Motor vehicle negligence: the foundation of your claim
A driver who operates a vehicle while impaired has breached the duty of care every Colorado driver owes others on the road. That breach, combined with the injuries and damages it caused, is the basic negligence formula. To prove negligence you must show duty, breach, causation, and harm. An arrest report, a BAC reading above legal limits, or a conviction can all be powerful evidence of breach, but your civil case does not depend on a criminal conviction.
The deadline to file a lawsuit for injuries arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle in Colorado is three years from the date of the crash (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). Missing that window means losing your right to sue entirely. Deadlines for claims against a government entity are shorter and require a written notice of claim within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)).
Comparative negligence: what happens if you were partly at fault
Colorado follows a modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. 13-21-111). You can still recover damages as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. If your fault is found to be 50 percent or more, you recover nothing. If you were 20 percent at fault, you recover 80 percent of your total damages. In DUI crashes, insurance adjusters routinely try to inflate the injured person's percentage to reduce payouts. Do not accept that framing without a legal challenge.
Colorado's Dram Shop Act: holding the bar responsible
Colorado's Dram Shop Act (C.R.S. 44-3-801) allows an injured person to sue a licensed alcohol vendor that willfully and knowingly served alcohol to a person who was visibly intoxicated, or to anyone under 21, who then caused the harm. Two conditions must both be true: the service must have been knowing, and the civil action must be commenced within one year after the sale or service (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)). That one-year deadline is written into the statute itself, not a separate limitations period, and it runs from the date the alcohol was served, not the date of the crash.
Colorado caps total dram shop liability at a statutory amount adjusted for inflation every two years. For claims accruing on or after January 1, 2026 and before January 1, 2028, the Colorado Secretary of State has certified that cap at $465,730 (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(c), SOS certificate signed January 27, 2026). The cap applies to the total liability in an action, not separately to each plaintiff, and the amount that applies to your case depends on when the injury occurred.
Punitive damages: when the drunk driver's conduct was willful and wanton
Punitive damages in Colorado are available when a defendant acted with fraud, malice, or willful and wanton disregard for others (C.R.S. 13-21-102). Getting behind the wheel while drunk often satisfies that standard. Under Colorado's punitive statute, exemplary damages generally may not exceed the amount of actual damages awarded, though a court may increase that amount under specific circumstances. We evaluate punitive exposure on every DUI case from the first review.
