Texas Car Accident Statute of Limitations: How Long Do You Have to File? (2026)

Two years. That is the number everyone knows, and it is correct — right up until a city garbage truck, a school district bus, or a Texas Department of Transportation pickup enters the picture. Then the real deadline may be six months. Or ninety days. Or less.

Missing it does not weaken your case. It ends it.

Quick Answer

Texas gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury or property damage lawsuit (Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003). Wrongful death is also two years, but the clock starts on the date of death. If a governmental unit is involved, the Texas Tort Claims Act requires written notice within six months (CPRC § 101.101) — and many Texas cities shorten that to as little as 30 to 90 days by charter or ordinance.

📝 Record your accident today with NowAccident → — evidence fades long before the deadline does.

Texas Deadline Table

Why is the deadline two years?

CPRC § 16.003(a) requires suit for personal injury, and for injury to or taking of another's property, to be brought not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. In a car crash, that is almost always the date of the collision — not when you finish treatment, not when a doctor names your diagnosis, not when you realise how bad it is.

Unlike New York, Texas applies the same two-year clock to property damage. There is no longer window for the vehicle claim.

Why is wrongful death measured from the date of death?

CPRC § 16.003(b) provides that in an action for injury resulting in death, the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person.

This creates a real trap. A victim injured on 1 January who dies on 15 March gives the family a wrongful death deadline running from 15 March — while any surviving claim relating to the injury itself runs from the accident date. Two related claims, two different clocks.

What if a city truck, a police car, or a DPS vehicle was involved?

This is where most Texans lose winnable cases.

Governmental units in Texas enjoy sovereign immunity, waived only within the narrow terms of the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA). Before you may sue, you must give formal written notice.

Step 1: Notice within six months. CPRC § 101.101(a) requires written notice to the governmental unit within six months of the incident, reasonably describing the damage or injury, the time and place of the incident, and the incident itself.

Step 2: But check the city charter — this is the trap. § 101.101 expressly preserves shorter notice periods adopted by a city charter or ordinance. Many Texas municipalities have them. The City of Houston Charter, for instance, has long required notice within 90 days. Other cities have used windows as short as 30 to 45 days.

There is no statewide list, and the periods differ by city. Do not assume six months. Look up the charter of the specific municipality — or have a lawyer do it in the first week.

Step 3: The damage caps. Even a perfectly noticed TTCA claim is capped. Recovery against the State and against municipalities is limited by CPRC § 101.023, commonly cited as $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, with a separate, lower property damage cap. Caps differ for different classes of governmental unit — other political subdivisions face lower limits. Confirm the applicable figures for the specific defendant.

Step 4: The six-month notice does not extend the two-year statute. Both run. You can serve a perfect notice at month five and still lose the case by filing suit at month 25.

Two recurring failure modes:

1. Naming the wrong entity. Is the road maintained by the city, the county, or TxDOT? Was the driver a city employee or a contractor? A notice served on the wrong body is often fatal.
2. Assuming actual knowledge substitutes for notice. Texas courts recognise an "actual notice" exception in narrow circumstances, but it is heavily litigated and requires that the unit have subjective awareness of its alleged fault. It is a defence to plead, not a plan to rely on.

📝 Six months is not long. Ninety days is nothing. Start today →

When does the clock pause?

Minors and persons of unsound mind. Under CPRC § 16.001, a person under 18 or of unsound mind at the time the cause of action accrues is under a legal disability, and the period of disability does not count toward the limitations period. A 16-year-old injured today generally has until age 20.

An important carve-out: medical expenses incurred for a child before age 18 are generally the parent's or guardian's claim, and that portion is subject to the ordinary two-year deadline running from the date of injury. Texas courts have addressed this directly. Do not assume a child's tolling covers the family's medical bills.

Defendant absent from Texas. Under CPRC § 16.063, the period of a person's absence from the state is not counted. This is narrow, fact-specific, and routinely contested.

Servicemembers. The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act tolls limitations during active duty.

Tolling is a lifeline your attorney evaluates. It is never a scheduling assumption.

Does the statute apply to insurance negotiations?

No, and the confusion here costs people their cases.

• The statute of limitations is a deadline to file a lawsuit in court. Nothing else stops it.
• Your insurance policy has separate contractual conditions — prompt notice, cooperation, sometimes specific windows for UM/UIM claims.

Filing an insurance claim does not toll the statute. Neither does an adjuster's promise, a pending medical evaluation, or an active negotiation. An adjuster who keeps saying "we're still reviewing" at month 22 may not be stalling deliberately — but when the two years expire, your leverage vanishes completely, because they know you can no longer sue.

One Texas-specific wrinkle worth flagging: underinsured motorist (UIM) claims in Texas have their own procedural architecture. Texas courts have held that an insurer has no contractual duty to pay UIM benefits until the insured establishes the other driver's liability and damages — typically by judgment or by agreement. That structure affects when and how a UIM claim must be pursued. This is a matter to raise with counsel early, not at month 23.

Should you wait until the deadline approaches?

Rarely. Waiting hurts in three concrete ways:

1. Evidence quality collapses. Store camera footage is overwritten in weeks. Witnesses stop answering.
2. Treatment gaps get argued. A long delay between injury and care invites the argument that something else caused it.
3. Leverage disappears. An insurer facing 22 months of runway behaves very differently from one facing 45 days.

That said, filing suit on day 30 is rarely right either. Attorneys often wait until the client reaches maximum medical improvement — the point where a physician can describe permanent effects — because settling before then risks underselling a lifelong injury.

But if a governmental unit might be involved, none of that patience applies. The notice clock may be running out this month.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have to sue after a car accident in Texas? Two years from the crash for personal injury and property damage (CPRC § 16.003(a)). Two years from the date of death for wrongful death (§ 16.003(b)).

How long do I have to sue a Texas city? Written notice within six months under CPRC § 101.101 — unless the city's charter or ordinance requires shorter notice, which many do, sometimes as short as 30 to 90 days. Verify the specific city's charter.

Does the discovery rule apply to Texas car accidents? Generally no. The claim accrues on the date of the crash. Discovery-based accrual is reserved for narrow categories where the injury is inherently undiscoverable.

Does a minor get more time? Generally yes, under CPRC § 16.001. But the parent's claim for the child's pre-18 medical expenses is typically subject to the ordinary two-year deadline.

Does filing an insurance claim stop the clock? No. Only filing suit in court does.

What happens if I miss the statute of limitations? The defendant moves to dismiss, and Texas courts grant those motions almost without exception, regardless of how strong the case was.

📝 Two years to sue. Possibly ninety days to notify a city. Record your accident with NowAccident today.

Sources

• Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code §§ 16.001, 16.003, 16.063, 33.001, 101.023, 101.101
• Texas Transportation Code § 550.026
• City of Houston Charter (notice of claim provision)
• Brainard v. Trinity Universal Ins. Co., 216 S.W.3d 809 (Tex. 2006) (UIM benefits)
• Sax v. Votteler, 648 S.W.2d 661 (Tex. 1983) (minor's claim vs. parent's medical expense claim)

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Texas law as of the last updated date. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Municipal notice periods vary by city charter and are not uniform; TTCA damage caps differ by class of governmental unit. Confirm both for the specific defendant. Limitations periods and tolling doctrines are technical and fact-dependent, and a missed deadline is usually irreversible. Verify current law at statutes.capitol.texas.gov and consult a licensed Texas attorney about your specific deadlines as early as possible.