How Long After Rear End Collision To File Lawsuit

If you were rear-ended in Colorado and are wondering whether you still have time to file a lawsuit, the short answer is three years from the date of the accident. That is the deadline Colorado law sets for all motor vehicle injury claims — regardless of how serious your injuries are, who was at fault, or whether you have been trying to resolve the matter through insurance. 

Three years sounds like a long time. In practice, the factors that determine whether you win or lose a rear-end collision case — physical evidence, witness memory, surveillance footage, continuous medical documentation — deteriorate much faster than that. A Denver car accident lawyer can assess where your claim stands and what needs to happen next.

The Three-Year Rule for Colorado Rear-End Collision Lawsuits

C.R.S. § 13-80-101 establishes the limitations period for all motor vehicle tort claims in Colorado. For a rear-end collision, the clock typically starts running on the date of the accident. If you file a lawsuit after the three-year window has closed, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case regardless of how strong the underlying liability evidence is. The defendant raises the limitations defense, and the case ends — no matter what happened on the road that day.

The three-year deadline covers:

• Personal injury claims against the at-fault driver
• Property damage claims for vehicle repair or replacement
• Claims for lost income and other economic losses flowing from the collision
• Claims against the at-fault driver’s employer when a commercial vehicle was involved

This deadline applies to lawsuits, not to insurance claims. You can submit an insurance claim at any time, but insurers know your litigation deadline and factor it into their settlement calculations. As the deadline approaches, your ability to reject an inadequate offer and file suit instead disappears — and insurers know it.

For answers to your questions, call:
(303) 999-9999

Situations Where the Deadline Is Shorter

Government Vehicles

If the vehicle that rear-ended you was operated by a government entity — a city bus, a county fleet vehicle, a state employee, a school district van — a different and much shorter requirement applies. Under Colorado’s Governmental Immunity Act, you must file a formal written notice of your claim within 180 days of the accident. Missing this notice deadline bars your claim entirely, even if three years have not yet passed. Government involvement is not always obvious at the scene; this is one of the first things we check in every case.

Wrongful Death

If a family member died as a result of a rear-end collision, Colorado’s wrongful death statute sets the filing deadline at two years from the date of death — shorter than the three-year vehicle injury window.

Situations Where the Deadline May Be Longer

Minor Victims

If the injured person was under 18 at the time of the accident, the three-year limitations clock does not begin to run until the minor turns 18. A 15-year-old injured in a rear-end collision would have until their 21st birthday to file their own injury claim. However, this extension applies to the minor’s direct claims — a parent’s separate claim for medical expenses paid on the minor’s behalf may operate on a different schedule.

Why Waiting Within the Three-Year Window Still Hurts Your Case

The statute of limitations is a legal deadline, not a strategic target. Every week that passes after a rear-end collision makes a stronger case harder to build.

Physical evidence disappears fast. Dashcam footage, intersection surveillance video, and business camera recordings are typically overwritten within days to weeks. Skid marks fade. Damaged vehicles are repaired or crushed. The scene that existed on the day of the accident cannot be recreated.

Witnesses forget details. The driver who saw the at-fault vehicle following too closely, the pedestrian who watched the impact, the passenger in your car — all of these witnesses have sharper, more reliable recall in the weeks immediately after the collision than they will two or three years later.

Medical documentation becomes harder to connect to the accident. Rear-end collisions cause whiplash, cervical injuries, soft tissue damage, and sometimes traumatic brain injuries that are not fully apparent at the scene. Establishing the causal connection between the crash and your condition is straightforward when treatment begins immediately after the accident. Gaps in care give insurers a basis to argue that your injuries are pre-existing, unrelated, or not as serious as claimed. Understanding all the categories of loss you can recover — including future medical expenses and non-economic damages — requires building that documentation early.

Insurance companies use time as a tool. Adjusters know your filing deadline. An insurer that believes you are running low on time to sue has less incentive to offer a fair settlement. Moving promptly preserves your leverage.

How Colorado’s Comparative Fault Rules Apply to Rear-End Collisions

Colorado operates under a modified comparative fault system. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-111, you can still recover compensation even if you were partially at fault for the collision, provided your share of responsibility does not exceed 50%. 

In rear-end cases, the following driver is typically found to bear primary fault — but insurers often argue that a sudden stop, inadequate brake lights, or other factors shifted some responsibility to the front driver. We examine every attempt to assign shared fault to our clients and challenge those assignments where the evidence does not support them.

Why Waiting Costs More Than You Think — Attorney Insight

“The biggest mistake I see in rear-end collision cases is clients who assume they have plenty of time because the three-year deadline feels distant. In reality, the cases that produce the strongest recoveries are the ones where evidence was secured in the first weeks — dashcam footage preserved, witness statements recorded, medical treatment documented from day one. By the time a client comes to us eighteen months after a crash, the surveillance footage is overwritten, the witnesses have moved, and the insurance company has already built its file around the gap in documentation. 

Under Colorado’s comparative fault rules, the insurer will use every gap to argue that your injuries are not as serious as claimed or that you contributed to the collision. We handle car accident cases across Colorado on contingency, and the consultation is free — there is no reason to let evidence deteriorate while you decide. Our case results show what early action produces.”

— Jon C. Boesen, Boesen Law

What to Do Now

If you were rear-ended recently — or even if the accident happened more than a year ago but within the three-year window — the most important step is to have an attorney assess the facts before any more time passes. There is no charge for that review at Boesen Law, and no fee unless we recover for you.

What we evaluate in every rear-end collision case:

• Whether evidence from the scene is still recoverable or needs to be formally requested immediately
• Whether a government entity is involved and whether the 180-day notice window has already passed
• The full documented extent of your injuries and what future medical care may cost
• All available insurance coverage, including the at-fault driver’s policy and any underinsured motorist coverage under your own policy
• Whether third parties — an employer whose employee caused the crash, a vehicle manufacturer, a road maintenance agency — share liability
• Whether a catastrophic injury claim applies based on the severity of your injuries

Contact us to schedule your free consultation. We will assess your deadline, the strength of your claim, and what a complete recovery may look like.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the three-year deadline apply even if the insurance company’s negotiation is still open?

Yes. The three-year statutory deadline runs independently of any insurance negotiation. Insurers sometimes allow settlement discussions to drag past your litigation deadline, which eliminates your ability to file suit and substantially weakens your bargaining position. Tracking your deadline is your responsibility, not the insurer’s — and the insurer has no incentive to remind you.

What if my injuries didn’t appear until weeks after the accident?

In most Colorado motor vehicle cases, the deadline runs from the date of the collision, not the date your injuries became apparent. This is one reason why seeing a doctor promptly after a rear-end collision matters — even for symptoms that seem minor at the scene. If a specific injury genuinely could not have been discovered with reasonable diligence until a later date, the discovery rule may apply, but courts apply this exception narrowly. Do not assume it applies to your situation without speaking with an attorney.

Can I still file a lawsuit if I already accepted a check from the insurance company?

Cashing a settlement check and signing a release typically resolves your right to pursue further claims against that insurer or the at-fault driver. Before you sign any release, have an attorney review the document and confirm that the settlement reflects the full scope of your losses — including future medical costs, lost earning capacity, and non-economic damages. Once a properly executed release is signed, most are final and very difficult to undo.

What if the vehicle that hit me was a commercial truck or delivery vehicle?

Claims involving commercial vehicles may involve multiple defendants: the driver, the trucking company, the vehicle owner, and potentially a maintenance contractor or cargo loading company.

Call (303) 999-9999 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form