Comparative negligence rules in Utah

Crashes rarely split cleanly into one driver who did everything wrong and one who did everything right. Maybe you were a few miles per hour over the limit when someone ran a red light. Maybe you started a lane change right as another car sped up. In Utah, the share of blame assigned to you is not a footnote. It decides whether you collect anything, and how much.

Utah uses a modified comparative negligence rule, also called comparative fault. It lives in the state's Liability Reform Act at Utah Code sections 78B-5-817 through 78B-5-823.¹ Being partly at fault does not end your claim on its own. But Utah draws a hard line, and where you fall relative to that line changes the whole case.

The 50% bar, written the way Utah actually writes it

A lot of articles call this a "50 percent rule" or a "49 percent rule." The statute is more exact, and the wording is worth reading. Under Utah Code 78B-5-818, the fault of the person seeking recovery "may not alone bar recovery by that person."² You can recover from a defendant or group of defendants only if their fault, "combined with the fault of persons immune from suit and nonparties to whom fault is allocated, exceeds the fault of the person seeking recovery."²

Utah measures your fault against the combined fault of everyone else involved, not against whichever single driver was most to blame. If your share is under 50%, everyone else's combined fault is greater than yours and you can recover. Hit 50% or more and their combined fault no longer exceeds yours, so you recover nothing. Forty-nine percent, you have a claim. Fifty percent, you do not.

That "combined" language can save a claim in a multi-car wreck. Suppose a chain-reaction crash leaves you 40% at fault, with two other drivers at 35% and 25%. You carry more blame than either of them alone, but their combined 60% still exceeds your 40%, so your claim survives.²

How much your fault costs you

Below the cutoff, your fault trims your award instead of wiping it out. If a jury values your damages at $100,000 and finds you 20% at fault, you take home $80,000. At 40% fault, the same case pays $60,000. The reduction matches your percentage.

The fact-finder sets those numbers, which means the jury when there is one. Utah Code 78B-5-819 lets any party demand a special verdict that states the total damages and the exact percentage of fault for each person involved.³ "Fault" is defined broadly in 78B-5-817 to include negligence in every degree, comparative negligence, assumption of risk, strict liability, and product-related claims.¹

Each defendant pays only their own share

Here Utah parts ways with many states. It does not apply joint and several liability to these claims. Under Utah Code 78B-5-820, the most any one defendant can be made to pay is "that percentage or proportion of the damages equivalent to the percentage or proportion of fault attributed to that defendant," and that defendant "is not entitled to contribution from any other person."⁴

The effect shows up in what you can actually collect. Say you are cleared of fault, Driver A is 70% responsible, and Driver B is 30%. On a $100,000 verdict you can collect $70,000 from A and $30,000 from B, and no more from either. If Driver B is uninsured or has no assets, you cannot force Driver A to cover B's $30,000 share. There is no shared pool and no right to shift the shortfall onto the other defendant.⁴ That gap is one reason underinsured motorist coverage matters in Utah, which the state puts on your policy by default unless you reject it in writing.⁵

Fault can land on people who are not in the lawsuit

Utah lets blame spread beyond the drivers you actually sue. The fact-finder can assign a percentage to a nonparty and to a "person immune from suit," such as an employer covered by workers' compensation or a government entity protected by the Governmental Immunity Act.¹² Putting fault on an immune person does not make them pay. It exists only to set everyone else's percentages accurately, and it can lower your recovery.²

There is a limit. Under 78B-5-819, if the combined fault assigned to immune parties comes in under 40%, the court reduces it to zero and spreads it among the remaining parties. At 40% or more, it stays where it landed.³

Utah also has a rule for the hit-and-run or "phantom" vehicle that caused the crash and left. Fault can be allocated to an unidentified vehicle, but its existence has to be proven by clear and convincing evidence, which the statute says "may consist solely of one person's testimony."²

Where comparative fault fits in a no-fault state

Utah is a no-fault state for car crashes. Your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays early medical bills and part of your lost wages no matter who caused the collision, with a $3,000 minimum for medical expenses and no deductible.⁶ Insurers have to pay PIP within 30 days of getting proof of loss.⁷

Comparative negligence comes in when you step outside no-fault to pursue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering. Utah allows that only once you clear a tort threshold: more than $3,000 in medical expenses, or a permanent injury, defined as death, dismemberment, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or a bone fracture.⁷ From that point on, the 50% bar and the fault reduction apply to your claim against the other driver. Your PIP benefits aren't reduced by your share of fault. Your recovery from the at-fault driver is.

Deadlines and limits to keep in mind

You generally have four years from the crash date to file a personal injury lawsuit in Utah. There is no injury-specific deadline, so courts apply the residual four-year statute in Utah Code 78B-2-307.⁸ Claims for damage to your vehicle or other personal property from a crash also get four years under 78B-2-307(3), added by a 2023 amendment.⁸

Minimum liability limits rose recently. For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, Utah requires at least $30,000 per person and $65,000 per accident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage. Policies before that carried $25,000, $65,000, and $15,000.⁹ Because each at-fault driver owes only their own share, those limits and your own UM and UIM coverage often decide what you can collect in the end.

What this means after your crash

Expect the other insurer to argue you share the blame. Every point they pin on you shaves their payout, and pushing you to 50% ends it. So the evidence carries weight: the crash report, photos, witness names, and your own careful account of what happened. If you need the official report, Utah handles those through the Department of Public Safety, and you can start with our Utah crash report guide.¹⁰ If your car is worth less on resale even after a solid repair, that is a separate claim covered on our Utah diminished value page. And when fault is genuinely contested, the right lawyer can be the difference between 49% and 50%. You can find one through our legal directory.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 78B-5-817 (Definitions). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter5/78B-5-S817.html

2. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 78B-5-818 (Comparative negligence). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter5/78B-5-S818.html

3. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 78B-5-819 (Separate special verdicts on total damages and proportion of fault). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter5/78B-5-S819.html

4. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 78B-5-820 (Amount of liability limited to proportion of fault; no contribution). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter5/78B-5-S820.html

5. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 31A-22-305 (Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title31A/Chapter22/31A-22-S305.html

6. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 31A-22-307 (Personal injury protection coverages). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title31A/Chapter22/31A-22-S307.html

7. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 31A-22-309 (Personal injury protection benefits and tort threshold). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title31A/Chapter22/31A-22-S309.html

8. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 78B-2-307 (Within four years). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title78B/Chapter2/78B-2-S307.html

9. Utah State Legislature, Utah Code 31A-22-304 (Motor vehicle liability policy minimum limits). https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title31A/Chapter22/31A-22-S304.html

10. Utah Highway Patrol, Get a Crash/Police Report. https://uhp.utah.gov/get-crash-police-report/