California rules
California, on one page.
The short answer
- Two years to sue for an injury or a death, three for the car.
- Pure comparative fault. Your share reduces your recovery but never bars it, even if you were mostly at fault.
- Government claim within six months, and a lawsuit within six months of a written rejection.
- If your own car was uninsured, no pain and suffering damages from the driver at fault, with one exception for a drunk driver.
- Minimum liability insurance rose on January 1, 2025 to $30,000 per person, $60,000 per crash and $15,000 property damage.
What is different about California
California decided in 1975, in Li v. Yellow Cab, that a person partly at fault should recover something rather than nothing, and it has never set a cutoff. That makes California the state where a disputed fault case is most worth bringing. The counterweight is Civil Code section 3333.4: a person who owned or drove an uninsured vehicle in the crash recovers medical bills and lost income but not pain and suffering, no matter how clearly the other driver was at fault.
California has two separate crash reports, one to the police within 24 hours when someone is hurt and one to the DMV within 10 days on form SR 1. It defines lane splitting and does not prohibit it. It holds a dog’s owner liable for a bite regardless of the dog’s history. It does not sort visitors on property into categories; the owner simply owes reasonable care. And it generally does not hold a bar or host liable for a drunk customer’s harm, with narrow exceptions for minors.
Two recent changes are built into this page. The liability minimums doubled for policies issued or renewed since January 1, 2025. And a survival action filed on or after January 1, 2026 no longer includes the decedent’s own pain and suffering. Bills chaptered in 2026 without an urgency clause take effect in January 2027 and are not yet in the code text; the rules here will be rechecked then.
The guides apply these rules to each kind of case: car, truck, rideshare, motorcycle, pedestrian, fall or dog bite, uninsured driver and wrongful death.
How to read the table
Every row below is one rule of California law, in plain words, with the statute or decision it comes from and a link to the primary text. The date at the bottom is when each rule was last checked against its source. A rule can change between checks, and a rule can apply differently to your facts than to the usual case, so read the table as a map, not as advice.
The rules, with their sources
These are the rules of law this page relies on. Each one is a general statement with exceptions that are not shown, and each links to the statute, regulation or court decision it comes from.
| Topic | California |
|---|---|
| Deadline to sue for an injury | Generally two years for an injury caused by someone else’s wrongful act or carelessness. [1] |
| Deadline to sue after a death | Generally two years for a death caused by someone else’s wrongful act or carelessness, usually counted from the date of death. [2] |
| Deadline for vehicle and property damage | Three years for damage to a vehicle or other personal property. [3] |
| Claims against a government agency | A written claim must be presented to the city, county, state agency or other public entity within six months. If the entity sends a proper written rejection, a lawsuit generally has to be filed within six months of that notice. A request to file late must be made within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year after the claim arose. The statute leaves a few narrow kinds of time out of that year. [4] |
| If the injured person is under 18 | If the injured person was under 18 when the claim arose, the time before their 18th birthday generally does not count. That does not apply to claims against a public entity, where the six month claim rule still runs, and medical negligence claims by children have their own rule. [5] |
| Claims with different deadlines | Claims against a doctor, hospital or other health care provider must be filed within three years of the injury or one year after it was or should have been discovered, whichever comes first. [6] |
| If you were partly at fault | California reduces your damages by your percentage of responsibility. There is no cutoff: you can recover something even if you were mostly at fault. [7] |
| Minimum liability insurance drivers must carry | $30,000 for the injury or death of one person, $60,000 for two or more people, and $15,000 for property damage, for policies issued or renewed since January 1, 2025. The older figures of $15,000, $30,000 and $5,000 no longer apply. [8] |
| Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage | Every auto liability policy includes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless the insurer and a named insured removed or reduced it in a signed written agreement. [9] |
| Coverage for your own medical bills | California does not require drivers to carry coverage for their own medical bills. Medical payments coverage is optional. Where a policy has it, it can pay for immediate medical care no matter who was at fault. [10] |
| Deadline for a claim under your own policy | For an uninsured motorist claim, one of three things must happen within two years of the crash: a lawsuit is filed against the uninsured driver, an agreement on the amount is reached with your insurer, or arbitration is formally started in writing by certified mail. [11] |
| Hit and run and unidentified drivers | To use uninsured motorist coverage for a driver who was never identified, there must have been physical contact with that vehicle, the crash must be reported to the police within 24 hours, and a sworn statement must be filed with your insurer within 30 days after that. [12] |
