Car Accident Laws in Oregon: Fault, Insurance & Deadlines

Oregon is an at-fault (tort) state for car accidents — the driver who caused the crash, or their insurer, is legally responsible for the damage. Oregon also requires every driver to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP), a no-fault medical benefit that pays your bills up front regardless of who caused the wreck, but PIP does not stop you from also suing the at-fault driver. If you were hurt, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (ORS 12.110), and six years for a property-damage-only claim (ORS 12.080). If a government vehicle or employee was involved, that window shrinks dramatically — read the government-claims section below before you wait on anything.

Is Oregon a no-fault or at-fault state?

Oregon is a fault-based (tort) state, not a true no-fault state. That means the driver who caused the crash — or, in practice, their liability insurance — is on the hook for the other driver's medical bills, lost wages, vehicle repairs, and pain and suffering. You are not required to go through your own insurer first for anything beyond your PIP medical benefit, and you are not limited to filing only against your own policy.

Where Oregon differs from a "pure" at-fault state is that state law also requires every driver to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP), a no-fault add-on that pays your own medical expenses and some lost wages right away, no matter who caused the collision. PIP is meant to get your bills paid fast while fault gets sorted out — it is not a substitute for a liability claim against the at-fault driver, and it doesn't cap or replace your right to sue for damages PIP doesn't cover. This hybrid setup is sometimes called an "add-on no-fault" system.

Minimum auto insurance required in Oregon

Under ORS 806.070 (which sets the required amounts of financial responsibility), every registered vehicle in Oregon must be covered by at least:

• Bodily injury liability: $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash
• Property damage liability: $20,000 per crash
• Personal Injury Protection (PIP): $15,000 per person, required on nearly every policy
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM): $25,000 per person / $50,000 per crash, required to be offered and included unless you reject it in writing

These are legal minimums, not a recommendation — a serious crash can easily produce medical bills far above $25,000–$50,000, which is one reason many Oregon drivers carry higher limits and umbrella coverage. Insurance minimums can change by legislation, so confirm current figures with the Oregon DMV or the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (the state's insurance regulator) before relying on an exact number in a claim.

How long do you have to sue after a crash in Oregon?

Oregon's statutes of limitations for a car accident are:

• Personal injury: two years from the date of the crash (ORS 12.110)
• Property damage only: six years from the date of the crash (ORS 12.080)

Miss the injury deadline and, with very limited exceptions (such as the injured person being a minor, or fraud that delayed discovery of the injury), Oregon courts will dismiss the case regardless of how strong it is. Because insurers know this, claims often get harder to negotiate as the deadline gets close — don't wait to find out where you stand.

Shared fault: Oregon's comparative negligence rule

Oregon uses modified comparative negligence with a 51% bar (ORS 31.600). In plain terms:

• If you were partly at fault, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. A $100,000 claim where you were 20% at fault pays out $80,000.
• You can still recover as long as your fault is not greater than the combined fault of everyone else you're pursuing — that is, up to and including 50%.
• Once you're found 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing.

Insurers frequently dispute fault percentages precisely because a few points can swing a claim from partial recovery to zero, so don't accept an adjuster's fault assessment as final without your own documentation (photos, witness statements, the police report).

When you must report a crash to police or DMV

Oregon law (ORS 811.720) requires the driver to submit an Oregon Traffic Collision and Insurance Report to the DMV within 72 hours of any crash where:

• Anyone was injured or killed, or
• Damage to your own vehicle exceeds $2,500, or
• Damage to any vehicle exceeds $2,500 and a vehicle was towed from the scene, or
• Damage to property other than a vehicle exceeds $2,500

You must file this report yourself even if a police officer also completed a report at the scene — the two are separate. Failing to file triggers an automatic license/registration suspension notice from DMV. If you're unsure whether a crash meets the dollar threshold, the safer move is to file; there's no penalty for reporting a minor crash.

Government vehicle involved? A much shorter deadline and damage caps apply

If your crash involved a city, county, state, or other public vehicle or employee (police car, transit bus, school district vehicle, road maintenance truck, etc.), the two-year injury deadline above does not apply. Instead, the Oregon Tort Claims Act (ORS 30.275) requires you to give the public body formal written notice of your claim within 180 days of the incident (extended to one year for a wrongful-death claim). Miss the 180 days and you can lose the right to sue entirely, even though you'd otherwise still be within the general two-year window.

The Tort Claims Act also caps how much you can recover from a government defendant. These caps are set by statute (ORS 30.271 for state entities, ORS 30.272 for local public bodies) and are adjusted every July 1 for inflation, so the exact dollar figure changes from year to year — the Oregon Judicial Department's published Table of Liability Limits is the authoritative current source. Because both the notice deadline and the damage cap are unforgiving and non-obvious, any crash involving a government vehicle deserves prompt, careful attention to these rules specifically.

What to do after a crash in Oregon

1. Check for injuries and call 911 if anyone is hurt or if the crash likely crosses the $2,500 damage/injury threshold.
2. Move to safety if the vehicles are drivable and it's safe to do so, and turn on hazard lights.
3. Exchange information — name, contact info, driver's license, license plate, and insurance company/policy number with every other driver involved.
4. Document the scene — photos of vehicle damage, license plates, road conditions, skid marks, traffic signals, and injuries; get names and contact info for witnesses.
5. Get the police report number if an officer responds, and note the responding agency.
6. File your DMV crash report within 72 hours if the incident meets the injury/death or dollar-damage threshold described above.
7. Seek medical care promptly, even if you feel okay — some injuries (whiplash, concussions, internal injuries) surface later, and prompt treatment also supports your PIP and any liability claim.
8. Notify your own insurer to open a PIP claim for medical bills, and note if a government vehicle was involved so you don't miss the 180-day notice deadline.
9. Keep records of medical bills, missed work, and repair estimates — you'll need them whether you settle with an insurer or pursue a claim.
10. Track your deadlines — two years to sue for injury, six years for property damage, 180 days to notify a government defendant — and don't rely on an adjuster to remind you.

This article is general information about Oregon law, not legal advice for your specific situation — laws and dollar amounts change, so confirm current figures with the Oregon DMV, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, or the Oregon Revised Statutes before you rely on them.