| Alabama (AL) | 2 years (Ala. Code § 6-2-38) | Pure contributory (1% bar) | Williams v. Delta Int'l Mach. Corp. (Ala. 1993) reaffirmed contributory negligence; 162+ years of contributory rule; dual dog-bite framework | |
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| Alaska (AK) | 2 years (AS 09.10.070) | PURE comparative (AS 09.17.060) | Alaska is a PURE comparative-fault jurisdiction under AS 09.17.060 (one of only ~13 pure-comparative states; second pure-comparative state in the remaining 50-state buildout alongside Rhode Island). Joint and several liability ABOLISHED under AS 09.17.080. Two-tier general PI noneconomic cap of $400,000/$1,000,000 (severe permanent impairment or disfigurement) under AS 09.17.010, with stricter med-mal cap $250,000/$400,000 under AS 09.55.549. Tribal sovereign immunity overlay from ANCSA (12 regional + 200+ village corporations) complicates recovery on Native lands. Seward Highway carries 30.6% of state fatal crashes and 35% of moose-related crashes | |
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| Arizona (AZ) | 2 years (A.R.S. § 12-542) | Pure comparative | AZ Constitution Article 2 § 31 prohibits damages caps; pure comparative (A.R.S. § 12-2505); strict-liability dog bite (A.R.S. § 11-1025) | |
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| Arkansas (AR) | 3 years (Ark. Code § 16-56-105) | Modified, 50% bar (Ark. Code § 16-64-122) | Bayer CropScience LP v. Schafer, 2011 Ark. 518 struck the punitive damages cap as unconstitutional under Ark. Const. art. 5 § 32; Walmart, J.B. Hunt, and Tyson HQ concentration in Northwest Arkansas drives unique premises and trucking volume | |
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| California (CA) | 2 years (CCP §335.1) | Pure comparative | SB 37 attorney-advertising transparency (eff. 1/1/2026) | |
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| Colorado (CO) | 3 years for auto (C.R.S. § 13-80-101); 2 years general PI (C.R.S. § 13-80-102) | Modified, 50% bar (CRS § 13-21-111) | HB 24-1472 raised noneconomic cap to $1.5M for claims accruing 1/1/2025+; uses 50% bar (not 51% bar) | |
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| Connecticut (CT) | 2 years (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584) | Modified, 51% bar (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-572h) | No statutory cap on noneconomic damages (med-mal or general PI); Connecticut Product Liability Act (§ 52-572m) is the exclusive product remedy; § 13a-149 defective-highway 90-day notice trap | |
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| Delaware (DE) | 2 years (10 Del. C. § 8119) | Modified comparative, 51% bar (10 Del. C. § 8132) | Delaware is an "add-on" PIP state, NOT a true no-fault state. 21 Del. C. § 2118 mandates $15,000/$30,000 PIP plus $5,000 funeral coverage on every registered vehicle, but unlike Florida, Michigan, or New York, Delaware imposes NO monetary or verbal threshold for tort claims; plaintiffs collect first-party PIP regardless of fault and retain full unrestricted rights to sue at-fault drivers for all damages from dollar one. Combined with NO statutory cap on noneconomic damages (including in medical malpractice), Delaware is structurally one of the most plaintiff-favorable PIP states. New Castle County concentrates ~57% of the state population (~588K of ~1.06M), making New Castle Superior Court the venue for the substantial majority of PI litigation | |
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| Florida (FL) | 2 years (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(4)(a)) | Modified, 51% bar | HB 837 Civil Remedies Act (eff. 3/24/2023) | |
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| Georgia (GA) | 2 years (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33) | Modified, 50% bar | SB 68 negligent-security overhaul (eff. 4/21/2025) | |