| If you had no insurance yourself | If you owned or drove a vehicle in the crash that was not insured as the law requires, you can still recover your medical bills and lost income from the driver at fault, but not damages for pain and suffering. There is an exception for an uninsured owner who was hit by a driver later convicted of driving under the influence. [13] |
| Reporting the crash | Two separate reports. A driver in a crash that injures or kills someone must make sure a written report reaches the CHP or city police within 24 hours. And any crash with an injury, a death, or more than $1,000 in damage to one person’s property must be reported to the DMV within 10 days on form SR 1. [14] |
| Duties at the scene | Stop at once, give your name, address and vehicle registration, show your license if asked, and give reasonable help to anyone injured, including arranging for medical care. [15] |
| Rideshare driver logged in, no ride accepted | At least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injuries, and $30,000 for property damage, plus $200,000 in excess coverage. [16] |
| Rideshare driver heading to a rider or on a trip | From the moment the driver accepts a ride until it ends: $1,000,000 in liability coverage. While a passenger is in the vehicle, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident applies. That figure was $1,000,000 until January 1, 2026. [17] |
| Commercial trucks | A for hire trucking company hauling general freight across state lines must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage under federal rules, and California requires the same $750,000 for most carriers that stay inside the state. Federal rules also limit a driver to 11 hours of driving inside a 14 hour window after 10 hours off duty. [18] |
| Motorcycle helmets | Required for every driver and passenger. [19] |
| Riding between lanes | California law defines lane splitting, riding a motorcycle between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, and does not prohibit it. [20] |
| Pedestrians in a crosswalk | A driver must yield to a pedestrian crossing in a marked crosswalk or in an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. [21] |
| Crossing outside a crosswalk | Since 2023 police may stop a pedestrian for crossing outside a crosswalk only when there is an immediate danger of a collision. The crossing rules themselves remain, and pedestrians still have to use due care for their own safety. [22] |
| Injuries on someone else’s property | Anyone who owns, leases or controls property must use reasonable care to keep it reasonably safe. California does not sort visitors into categories; the question is whether the owner acted reasonably given the likelihood of someone getting hurt. [23] |
| Dog bites | The owner is liable for a bite to someone in a public place or lawfully in a private place, whether or not the dog had ever bitten before. [24] |
| Who can bring a wrongful death claim | The surviving spouse or domestic partner, the children, and the children of any child who has died. If the person left no children or grandchildren, those who would inherit under intestate succession. Stepchildren, parents and a putative spouse can also bring a claim if they depended on the person who died. [25] |
| Claim on behalf of the person who died | The estate can also bring the claim the person had before they died. In a survival action filed on or after January 1, 2026, that claim does not include the person’s own pain and suffering. [26] |
| Bars and others who serve alcohol | California generally does not hold a bar, store or host responsible for what an intoxicated customer does. The exceptions are selling or giving alcohol to an obviously intoxicated minor, and an adult who knowingly provides alcohol at their home to someone under 21. [27] |
Sources
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1; Norgart v. Upjohn Co. (1999) 21 Cal.4th 383, 404
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1)
- Cal. Gov. Code §§ 911.2, 911.4, 945.6
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 352
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5
- Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804; CACI No. 405
- Cal. Veh. Code § 16056(a)(2)
- Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(a)
- California Department of Insurance, Automobile Insurance Information Guide
- Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(i)
- Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(b)
- Cal. Civ. Code § 3333.4
- Cal. Veh. Code §§ 16000, 20008
- Cal. Veh. Code §§ 20001 to 20003
- Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 5433(c)
- Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 5433(b)
- 49 C.F.R. §§ 387.9, 395.3; Cal. Veh. Code § 34631.5
- Cal. Veh. Code § 27803
- Cal. Veh. Code § 21658.1
- Cal. Veh. Code § 21950
- Cal. Veh. Code §§ 21954, 21955
- Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a); Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108; CACI No. 1001
- Cal. Civ. Code § 3342
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60
- Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 377.30, 377.34
- Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 25602, 25602.1; Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(d)
The rules on this page were last checked against these sources on October 3, 2026. Laws change, so follow the link before you rely on a rule.
Attorney review in progress. Responsible attorney: Emery Brett Ledger. Page last updated October 26, 2026.