How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in Colorado?

Claims arising from the use or operation of a motor vehicle, including semi-truck and tractor-trailer crashes, generally must be filed within three years. If a government entity may share fault, written notice is required within 182 days, a far shorter window. The practical deadline is often sooner than the legal one, because critical carrier records can be destroyed on routine schedules within months of the crash.

Who do I sue after a semi-truck accident, the driver or the company?

Often both, and frequently others. The motor carrier is generally responsible for its driver's on-the-job negligence, and it can also be directly liable for its own failures in hiring, training, scheduling, or maintenance. Shippers, cargo loaders, maintenance contractors, and brokers can share responsibility depending on the facts. Identifying every liable party matters because it determines the insurance available to pay the claim.

Are truck drivers held to different standards than other drivers?

Yes. Commercial drivers must hold a CDL, follow federal hours-of-service limits, submit to drug and alcohol testing, and operate under a stricter impairment threshold of 0.04 percent blood alcohol, half the limit for other drivers. Their employers must inspect and maintain vehicles under federal rules. Violations of these standards are often central to proving a truck accident claim.

The trucking company's insurer already offered me a settlement. Should I take it?

Be cautious with any early offer. Quick settlements are typically made before the full extent of your injuries and future costs is known, and accepting one ends your claim permanently, even if your condition worsens. Before signing anything, it is worth having an attorney review the offer against the actual long-term cost of your injuries. Elkus & Sisson offers a free consultation for exactly that purpose.

What is my truck accident claim worth?

There is no fixed formula, but truck claims are often worth more than car crash claims for two reasons: the injuries tend to be more severe, and there is usually more insurance available because federal law requires carriers to hold higher coverage. Your claim generally reflects your economic losses, which Colorado does not cap, plus noneconomic losses like pain and suffering, which are capped for most injury claims filed on or after January 1, 2025. Shared fault reduces recovery, which is why the insurer's version of events should never go unchallenged. Documenting the full long-term cost is what protects the value of the claim.

What evidence should be preserved after an 18-wheeler crash?

The most important records belong to the carrier: electronic logging device data, engine control module data, driver qualification files, drug and alcohol test results, inspection and maintenance records, dispatch records, and any dashcam footage. On your side, keep photos from the scene, witness contact information, medical records, and all correspondence from insurers. A preservation letter from an attorney puts the carrier on legal notice not to destroy its records.

Colorado Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

Q: Is there a cap on what I can recover for a catastrophic injury?

Colorado does not cap economic damages, such as medical bills, future care, and lost income, which are often the largest part of a catastrophic injury claim. Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, are capped for most claims filed on or after January 1, 2025. Because economic damages are uncapped, thoroughly documenting the true, lifetime cost of the injury is one of the most important parts of the case.

A catastrophic injury changes more than your health. It can change how you work, how you move through your day, and how your family plans for the years ahead. In the middle of medical appointments and adjusting to a new normal, it can be hard to think clearly about a legal claim, let alone what it should actually cover. You do not have to work that out alone. Elkus & Sisson, P.C. represents people and families dealing with life-changing injuries across Colorado. We help you understand your rights, document the true cost of your injury, and pursue the compensation you may be owed through negotiation or litigation as Colorado personal injury attorneys.

What Qualifies as a Catastrophic Injury in Colorado

Colorado law does not draw a single bright line around the term “catastrophic injury.” In practice, it generally describes harm that permanently changes how you live, such as a traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury, severe burns, the loss of a limb, or another injury that requires ongoing medical care, assistance, or accommodation. These injuries can arise from a car accident, a truck accident, a motorcycle accident, or another party’s negligence, and the long-term impact on your life, not the label, is what should guide how the claim is built.

How Liability Works in a Catastrophic Injury Claim

Colorado is an at-fault state, meaning the party whose negligence caused your injury is financially responsible for the harm that resulted. Fault is decided under Colorado’s modified comparative negligence law, C.R.S. § 13-21-111^[1]. You can still recover damages as long as your own share of fault is less than 50 percent, with your recovery reduced by that percentage. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing.