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| Hawaii (HI) | 2 years (HRS § 657-7) | Modified comparative, 51% bar / "greater than" form (HRS § 663-31) | Hawaii is one of roughly twelve no-fault auto-insurance jurisdictions; HRS § 431:10C-306 abolishes tort liability unless PIP-incurred medical benefits equal or exceed $5,000 or the injury produces death, significant permanent loss of use of a part or function of the body, or permanent and serious disfigurement; threshold-aware screening is the single highest-leverage qualification step. Pickard v. City and County of Honolulu, 51 Haw. 134 (1969) abolished invitee/licensee/trespasser distinctions and adopted unitary reasonable-care duty (alongside CA Rowland v. Christian (1968), among the earliest in the country) | |
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| Idaho (ID) | 2 years (Idaho Code § 5-219(4)) | Modified comparative, 49% rule (Idaho Code § 6-801) | Idaho Code § 6-1603 noneconomic damages cap reached $509,013 effective July 1, 2025 (indexed annually to the state average annual wage; constitutionality upheld by Kirkland v. Blaine County Medical Center, 134 Idaho 464 (2000)); Treasure Valley (Ada and Canyon counties) holds nearly 40% of state population in roughly 2% of land area, concentrating I-84 crash volume; US-95 mountain spine carries disproportionate fatal-crash share | |
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| Illinois (IL) | 2 years (735 ILCS 5/13-202) | Modified, 51% bar | No noneconomic cap (Best v. Taylor Machine Works, 1997) | |
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| Indiana (IN) | 2 years (Ind. Code § 34-11-2-4) | Modified, 51% bar | Comparative Fault Act (Ind. Code § 34-51-2-6); med-mal $1.8M total cap (Ind. Code § 34-18-14-3); negligence-based dog bite outside government workers | |
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| Iowa (IA) | 2 years (Iowa Code § 614.1(2)) | Modified comparative, 51% bar (Iowa Code § 668.3) | I-80/I-35 cross at Des Moines plus 41 ethanol plants producing 4.61 billion gallons in 2024 push Iowa to the top tier of U.S. truck ton-miles per capita; Koenig v. Koenig, 766 N.W.2d 635 (Iowa 2009) abolished the invitee/licensee distinction in favor of a unitary reasonable-care duty; HF 161 (2023) created the first hard noneconomic cap on Iowa medical malpractice under Iowa Code § 147.136A | |
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| Kansas (KS) | 2 years (K.S.A. § 60-513(a)(4)) | Modified, 50% bar / 49% rule (K.S.A. § 60-258a) | Hilburn v. Enerpipe Ltd., 309 Kan. 1127 (2019) struck the K.S.A. § 60-19a02 noneconomic cap as unconstitutional under § 5 of the Kansas Bill of Rights; no enforceable general-PI noneconomic cap. Jones v. Hansen, 254 Kan. 499 (1994) abolished the invitee/licensee distinction (unitary reasonable care to all non-trespassers). KC metro is split MO/KS with materially different fault, SOL, and cap rules | |
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| Kentucky (KY) | 1 year general PI (KRS 413.140); 2 years for MVA (KRS 304.39-230(6)) | Pure comparative (Hilen v. Hays, 1984; KRS 411.182) | Kentucky Constitution § 54 prohibits any statutory cap on damages for injury or death; KMVRA tort threshold ($1K medical / specific injuries); pure comparative fault | |
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| Louisiana (LA) | 2 years (Civil Code Art. 3493.1) | Pure comparative through 12/31/2025; 51% bar from 1/1/2026 | Act 423/2024 doubled prescription from 1 to 2 years (eff. 7/1/2024) | |
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| Maine (ME) | 6 years (14 M.R.S. § 752) | Modified comparative, 50% bar / "equal to or greater" (14 M.R.S. § 156) | Maine's general personal-injury statute of limitations is 6 years under 14 M.R.S. § 752, one of the longest in the country, giving claims substantially more development runway than the 2-year and 3-year deadlines that govern most states. 14 M.R.S. § 156 modified comparative bars when plaintiff fault is "equal to or greater than" defendant's, so the 49/50 line is the threshold (more defendant-favorable than 51% bar). Maine retains traditional joint-and-several liability among multiple tortfeasors. Poulin v. Colby College, 402 A.2d 846 (Me. 1979) abolished invitee/licensee distinction in favor of unitary reasonable-care duty to all persons lawfully on the land | |
