Washington rules

Washington, on one page.

Every Washington rule this site relies on, verified against the Revised Code of Washington and the cited opinions. Washington gives the longest time to sue and the broadest coverage against drivers who cannot pay, and it has the lowest insurance minimums of the three.

The short answer

Three years to sue for an injury, a death or property damage.
Pure comparative fault, with one exception: a person under the influence, more than half at fault, is barred.
Government claims: a tort claim form to the right agent, then a sixty day wait before suit, inside the normal period, which pauses during the wait.
Underinsured motorist coverage covers uninsured, hit and run and phantom vehicles unless rejected in writing. A phantom vehicle needs outside proof and a police report within 72 hours.
Minimum liability insurance is $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident and $10,000 property damage.

What is different about Washington

Three years rather than two. That extra year is real, and it is also the most common reason Washington claimants wait too long to get help, while the evidence ages and the insurer’s file grows. The clock pauses for the sixty day government claim wait, and it waits for a child’s 18th birthday, but not in a wrongful death case, because that claim belongs to the estate’s personal representative.

Washington’s underinsured motorist statute is written broadly. One coverage reaches an uninsured driver, a driver with too little insurance, a hit and run driver and a phantom vehicle that never touched you, provided the phantom claim has evidence beyond your own word and a report to law enforcement within 72 hours. Insurers must offer personal injury protection with every policy, declined only in writing, with at least $10,000 for medical care plus limited lost income, household services and funeral benefits.

Other rules particular to Washington: a driver must stop and stay stopped for a pedestrian in a crosswalk on or within one lane of the driver’s half of the road. In a property damage only crash, drivers must move the vehicles off the road, and doing so does not affect fault. When no officer investigates, the driver files a collision report within four days. Helmets are required for everyone on a motorcycle; lane splitting is not allowed. A dog’s owner is liable for a bite regardless of the dog’s history, with provocation a complete defense. A business that serves someone apparently under the influence can be liable to the person that customer then hurts. And the wrongful death claim is filed by the personal representative of the estate for the benefit of the family.

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 Washington 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.

Your next step

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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	Washington
Deadline to sue for an injury	Three years for most injury claims. [1]
Deadline to sue after a death	Three years, generally counted from the date of death. [2]
Deadline for vehicle and property damage	Three years for damage to a vehicle or other personal property. [1]
Claims against a government agency	Before suing a city, county or other local government, you must present a tort claim form to its designated agent and then wait 60 calendar days. Claims against the State go to the Office of Risk Management with the same 60 day wait. The form has to be presented within the normal limitation period, and that period is paused during the 60 days. [3]
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. This does not extend the deadline in a wrongful death case, because that claim belongs to the personal representative of the estate, not to the child. [4]
Claims with different deadlines	Assault and battery claims have a two year limit. Medical malpractice claims follow their own rules, including a one year discovery rule. [5]
If you were partly at fault	Your share of fault reduces your damages by that percentage but does not bar your claim. One exception: an injured person who was under the influence can be barred entirely if that was a cause of the injury and they were more than 50 percent at fault. [6]
Minimum liability insurance drivers must carry	$25,000 for the injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more people, and $10,000 for property damage, in one accident. [7]
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage	A new auto policy must include underinsured motorist coverage, which in Washington also covers uninsured, hit and run and phantom vehicles, unless the named insured or spouse rejected it in writing. [8]
Coverage for your own medical bills	Insurers must offer personal injury protection (PIP) with every auto policy, and it can only be declined in writing. The minimum benefits are $10,000 for medical and hospital care, plus limited amounts for lost income, household services and funeral costs. [9]
Hit and run and unidentified drivers	When the other vehicle never touched yours (a phantom vehicle), your claim needs evidence beyond your own account, and the crash must be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours. [10]
Reporting the crash	If no officer investigates, a driver must file a collision report within four days when anyone is injured or killed, or when damage to any one person’s property is $1,000 or more. [11]
Duties at the scene	Stop, give your name, address, insurance company, policy number and license plate, show your driver’s license, and give reasonable help to anyone injured. In a crash with only property damage, move the vehicles off the road as soon as you can. Moving them does not affect who is at fault. [12]
Rideshare driver logged in, no ride accepted	At least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for injuries, and $30,000 for property damage, plus underinsured motorist coverage and PIP as state law requires. [13]
Rideshare driver heading to a rider or on a trip	From the moment the driver accepts a ride until the passenger gets out: $1,000,000 in combined liability coverage. Underinsured motorist coverage of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident applies while a passenger is in the vehicle, and PIP applies as state law requires. [13]
Commercial trucks	Washington applies the federal motor carrier safety rules, including driver hours, inspections and insurance, to carriers that operate only inside the state as well as those crossing state lines. The federal minimum for hauling general freight across state lines is $750,000 in liability coverage. [14]
Motorcycle helmets	Required for every operator and passenger. [15]
Riding between lanes	Not allowed. A motorcycle may not travel between lanes of traffic or between rows of vehicles. [16]
Pedestrians in a crosswalk	A driver must stop and stay stopped for a pedestrian in a marked or unmarked crosswalk who is on, or within one lane of, the driver’s half of the road. [17]
Crossing outside a crosswalk	A pedestrian crossing anywhere else must yield to vehicles. Drivers still have to use due care to avoid hitting anyone on the road. [18]
Injuries on someone else’s property	What the owner owed you depends on why you were there. A business must use reasonable care about dangers it knows of or should discover. You do not always have to prove the owner knew about the specific hazard if it was reasonably foreseeable given how the business operates. [19]
Dog bites	The owner is liable for a bite to someone in a public place or lawfully on private property, even if the dog had never shown aggression before. Proof that the injured person provoked the attack is a complete defense. [20]
Who can bring a wrongful death claim	The personal representative of the estate files the claim. It is for the benefit of the spouse or state registered domestic partner and the children, including stepchildren. If there are none, it is for the parents or siblings. [21]
Claim on behalf of the person who died	Separate survival claims let the estate pursue what the person could have claimed had they lived. [22]
Bars and others who serve alcohol	A business that serves someone who is apparently under the influence can be liable to a person that customer then injures. [23]

Sources

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.