Because so much is often at stake in a catastrophic injury claim, insurers scrutinize fault closely and may look for any basis to shift blame onto you. Establishing exactly what happened through the police report, witness accounts, and physical evidence matters as much here as documenting the injury itself.

Colorado wage and hour law materials, employee pay statement, calculator, and payroll documents on a legal office desk.

Documenting the Full Cost of a Catastrophic Injury

In ordinary negligence claims against private defendants, economic losses such as medical expenses, future care, lost income, and reduced earning capacity are not subject to Colorado’s general noneconomic-damages cap. Separate limits may apply in medical-malpractice claims under the Health Care Availability Act, C.R.S. § 13-64-302^[6], and in claims against a government entity or employee under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, C.R.S. § 24-10-114^[7]. For a catastrophic injury caused by ordinary negligence, costs like home modifications and assistive equipment rarely stop when active treatment does, and they are often the largest part of the claim.

Fully documenting them usually requires more than medical records. Medical experts can project the lifetime cost of ongoing care, and vocational experts can assess how the injury affects your ability to work and earn. Building this picture takes time, but it is often what separates a settlement that reflects your actual future needs from one that falls short.

Non-Economic Damages and Colorado’s Cap

Non-economic damages address harm that is real but not tied to a specific bill, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and, in some cases, permanent impairment. For covered personal injury claims that accrued on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado generally caps non-economic damages at $1.5 million under C.R.S. § 13-21-102.5^[5]. Different limits apply to wrongful death, medical malpractice, and claims involving public entities or employees. Because these rules work differently from the ones that govern economic damages, thorough documentation of your long-term costs matters even more.

Representing Injured Clients and Families Across the Denver Metro Area

Elkus & Sisson, P.C. is based in Greenwood Village and represents clients and families throughout the Denver metro area and along the Front Range, including Denver, Aurora, Centennial, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Lone Tree, Cherry Hills Village, Lakewood, and Boulder. A catastrophic injury can arise from a car accident, a truck accident, a motorcycle accident, or another type of serious incident, and our approach to documenting fault and long-term cost applies across all of them. If you would like more detail on how liability and insurance work for a specific type of crash, our Colorado car accident lawyer, Colorado truck accident lawyer, and Colorado motorcycle accident lawyer pages go into that separately. This page focuses on what changes once an injury is life-altering, regardless of how the crash happened.

Filing Deadlines for Catastrophic Injury Claims in Colorado

The deadline that applies to your claim depends on how the injury happened. If it arose from a car, truck, or motorcycle crash, Colorado generally gives you three years from the date of the accident, C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n)^[2]. For most other negligence-based injuries, such as a fall on unsafe property, the deadline is generally two years, C.R.S. § 13-80-102^[3]. If a government entity may be responsible, you generally must file a written notice of claim within 182 days under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA), C.R.S. § 24-10-109^[4], well before either deadline would otherwise run. Missing the applicable deadline can permanently bar a claim, which is why confirming the correct one early matters, especially when medical care understandably takes priority in the first weeks after an injury.

Understanding the Road Ahead After a Serious Injury

These basics can help you and your family get oriented in the weeks after a life-changing injury, without needing to become experts in Colorado law at the same time.

The injury, not the label, drives the claim. What matters legally is the true impact on your health, your work, and your daily life, not whether a diagnosis technically fits a specific term.

Economic damages are uncapped, but only if documented. Colorado places no limit on medical costs, future care, or lost income, but recovering their full value depends on documenting them thoroughly, often with expert help.

Some steps take time to set up correctly. If an injured person cannot manage their own legal or financial affairs, the court may need to determine who can act on their behalf, whether through an existing fiduciary, a conservatorship, a guardian ad litem, or another court-approved arrangement, before a claim can move forward. This is worth raising early rather than later.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a catastrophic injury under Colorado law?

Colorado law does not set a single fixed definition, but the term is generally used for injuries that permanently change how you live: traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, severe burns, the loss of a limb, and other harm that requires ongoing medical care or support. What matters most for your claim is not the label, but the long-term impact of the injury on your health, your ability to work, and your daily life.