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| Maryland (MD) | 3 years (Md. Code Ann. Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101) | Pure contributory (1% bar) | Coleman v. Soccer Ass'n of Columbia (Md. 2013) reaffirmed contributory negligence; noneconomic cap (~$965K PI for 2025, +$15K/yr) | |
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| Massachusetts (MA) | 3 years (M.G.L. c. 260 § 2A) | Modified, 51% bar | No-fault auto with $2K medical / threshold-injury tort gateway (M.G.L. c. 231 § 6D); strict-liability dog statute covers all attacks not just bites (M.G.L. c. 140 § 155) | |
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| Michigan (MI) | 3 years (MCL § 600.5805) | Modified, 51% bar on noneconomic (MCL § 600.2959) | No-fault auto with serious-impairment threshold (MCL § 500.3135) and tiered PIP (PA 21/22, eff. 7/1/2020) | |
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| Minnesota (MN) | 6 years (Minn. Stat. § 541.05) | Modified, 51% bar | Strict-liability dog bite under Minn. Stat. § 347.22 | |
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| Mississippi (MS) | 3 years (Miss. Code § 15-1-49) | Pure comparative (Miss. Code § 11-7-15) | Pure comparative fault is unusual for the South; HB 13 (2004 1st Ex. Sess.) tort reform created a $1,000,000 general PI noneconomic cap and $500,000 med-mal noneconomic cap (Miss. Code § 11-1-60); Coast casinos drive a dense premises and inadequate-security docket; highest traffic fatality rate per VMT in the nation in 2024 | |
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| Missouri (MO) | 5 years (RSMo § 516.120) | Pure comparative | Williams v. Wabash National $462M verdict (Sept. 2024) | |
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| Montana (MT) | 3 years (MCA § 27-2-204) | Modified comparative, 50% bar (MCA § 27-1-702, "not greater than") | Montana ranks 7th nationally in traffic fatality rate per VMT in 2024 with 203 fatalities; I-90 carries 8 of 9 deadliest segments and US-93 recorded 58 fatalities Idaho to Canada; Montana is #2 nationally for ungulate collisions (1-in-58 State Farm claim odds), with ~13% of all reported crashes wildlife-related. 2025 HB 195 raised the MCA § 25-9-411 med-mal noneconomic cap to $300,000 (escalates $50K/year to $500,000 by 2029, then 2% annual COLA) | |
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| Nebraska (NE) | 4 years (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207) | Modified, 50% bar / 49% rule (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09) | PUNITIVE DAMAGES PROHIBITED entirely under Nebraska Constitution Article VII § 5 (Distinctive Printing & Packaging Co. v. Cox, 232 Neb. 846 (1989)); 4-year general PI SOL is among the longest in the country; med-mal cap is on TOTAL damages (economic + noneconomic combined) at $2,250,000 under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-2825, unusual nationally | |
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| Nevada (NV) | 2 years (NRS 11.190(4)(e)) | Modified, 51% bar (NRS 41.141) | Hospitality and casino premises specialty (NRS 651.015 innkeeper liability); no strict-liability dog statute (common-law one-bite); med-mal cap scaling under AB 404 (2023) toward $750K by 2028; no cap on punitives in insurance bad-faith cases | |
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| New Hampshire (NH) | 3 years (RSA 508:4) | Modified comparative, 51% bar (RSA 507:7-d) | New Hampshire is the only state that does not require most drivers to carry auto liability insurance (drivers must instead prove financial responsibility at minimums equivalent to 25/50/25); RSA 507:16 bars punitive damages by statute (NH joins MA, WA, LA, and NE); NH Supreme Court struck down the med-mal noneconomic cap twice in Carson v. Maurer, 120 N.H. 925 (1980) and Brannigan v. Usitalo, 134 N.H. 50 (1991), so no statutory cap on PI noneconomic damages; Ouellette v. Blanchard, 116 N.H. 552 (1976) abolished invitee/licensee/trespasser distinctions in favor of unitary reasonable-care duty (early adopter alongside CA and HI) | |
