If you were hurt in Oregon by someone else''s conduct, you generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit. The deadline comes from ORS 12.110, and the clock starts on the date the harm occurred. Miss the window and the courthouse door closes, even if the underlying case is strong.
The two-year number is the rule most Oregon injury searches return. The biggest traps are the 180-day tort claim notice required by the Oregon Tort Claims Act for any case involving a state or local government defendant, a 50% modified-comparative-fault bar, and Oregon''s required PIP no-fault auto coverage that adds a layer of pre-litigation benefits and subrogation. This post walks through what the two-year SOL really means in 2026, where the exceptions are, and the fact patterns we see trip people up most.
The default Oregon PI window: two years under ORS 12.110
ORS 12.110(1) sets a two-year statute of limitations for actions for any injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract. It is the catch-all for the vast majority of Oregon PI matters: motor-vehicle crashes on I-5 and I-84, slip-and-falls in Portland, Salem, and Eugene, premises and dog-bite claims, and most negligence-based personal-injury matters.
The clock starts on the date the injury occurred. Oregon recognizes a discovery rule for latent injuries where the harm or its cause was not reasonably knowable at the time. Oregon is an at-fault auto-insurance state but requires PIP coverage under ORS 742.520, which pays defined medical and wage-loss benefits regardless of fault.
Exception one: the Oregon Tort Claims Act 180-day notice
Claims against the State of Oregon, counties, cities, school districts, and other public bodies run through the Oregon Tort Claims Act, ORS 30.260 through 30.300. The Act conditions the limited waiver of sovereign immunity on procedural compliance.
Key points:
- Written notice of the claim must be given within 180 days of the alleged loss or injury under ORS 30.275. For wrongful-death claims, the notice period is extended to one year.
- The notice must be given to the public body whose conduct is alleged to have caused the injury, with specific delivery requirements set by the statute.
- The two-year general SOL still runs in the background under ORS 30.275(9), but OTCA claims must be filed within two years of the date of the alleged loss.
- ORS 30.271 and ORS 30.272 cap damages on OTCA claims, with caps that adjust annually for inflation. Verify the current cap with counsel before relying on any settlement evaluation.
- Compliance with the OTCA notice is a prerequisite to suit. Late or absent notice is a complete defense.
The single most common Oregon government-claim trap: a claimant injured by a TriMet bus, on a city sidewalk, or by a State employee assumes the two-year SOL applies, contacts an attorney seven or eight months after the incident, and learns the 180-day OTCA notice has already run. The two-year general SOL never matters; the OTCA notice was the live deadline.
Exception two: minors
ORS 12.160 tolls the SOL during minority for general PI claims, with limits on the total length of the toll. The toll does not automatically extend the OTCA 180-day notice requirement, which runs from the date of injury regardless of the claimant''s age. Parents and guardians acting on a minor''s behalf should treat the OTCA notice as the operative limit when a public body is potentially involved.
Exception three: medical malpractice
Medical-malpractice claims in Oregon run under ORS 12.110(4): a two-year SOL from the date of injury, subject to a five-year statute of repose running from the date of the act or omission. The discovery rule applies within the two-year window; the five-year repose is a hard outer limit.
What Oregon''s modified 50% comparative-fault rule means
Oregon follows a modified comparative-fault rule with a 50% bar under ORS 31.600. A plaintiff whose fault is not greater than the combined fault of the defendants recovers, reduced by the plaintiff''s percentage of fault. A plaintiff more than 50% at fault recovers nothing.
The practical effect: a plaintiff found exactly 50% at fault still recovers (half of damages); a plaintiff found 51% at fault recovers nothing.
Oregon PIP: the no-fault layer
Oregon requires PIP coverage on all auto policies under ORS 742.520. PIP pays medical expenses (currently $15,000 for medical, with separate wage-loss and other benefits) to the named insured and passengers regardless of fault. PIP does not displace the tort claim against the at-fault driver; instead, the PIP carrier obtains subrogation rights under ORS 742.534 and 742.544.
The interplay matters at settlement: the PIP carrier typically asserts a subrogation lien against the third-party recovery, and the plaintiff''s settlement must account for the PIP payout already received and the lien on it.
A common Oregon fact pattern that ends cases early
A pedestrian is struck by a city of Portland public-works truck. The pedestrian is treated, uses PIP benefits from her own auto policy, and assumes the case is being processed. Seven months later, the city denies the claim on the ground that no OTCA tort-claim notice was filed within 180 days. The two-year ORS 12.110 SOL still has well over a year to run, but the OTCA claim is dead.
The takeaway: file the OTCA notice early whenever any Oregon public body could be a defendant (State, county, city, port, transit district, school district, public university), and do not rely on the two-year general SOL.
Other Oregon-specific PI rules worth knowing
Wrongful death. Three-year SOL under ORS 30.020, measured from the date of death. OTCA-defendant wrongful-death claims require a one-year notice under ORS 30.275.
Dog bites. Oregon imposes strict liability for economic damages under ORS 31.360 when a dog causes injury, with non-economic damages typically requiring a showing of negligence. Two-year SOL.
Premises liability and slip-and-fall. Two-year SOL. The 50% modified-comparative bar applies. Reasonable-care duty owed to invitees.
Product liability. Two-year SOL under ORS 30.905 with an eight-year statute of ultimate repose for product-liability claims, measured from the date the product was first purchased for use or consumption.
How the LawSensai Personal Injury Recovery Center helps with Oregon matters
We built the Recovery Center to handle the day-one organizational work in an Oregon PI case so that nothing falls through the cracks during the two-year 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 OTCA 180-day notice, the OTCA two-year SOL and damages caps, the discovery rule for medmal cases and its five-year repose, PIP coordination and subrogation under ORS 742.520, and the underlying ORS 12.110 two-year window. When the matter is well-documented and ready, we route it to a verified personal-injury attorney licensed in Oregon. Start your Oregon 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
Each state has its own SOL window, government-notice deadline, comparative-fault regime, and case-type quirks. The full LawSensai PI Recovery Center routes 50-state coverage at /personal-injury.
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 Oregon before relying on any window described here.
Last verified: 2026-06-03.