entirely under Colorado's rule — not reduced, eliminated. That single threshold is exactly why insurers have a real incentive to push a borderline case just over the line rather than simply discount what they pay.

A mistake worth avoiding in Colorado

Because a single percentage point at the 50% threshold can be the entire difference between a reduced payout and nothing at all, careless statements at the scene or to an adjuster carry more weight here than in a pure comparative state. Avoid speculating about fault, even casually, until the full picture — police report, witnesses, any available footage — is in front of you.

If a government vehicle or agency was involved

Colorado's notice deadline is unusually specific: under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. §24-10-109), you must file written notice within 182 days of discovering the injury — not the accident date itself, but when you knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and its cause. Colorado courts treat this deadline strictly, and an untimely notice is generally an absolute bar to the claim regardless of merit. Damages are also capped, at figures that adjust periodically for inflation (roughly $424,000 per person and just over $1.1 million per occurrence as of the most recent adjustment) — well below what an uncapped claim against a private driver could be worth.

If the crash resulted in a death

Colorado's wrongful death deadline is two years from the date of death (C.R.S. §13-80-102; Colorado Wrongful Death Act §13-21-204) — distinct from, and shorter than, the 3-year deadline that applies to the underlying car accident claim above. The law also creates a strict filing order: only the surviving spouse may bring the claim during the first year after death; if they don't, the right expands in year two to children, designated beneficiaries, and (since a 2025 law change) siblings if there's no closer family. Non-economic damages are capped at $2,125,000 (2025 figure, adjusted for inflation), though the cap doesn't apply if the death resulted from a felony such as DUI manslaughter.

Beyond the deadline and the fault rule

The statute of limitations and the fault rule above decide whether you have a claim and how much of it survives — they don't decide what the claim is actually worth, or whether it's worth handling yourself. For that, see our guides on what affects a settlement, who pays your medical bills while a claim is pending, and whether Colorado law makes a lawyer worth it for your specific situation.

When it's worth talking to someone

With a 50% cutoff and Colorado's relatively low insurance minimums, disputed fault or an underinsured driver are both situations where a free, no-obligation conversation is worth having.