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| New Jersey (NJ) | 2 years (N.J.S.A. § 2A:14-2) | Modified, 50% bar | Strict-liability dog bite under N.J.S.A. 4:19-16 | |
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| New Mexico (NM) | 3 years (NMSA § 37-1-8) | Pure comparative (Scott v. Rizzo, 1981) | Pure comparative fault is unusual for the Mountain West (Scott v. Rizzo, 96 N.M. 682 (1981)); 2021 SB 21 modernized the Medical Malpractice Act with a tiered cap structure scaling to $6M for hospitals by 2026; UM/UIM becomes MANDATORY effective 1/1/2026 (no opt-out); 23 federally recognized tribes drive tribal-jurisdiction analysis on PI files | |
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| New York (NY) | 3 years (CPLR § 214) | Pure comparative | Labor Law § 240/241 construction strict liability | |
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| North Carolina (NC) | 3 years (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52) | Pure contributory (1% bar) | Pure contributory negligence. 1 of only 4 U.S. jurisdictions | |
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| North Dakota (ND) | 6 years (N.D.C.C. § 28-01-16(5)) | Modified comparative, 50% bar (N.D.C.C. § 32-03.2-02) | North Dakota is one of roughly 12 no-fault states; N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-08 abolishes tort liability for noneconomic damages unless medical expenses exceed $2,500 OR the injury results in serious and permanent disfigurement or disability lasting more than 60 days, dismemberment, or death; threshold-aware screening uniquely valuable. 6-year general PI SOL (§ 28-01-16(5)) is among the longest in the U.S. O'Leary v. Coenen, 251 N.W.2d 746 (N.D. 1977) abolished the rigid invitee/licensee distinction. Bakken oilfield trucking concentration on US-85 produces severe commercial-vehicle and third-party industrial-injury volume | |
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| Ohio (OH) | 2 years (O.R.C. § 2305.10) | Modified, 51% bar | Noneconomic damages cap ($250K/$500K) under O.R.C. § 2315.18 | |
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| Oklahoma (OK) | 2 years (12 O.S. § 95(A)(3)) | Modified, 50% bar (23 O.S. § 13) | Beason v. I.E. Miller Services (Okla. 2019) struck down the 23 O.S. § 61.2 $350K noneconomic cap as unconstitutional; SB 453 reinstated a $500K med-mal-only noneconomic cap effective 9/1/2025 | |
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| Oregon (OR) | 2 years (ORS § 12.110(1)) | Modified, 51% bar | Busch v. McInnis (2020) struck down ORS § 31.710 noneconomic cap | |
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| Pennsylvania (PA) | 2 years (42 Pa.C.S. § 5524) | Modified, 51% bar | Choice no-fault auto: full-tort vs. limited-tort election | |
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| Rhode Island (RI) | 3 years (R.I.G.L. § 9-1-14(b)) | PURE comparative (R.I.G.L. § 9-20-4) | Rhode Island is one of only ~13 PURE comparative-fault states under R.I.G.L. § 9-20-4 and the only pure-comparative state in the remaining 50-state buildout; recovery is preserved at any plaintiff fault percentage with damages reduced proportionally (a plaintiff 99% at fault still recovers 1%), making borderline-fault premises and multi-vehicle files structurally viable here that would be barred elsewhere. Mariorenzi v. Joseph DiPonte, Inc. (1975) abrogated the invitee/licensee/trespasser trichotomy in favor of unified reasonable-care duty, reaffirmed in Banks v. Bowen's Landing Corp., 522 A.2d 1222 (R.I. 1987). Amica Mutual Insurance Company is headquartered in Lincoln, Rhode Island (founded 1907) | |
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| South Carolina (SC) | 3 years (S.C. Code § 15-3-530) | Modified, 51% bar (Nelson v. Concrete Supply, 1991) | Strict-liability dog statute covers bites and other dog-caused injuries (S.C. Code § 47-3-110); plaintiff-friendly Charleston and Richland venues | |
