Car Accident Laws in California: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

California is an at-fault (tort) state, not a no-fault state — the driver who caused the crash, and that driver's insurer, is responsible for the damages. If you're hurt, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal-injury lawsuit, and three years for vehicle/property-damage claims. If a government-owned vehicle (city bus, county truck, state car) was involved, that window shrinks dramatically to six months to file an administrative claim first. Keep reading for the insurance minimums, the shared-fault rule, and the crash-reporting deadline you also need to know.

1. California Is an At-Fault (Tort) State — What That Means for Who Pays

California uses a fault-based (tort) system for auto accidents. It is not a no-fault state, so there is no mandatory Personal Injury Protection (PIP) requirement. In practice this means:

• The at-fault driver's liability insurance pays for the other party's injuries and property damage, up to the policy limits.
• An injured person can file a claim directly with the at-fault driver's insurer, or file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver.
• You are not limited to your own policy or a "no-fault threshold" before you can sue — but you'll need to establish that the other driver was negligent (at fault).

Because fault drives who pays, insurers and courts in California also apply a shared-fault rule (covered below) that can reduce — but rarely eliminates — an injured person's recovery even if they were partly to blame.

2. Minimum Auto Insurance Required in California

California requires every registered vehicle to carry liability insurance (or an approved alternative, such as a cash deposit or self-insurance certificate) that meets these minimums, which the California Department of Insurance confirms increased on January 1, 2025:

• $30,000 bodily injury/death liability per person
• $60,000 bodily injury/death liability per accident (2 or more people)
• $15,000 property damage liability per accident

This is commonly written as "30/60/15." Before January 1, 2025, the minimums were lower ($15,000/$30,000/$5,000), so if you're looking at an older policy or an out-of-state comparison, don't assume the old numbers still apply. (The new limits generally apply to an existing policy when it renews.) These are legal minimums, not what most injury lawyers consider adequate protection — confirm current requirements with the California Department of Insurance before assuming any number is still current, since minimums are scheduled to rise again in future years.

Other coverage notes specific to California:

• Medical payments (med-pay) and PIP are not required. California does not mandate no-fault medical coverage; med-pay is optional and sold separately.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage is not mandatory, but insurers are required by law to offer it with every policy. A driver who declines it must do so in writing. Given how many drivers on California roads carry only the state minimum — or no insurance at all — this is worth confirming with your own agent rather than assuming you're covered.

3. How Long You Have to Sue After a California Crash (Statute of Limitations)

California's statutes of limitations for crash-related claims are set by the Code of Civil Procedure:

• Personal injury: two years from the date of the crash, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
• Property damage (e.g., vehicle repair or total-loss costs): three years from the date of the damage, under Code of Civil Procedure section 338.

These are the general rules. Certain situations — the injured person is a minor, the at-fault party left the state, or the injury wasn't discovered right away — can pause ("toll") the clock, and a government-vehicle crash cuts the effective deadline down drastically (see below). Filing even one day late is normally fatal to a claim, so if you're near either deadline, don't wait to confirm your situation with a licensed California attorney or California's courts self-help resources.

4. California's Shared-Fault Rule: Pure Comparative Negligence

California follows pure comparative negligence, established by the California Supreme Court in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) and applied through Civil Code section 1714. Under this rule:

• You can still recover damages even if you were more than 50% at fault for the crash.
• Your total damages are simply reduced by your own percentage of fault. For example, if you're found 30% at fault and your damages total $100,000, you could still recover $70,000.
• This is different from many other states, which cut off recovery entirely once a driver is 50% or 51% or more at fault (a "modified comparative negligence" rule). California has no such cutoff.

Fault percentages are typically argued over and decided by an insurance adjuster, a jury, or a judge based on the evidence — police reports, witness statements, photos, and expert reconstruction in serious cases.

5. When You Must Report a Crash to the DMV

Separate from any police report at the scene, California law requires drivers (or their insurance agent, broker, or legal representative) to file a Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California (Form SR-1) with the California DMV within 10 days if the crash involved:

• Any injury, however minor, or a death, or
• Property damage estimated at more than $1,000, to any vehicle or property.

This SR-1 requirement applies regardless of who was at fault and even if the police already responded and wrote their own report. Failing to file it on time can lead to suspension of your driving privilege. See the DMV's official accident-reporting page for the current form and filing instructions.

6. Government Vehicle Crashes: A Much Shorter Deadline

If the at-fault vehicle was owned or operated by a government entity — a city bus, a county maintenance truck, a state agency car, a school district vehicle, or a police car, for example — the normal two- and three-year deadlines above do not apply. Instead, under California's Government Claims Act, you must first present a written administrative claim to the responsible public entity within six months of the crash for personal-injury and vehicle/personal-property claims (Government Code section 911.2). The agency then has 45 days to respond; if it denies the claim, you typically get six months from the denial to file a lawsuit. Missing the six-month claim window is usually fatal to the entire case, no matter how clear the fault or how serious the injury — confirm the current deadline and process with a California attorney or the public entity's clerk immediately if a government vehicle was involved.

California law and insurance requirements can change, and dollar figures and deadlines discussed here are current as of mid-2026 based on the sources cited. Always confirm current numbers with the California Department of Insurance, the DMV, or the current text of the statute before relying on them.

What to Do After a Crash in California

1. Check for injuries and call 911 if anyone is hurt or if damage looks significant. In California, you must stop and, if anyone is injured or killed, provide reasonable assistance and exchange information.
2. Move to safety if the vehicles are drivable and it's safe to do so, to avoid a secondary collision.
3. Exchange information with the other driver(s): name, address, license number, license plate, and insurance company and policy number.
4. Document the scene with photos of all vehicles, license plates, damage, road conditions, traffic signals or signs, and any visible injuries.
5. Get witness contact information if anyone stopped or saw what happened.
6. File a police report if officers respond, and request the report number for your records.
7. File the SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days if there's any injury/death or more than $1,000 in damage — this is separate from any police report.
8. Notify your own insurer promptly, even if you weren't at fault, since most policies require timely notice.
9. Get medical care even if you feel "okay" at the scene — some injuries (whiplash, concussion, internal injury) don't show symptoms right away, and a prompt medical record also protects any future claim.
10. Track your deadlines — mark the two-year date for a personal-injury lawsuit, the three-year date for property damage, and, if a government vehicle was involved, the six-month administrative-claim deadline.
11. Talk to a California-licensed attorney before signing any settlement or giving a recorded statement to an insurance company, especially if the injuries are serious or fault is disputed.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice; consult a licensed California attorney about your specific situation.