If you were hurt in Colorado by someone else's conduct, the statute of limitations depends on how you were hurt. A motor-vehicle injury claim runs three years under CRS 13-80-101(1)(n)(I); most other personal-injury claims run two years under CRS 13-80-102. Miss the applicable window and the courthouse door closes, even if the underlying case is strong.
The two-track structure is the rule most Colorado injury searches miss. The biggest other trap is the 182-day Notice of Claim under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA, CRS 24-10-109) for any public-entity defendant. Miss the 182 days and the case ends regardless of either SOL. This post walks through what the SOLs really mean in 2026, where the exceptions are, and the fact patterns we see trip people up most.
The Colorado two-track PI window
Track 1 -- motor-vehicle injury: three years. CRS 13-80-101(1)(n)(I) sets a three-year SOL for any tort action involving the use or operation of a motor vehicle. That covers car crashes, motorcycle crashes, pedestrian-vs-car, bicyclist-vs-car, and most rideshare-related injuries.
Track 2 -- non-motor-vehicle PI: two years. CRS 13-80-102 sets a two-year catch-all for actions for tortious injury. That covers slip-and-falls, dog bites, premises liability, products liability (special rules apply), assault, and most non-vehicle negligence claims.
Both clocks start on the date the injury occurred. Colorado recognizes a discovery rule for injuries that were not reasonably knowable at the time -- the clock then runs from when a reasonably diligent person would have discovered the injury and its cause.
Colorado is a fault-based auto-insurance state. The injured party's recovery generally runs through the at-fault driver's insurer or your own uninsured-motorist coverage.
Exception one: the CGIA 182-day Notice of Claim
If your injury involves the State of Colorado, a city, a county, a special district, RTD, or a public employee, the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CRS 24-10-101 et seq.) requires written notice within 182 days after the discovery of the injury. The CGIA notice must contain the claimant's name and address, a concise factual statement, the name and address of the public employee involved if known, a concise statement of the nature and extent of the injury, and a statement of the amount of monetary damages requested.
CRS 24-10-109(1) makes the 182-day notice a jurisdictional prerequisite. A late or defective notice is fatal.
Both Colorado SOLs (the three-year MV and the two-year general) still apply on top of the 182-day notice. So a Colorado claimant injured by a public entity has the 182-day notice as the first hard deadline, then the applicable SOL.
The CGIA also caps damages: $424,000 per person and $1,195,000 per occurrence (2024-25 adjustment per CRS 24-10-114; the caps are periodically adjusted -- verify the current cap before relying on it).
Exception two: medical malpractice
Medical-malpractice cases run under CRS 13-80-102.5: a two-year SOL from the date the injury was discovered or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered, and a three-year statute of repose with limited exceptions (foreign objects, fraudulent concealment, minor under six).
CRS 13-64-203 caps medmal damages at $300,000 for non-economic damages and $1,000,000 total (subject to periodic adjustment).
Exception three: minors
CRS 13-81-103 tolls the SOL during minority for general PI claims, with the SOL beginning to run when the minor reaches the age of majority. The toll does NOT apply to the CGIA 182-day notice, which runs from accrual regardless of the claimant's age (with narrow minor-specific exceptions in CRS 24-10-109(5)).
What Colorado's modified 50% comparative-fault rule means
Colorado follows a modified comparative-fault rule with a 50% bar under CRS 13-21-111. A plaintiff less than 50% at fault recovers, reduced by the percentage of plaintiff fault. A plaintiff 50% or more at fault recovers nothing. (Note: 50%, not 51% as in some neighboring states.)
That 50% threshold is where Colorado defense lawyers focus. Pushing fault from 49% to 50% ends the case.
A common Colorado fact pattern that ends cases early
A pedestrian is struck by an RTD bus. The pedestrian is treated and released, calls RTD for damages, gets a "we'll look into it," and assumes the case is being processed. Seven months later, no resolution; the pedestrian retains an attorney; the attorney discovers RTD was never served a CGIA notice within 182 days. The case is dismissed for failure of a jurisdictional prerequisite.
The takeaway: if any Colorado public entity is potentially involved (state, city, county, RTD, school district, special district), treat the 182-day CGIA notice as the operative first deadline, not the three-year MV or two-year general SOL.
Other Colorado-specific PI rules worth knowing
Dog bites. CRS 13-21-124 imposes strict liability for serious bodily injury or death caused by a dog bite on a person lawfully on public or private property, with statutory defenses (provocation, trespass, working dog). For non-serious injuries or other claims, common-law negligence applies. Two-year SOL.
Premises liability. CRS 13-21-115 (the Premises Liability Act) preempts common-law negligence claims against landowners and sets duties keyed to the entrant's status (invitee, licensee, trespasser). Two-year SOL.
Wrongful death. Two-year SOL under CRS 13-80-102(1)(d). Standing under CRS 13-21-201.
UM/UIM contract claims. Colorado treats UM/UIM claims as contract claims with a longer SOL -- generally three years under CRS 13-80-101(1)(a), and some policies impose shorter contractual deadlines. Read the policy.
How the LawSensai Personal Injury Recovery Center helps with Colorado matters
We built the Recovery Center to handle the day-one organizational work in a Colorado PI case so that nothing falls through the cracks during the applicable window. We document the incident through a calm, save-and-resume intake, build a medical-and-evidence timeline, and surface every applicable deadline, including the CGIA 182-day notice, the three-year MV SOL, the two-year non-MV SOL, the medmal three-year repose, and any contractual UM/UIM deadline. When the matter is well-documented and ready, we route it to a verified personal-injury attorney licensed in Colorado. Start your Colorado intake here.
We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. We are the file-organization and deadline-surfacing layer that sits in front of a real attorney.
Personal injury statute of limitations in other states
The full LawSensai PI Recovery Center routes 50-state coverage at /personal-injury.
- California (CCP 335.1, MICRA, pure comparative)
- Texas (CPRC 16.003, TTCA 6-month notice, 51% bar)
- Georgia (OCGA 9-3-33, ante-litem)
Informational only
LawSensai is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The information in this post is general and does not account for your specific facts. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this post or by using the Personal Injury Recovery Center. Deadlines, exceptions, and procedural rules vary by case type and by the parties involved; verify your specific situation with a licensed attorney in Colorado before relying on any window described here.
Last verified: 2026-06-03.