Texas law gives most personal injury victims two years from the date of their accident to file a civil lawsuit. Miss that deadline, and your case is almost certainly gone — not reduced, not delayed, but permanently barred. The defense files a motion, the judge dismisses your case, and there is nothing an attorney can do.
This is the statute of limitations, and it is one of the most important facts any injured person needs to understand.
The General Rule: Two Years
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003 establishes a two-year limitations period for personal injury claims. The clock starts running on the date of the injury — the day of the car accident, the day you fell, the day the workplace incident occurred.
Two years sounds like a long time. It is not. Here’s what happens during those two years:
- You receive medical treatment (often for months)
- You negotiate with the insurance company
- Negotiations break down
- You finally contact an attorney
- The attorney investigates, gathers records, and evaluates the case
- The attorney attempts further negotiation
- If no settlement is reached, a lawsuit must be filed
By the time most injured people are ready to consider filing a lawsuit, they’ve burned six to twelve months — sometimes more. The two-year window closes faster than it appears.
Exceptions That Can Shorten Your Deadline
Government Defendants
If the party responsible for your injury is a government entity — a city, county, state agency, or public university — special rules apply under the Texas Tort Claims Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §101.001 et seq.).
You are typically required to file a formal written notice of claim within six months of the incident. Some municipalities require notice within as little as 45–90 days. Failure to provide timely notice can bar your claim entirely, even if the two-year statute hasn’t expired.
This applies to:
- Accidents involving city or county vehicles (police cars, municipal buses, garbage trucks)
- Injuries caused by road design or maintenance failures (potholes, missing signs, defective traffic signals)
- Injuries at government-owned facilities
Wrongful Death
For wrongful death claims, the two-year clock starts from the date of death, which may be different from the date of the accident if the victim survived for some time. But the underlying personal injury claim — if the family also pursues survival damages — starts from the date of injury.
Product Liability
If your injury was caused by a defective product, Texas imposes a 15-year statute of repose for product liability claims (with some exceptions). This means that regardless of when the injury occurred, you generally cannot sue for injuries caused by a product more than 15 years after it was first sold. This is a ceiling on liability, not a starting point.
Exceptions That Can Lengthen Your Deadline (Tolling)
The Discovery Rule
In some cases, an injury is not immediately apparent. Under the discovery rule, the limitations period doesn’t begin until the plaintiff knew — or reasonably should have known — about the injury and its likely cause.
This most commonly applies to:
- Toxic exposure cases where illness develops years later
- Medical malpractice cases where a surgical error isn’t discovered until a later procedure
- Cases involving latent occupational diseases
The discovery rule is a legal argument, not an automatic extension. Whether it applies to your specific situation requires analysis by an attorney.
Minors
If the injured person was a minor (under 18) at the time of the accident, the two-year limitations period generally does not begin running until their 18th birthday. This means an injury at age 10 could still be actionable at age 20.
Mental Incapacity
If the injured person was legally incapacitated at the time of the injury, the limitations period may be tolled until the incapacity is removed.
Fraudulent Concealment
If the defendant actively concealed their wrongdoing — preventing the plaintiff from discovering the basis for their claim — a court may toll the limitations period during the period of concealment.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
If you file a lawsuit after the statute of limitations has expired, the defendant will file a motion to dismiss. In almost every case, the court will grant it. The merits of your case — how seriously you were injured, how clear the other party’s fault was — become irrelevant.
There are extremely narrow exceptions where a court might allow a late-filed case to proceed, but they are rare and difficult to win. Do not count on them.
Practical Advice: Don’t Wait
The statute of limitations is the last reason to contact an attorney early. The first reasons are all the ones that happen before the deadline: evidence gets lost, witnesses’ memories fade, key documents are destroyed, and insurance companies use the time to build their defense.
An attorney can begin preserving evidence, communicating with insurers on your behalf, and building your case long before any deadline pressure exists. Waiting until the last few months before the deadline to hire an attorney is the worst strategic position to be in — and it happens far more often than it should.
If you were injured in a Texas accident, the best time to talk to an attorney was the day of the accident. The second-best time is today.
Use our statute of limitations calculator to see your specific deadline, then call us for a free consultation.
Rushing Law Group represents injured Texans in Houston, San Antonio, McAllen, and El Paso. No fee unless we recover for you. Call (713) 574-5969 or start your case evaluation online.
