Oklahoma Personal Injury Laws: Deadlines to Sue, Fault Rules and Damage Caps

Two years for an action for injury to the rights of another not arising from a contract, which covers most negligence-based injury claims. Assault, battery, libel, slander, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment have a one-year deadline.

Two years for taking, detaining or injuring personal property (such as a car) and for trespass on real property.

Two years from the date the patient knew or should have known, through reasonable diligence, of the death, injury or condition complained of. Being a minor or legally incompetent when the claim arises extends the period. The statute reviewed does not set a separate outer limit (statute of repose).

Two years.

The personal representative of the person who died brings the action. If the person lived in another state at death, or if no personal representative has been appointed, the surviving spouse (or, if none, the next of kin) may bring it. Damages are distributed by category: for example, loss of consortium and grief of the surviving spouse go to the spouse; pecuniary loss goes to the spouse and children or next of kin; and grief and loss of companionship of the children and parents go to them.

Modified comparative negligence (51% bar). An injured person's own negligence does not bar recovery unless it is of greater degree than the negligence of the person causing the harm, or greater than the combined negligence of all persons causing it. The statute covers personal injury, wrongful death and property damage claims.

For bodily injuries occurring on or after September 1, 2025, noneconomic damages (such as pain and suffering) are capped at $500,000, no matter how many defendants or lawsuits. There is no cap for permanent and severe physical injury (such as substantial disfigurement, loss of use of a limb, or loss or substantial impairment of a major body organ or system) or an injury that leaves the person unable to care for themselves. A permanent mental injury that severely impairs the ability to work or enjoy a reasonable standard of living is capped at $1,000,000. No cap applies if the judge and jury find by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with reckless disregard, gross negligence, fraud, or intent or malice. Economic damages are not capped. The cap does not apply to claims under the Governmental Tort Claims Act.

No separate medical malpractice cap was found. The general bodily-injury noneconomic damages cap ($500,000, with the exceptions and the $1,000,000 mental-injury limit described above) applies to civil actions arising from a claimed bodily injury, for injuries on or after September 1, 2025.

Allowed in three tiers, each requiring findings by clear and convincing evidence and a separate proceeding after actual damages are awarded. Category I (reckless disregard for the rights of others): up to the greater of $100,000 or the actual damages. Category II (intentional and malicious conduct): up to the greatest of $500,000, twice the actual damages, or the financial benefit the defendant gained. Category III (intentional and malicious conduct that the court also finds, beyond a reasonable doubt, was life-threatening): no cap. Special rules also apply to insurers that breach the duty of good faith.

Under the Governmental Tort Claims Act, written notice of the claim must be presented within one year after the loss (to the Risk Management Administrator for claims against the state, or to the clerk of the governing body for a city, county or other political subdivision), or the claim is forever barred. For wrongful death, the personal representative may give notice within one year after the death. A lawsuit may be filed only after the claim is denied (it is deemed denied if not approved within 90 days), and must be filed within 180 days after denial. Damages are capped per claimant and per occurrence; the dollar limits were changed in 2025.

Strict liability statute. A dog owner is liable for the full amount of damages when the dog, without provocation, bites or injures a person who is in a place where they have a lawful right to be.

Every owner must keep liability security on a registered vehicle. A motor vehicle liability policy must provide at least $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $50,000 for bodily injury or death of two or more people in one accident, and $25,000 for property damage.

A driver in a crash that injures or kills anyone must, after stopping and giving information and aid, immediately notify police by the quickest means available — the local police department inside a city or town, or otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest Oklahoma Highway Patrol office. The statute does not set a dollar threshold for calling police about property-damage-only crashes.

For a crash (other than on private property) that causes injury or death or apparent damage of more than $300 to one vehicle or other property, the driver must send a written report to the Department of Public Safety if the crash has not been settled within six months; if it has been settled, the parties must report the settlement. When a report is filed, the Department notifies the other parties, who must give it the information it requests within 20 days so it can check whether they were insured. The Commissioner of Public Safety can suspend the license of a driver who fails to report until the report is filed.

A driver in a crash causing injury, death or damage to an attended vehicle must stop at or as close to the scene as possible and stay until they have given their correct name, address and vehicle registration number, shown their license and insurance verification form if asked, and given reasonable help to anyone injured (including arranging transport for medical treatment). Willfully failing to stop after a crash with a nonfatal injury is a felony punishable by 10 days to 2 years in prison and/or a $50–$1,000 fine; after a fatal crash, 1 to 10 years and/or a $1,000–$10,000 fine. In both cases the license is revoked. Failing to stop after a crash damaging only an attended vehicle is a misdemeanor (up to $500 and/or up to one year in county jail), and the driver can also be sued for three times the damage.