How long do I have to file a catastrophic injury claim in Colorado?

It depends on how the injury happened. If it arose from a car, truck, or motorcycle crash, you generally have three years from the date of the accident. For most other negligence-based injuries, such as a fall on unsafe property, the deadline is generally two years. If a government entity may be responsible, you generally must file written notice within 182 days, well before either deadline would otherwise run. Because the correct deadline depends on the facts of your case, it is worth confirming it early.

Is there a cap on what I can recover for a catastrophic injury?

In ordinary negligence claims against private defendants, economic losses such as medical bills, future care, and lost income are not subject to Colorado’s general noneconomic-damages cap, though separate limits can apply in medical-malpractice and government-liability claims. For covered claims that accrued on or after January 1, 2025, noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering are generally capped at $1.5 million. Because the rules differ for economic and noneconomic damages, thoroughly documenting the true, lifetime cost of the injury is one of the most important parts of the case.

Why do catastrophic injury claims usually need outside experts?

The cost of a serious injury rarely ends when treatment does. Ongoing care, home modifications, assistive equipment, and lost future earning capacity can extend for decades. Medical and vocational experts help translate a diagnosis into a realistic projection of what your care and lost income will actually cost over your lifetime, which is often the difference between a settlement that covers your future needs and one that falls short.

What if I was partially at fault for the accident that caused my injury?

You can still recover damages as long as you were less than 50 percent at fault, with your recovery reduced by your own percentage of fault. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you cannot recover from the other party. Given how much is often at stake in a catastrophic injury claim, how fault is investigated and argued matters a great deal.

What if my loved one can no longer make decisions for themselves?

Some catastrophic injuries affect a person’s cognitive function or ability to communicate. If that happens, the court may need to determine who can act on the injured person’s behalf, whether through an existing fiduciary, a conservatorship, a guardian ad litem, or another court-approved arrangement, before the claim can move forward. This adds a layer most personal injury claims do not have, and it is worth raising early so the right legal steps happen in the right order.

Talk With a Colorado Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

A catastrophic injury claim is often less about proving that something happened and more about documenting exactly what it will mean for the years ahead. From its Greenwood Village office, Elkus & Sisson, P.C. represents clients and families across Denver, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Aurora, and Boulder in catastrophic injury claims and other serious personal injury matters. If you or a loved one is facing a life-changing injury in Colorado, contact us or call +1 303-567-7981 to schedule a confidential consultation.

Donald Sisson

Donald Sisson is an accomplished lead counsel in Denver, CO with many successful outcomes in various areas of practice including complex civil litigation, construction law, real estate litigation, corporate disputes, personal injury, and police defense…

Learn More

Reid Elkus

Reid Elkus’ representation of his clients ranges from individual and small businesses to very large corporations in several areas of the law. Having litigated a vast array of cases in matters including complex security cases, breach of contract, breach of partnership matters…

Learn More

Sources

Client Stories

I highly recommend Colorado Accident Attorneys. Their services are awesome!! Angela de la Garza was very instrumental in getting my settlement. Always kept me informed and offered me good advice in how to go forward in my slip & fall lawsuit. I…

— Wayne N.

I had found a great Lawyer”

From the date I contacted Colorado Accident Attorneys I talked to Angela De La Garza I knew I had found a great lawyer. Back in 2019 I needed a Lawyer; for my husband, he had a very bad fall on Nov 27,2019,…

— Geronimo and Rumalda P.

Our experience was five stars”

We contacted Colorado Accident Attorneys about a legal issue. My husband’s call was returned promptly. Our experience was five stars all the way through the process. Brad Hansen was the attorney and Angela De La Garza his assistant. Both treated us with…

— Anonymous

More Testimonials

Talk With a Colorado Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

If you or a loved one suffered a catastrophic injury anywhere in Colorado, contact Elkus & Sisson, P.C., today to schedule a consultation. Our Colorado catastrophic injury attorneys will evaluate what happened, explain your legal options, and help you pursue compensation for medical care, lost income, long-term rehabilitation, reduced earning capacity, and the lasting impact of the injury.