Trespassers: by statute, a landowner, tenant or other occupant has no duty to make the premises safe for a trespasser and is generally not liable for a trespasser's injuries. Exceptions: once the possessor knows or reasonably should know a trespasser is present, it must not injure the trespasser by a wanton or intentional act; and a possessor can be liable to a child trespasser hurt by a highly dangerous artificial condition that is unusually attractive to children, if the listed conditions are proved. A separate statute says an owner or occupant owes no duty to keep premises safe for someone whose entry is unauthorized or for committing a crime, but this does not protect against willful, wanton or malicious acts or gross negligence. The duties owed to invited guests and other lawful visitors come from court decisions, which were not reviewed here.

For falls on public property: the State and political subdivisions (cities, counties and other local governments) are not liable for losses resulting from snow or ice conditions, or temporary or natural conditions on any public way or other public place due to weather, unless the condition was affirmatively caused by the government's negligent act. Rules for snow and ice on private property come from court decisions, which were not reviewed.

Cities may build and repair sidewalks and assess the cost against the abutting lots, and in an emergency may order the abutting owner or occupant to repair a sidewalk within three days, after which the city may make the repair and assess the cost to the property. These statutes do not say in words who is liable to a person injured on a defective sidewalk. Claims against a city are governed by the Governmental Tort Claims Act, which requires written notice of the claim within one year (see local government notice) and bars claims for weather-related snow or ice conditions on public ways unless the government negligently caused them.

One law, the Governmental Tort Claims Act, covers both the State and political subdivisions. A written claim must be presented within one year after the loss, or it is forever barred; for a city, county or other political subdivision it is filed with the office of the clerk of the governing body, and it must state the date, time, place and circumstances, the amount demanded and the claimant's contact information (plus health care providers and releases for injury claims). Time while the injured person is incapacitated (up to 90 days) does not count. A lawsuit may not be filed until the claim is denied; it is deemed denied if not fully approved within 90 days, and suit must be filed within 180 days after denial. Damage caps are set in § 154 of the Act.

A landowner (including a tenant, lessee or occupant) who opens land to the public for outdoor recreation, such as hunting, fishing, swimming, camping, hiking or cycling, owes no duty to keep it safe or to warn of hazards, and is not liable for injuries caused by people using it, whether they are invitees, licensees or trespassers. The protection does not apply if any charge is made (or usually made) for entry or use, or if a commercial or for-profit activity related to the use is conducted on the land. It does not relieve liability for deliberate, willful or malicious injury, or for operating and maintaining structures the owner put up for public use. Farm and ranch land is covered by a separate act.

Riders under 18 may not operate or ride on a motorcycle unless properly wearing a crash helmet meeting federal standards (49 C.F.R. 571.218). Riders 18 and older are not required to wear a helmet. Motorcycles must have a windshield, or the operator must wear protective eyewear or a face shield. The equipment statute does not address whether not wearing a helmet affects damages.

Banned. No driver of a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized scooter, motorized bicycle or electric-assisted bicycle may pass other vehicles between lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction (authorized emergency vehicles excepted).

Where traffic signals are not in place or not working, drivers must yield (slowing or stopping if needed) to a pedestrian in a crosswalk who is on the driver's half of the road or approaching so closely from the other half as to be in danger. A pedestrian may not suddenly leave a curb into the path of a vehicle so close that the driver cannot yield. A pedestrian crossing anywhere other than a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection must yield to vehicles, and between adjacent intersections with working signals pedestrians may cross only in a marked crosswalk. Drivers may not pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk to let a pedestrian cross.

Bicyclists on a roadway have the rights and duties of vehicle drivers. A cyclist slower than traffic must ride as close as safe to the right edge, with exceptions such as passing, turning left, or avoiding hazards; may not pass between lanes of traffic; and may ride no more than two abreast. A driver passing a bicycle must use due care: move to the next lane if one is available and safe, or, on a road with one lane in that direction, leave at least three feet; violations causing injury carry higher penalties.

Uber/Lyft-type (TNC) drivers must carry primary auto insurance that recognizes TNC use, maintained by the driver, the company or both. While logged on and available but not on a ride: at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and bodily injury, and $25,000 for property damage, plus uninsured motorist coverage unless waived. While engaged in a prearranged ride: at least $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury and property damage, plus uninsured motorist coverage unless waived. If the driver's insurance lapses or falls short, the company's insurance must pay from the first dollar.

Injured construction workers are generally limited to workers' compensation against their employer. The exclusive-remedy rule covers the employer, including a general contractor that provides coverage to a subcontractor, and architects, engineers and surveyors on a construction site are treated as principal employers (except for negligent design plans). It does not protect another employer on the same job who is not an intermediate or principal employer of the injured worker, and it does not apply to an employer without coverage or to an intentional tort. The worker may also sue third parties, subject to the employer's or insurer's lien.