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| South Dakota (SD) | 3 years (SDCL § 15-2-14(3)) | Slight/gross comparative (SDCL § 20-9-2) | South Dakota is the ONLY state in the United States still using the "slight versus gross" comparative-negligence standard under SDCL § 20-9-2; plaintiff recovers only if her contributory negligence was "slight in comparison with the negligence of the defendant," significantly more defendant-favorable than 49%/50%/51% modified-comparative jurisdictions. Med-mal noneconomic cap $500,000 under SDCL § 21-3-11 frozen at the 1976 figure. Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (~470,987 vehicles August 2024) drives concentrated Black Hills crash spike | |
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| Tennessee (TN) | 1 year (Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104) | Modified, 50% bar (McIntyre v. Balentine) | Civil Justice Act $750K/$1M noneconomic cap (Tenn. Code § 29-39-102) | |
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| Texas (TX) | 2 years (CPRC § 16.003) | Modified, 51% bar | HB 19 trucking bifurcation (CPRC § 72.051, eff. 9/1/2021) | |
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| Utah (UT) | 4 years (Utah Code § 78B-2-307) | Modified, 50% bar (Utah Code § 78B-5-818) | 4-year general PI SOL is one of the longest in the U.S.; no-fault auto with $3,000 medical / specific-injury tort threshold (Utah Code § 31A-22-309); Utah Inherent Risks of Skiing Act (Utah Code § 78B-4-401 et seq.); HB 113 (2023) raised auto minimums to 30/65/25 effective 1/1/2025 | |
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| Vermont (VT) | 3 years (12 V.S.A. § 512(4)) | Modified comparative, 50% bar (12 V.S.A. § 1036) | Vermont Mutual Insurance Group (Montpelier VT-domiciled) was chartered January 21, 1828, by Daniel Baldwin, one of the ten oldest mutual property/casualty insurers in the United States; still headquartered at 89 State Street, Montpelier, distributing through 800+ independent agencies to 300,000+ policyholders across seven Northeast states. Vermont rejects legislative damages caps: NO statutory cap on PI or medical-malpractice noneconomic damages. Demag v. Better Power Equipment, Inc., 2014 VT 78 (July 18, 2014) abolished the invitee/licensee trichotomy in favor of unified reasonable-care duty. Mandatory UM/UIM at 50/100 EXCEEDS the 25/50/10 liability minimum | |
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| Virginia (VA) | 2 years (Va. Code § 8.01-243) | Pure contributory (1% bar) | Pure contributory negligence. 1 of only 4 U.S. jurisdictions | |
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| Washington (WA) | 3 years (RCW § 4.16.080) | Pure comparative | Strict-liability dog bite under RCW § 16.08.040; no noneconomic cap | |
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| West Virginia (WV) | 2 years (W. Va. Code § 55-2-12) | Modified comparative, 50% bar (W. Va. Code § 55-7-13a) | Mallet v. Pickens, 522 S.E.2d 436 (W. Va. 1999) abolished the common-law invitee/licensee distinction (one of few states to do so); 2015 Tort Reform Act (HB 2002, SB 13) replaced common-law comparative fault with a statutory 50% bar under W. Va. Code § 55-7-13a, abolished joint and several liability under § 55-7-13c, and reinstated the open-and-obvious doctrine under § 55-7-28; Eastern Panhandle (Berkeley, Jefferson) is a DC-commuter belt with materially different jury demographics from the southern coalfield venues (Kanawha, Raleigh, Mercer) | |
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| Wisconsin (WI) | 3 years (Wis. Stat. § 893.54) | Modified, 51% bar | Strict-liability dog bite with double damages on second bite (Wis. Stat. § 174.02); med-mal noneconomic cap $750K upheld by Mayo (Wis. 2018) | |
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| Wyoming (WY) | 4 years (Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C)) | Modified comparative, 51% bar (Wyo. Stat. § 1-1-109, "not more than 50%") | Wyoming Constitution Article 10, § 4(a) EXPRESSLY PROHIBITS THE LEGISLATURE FROM ENACTING DAMAGES CAPS for personal injury or death ("No law shall be enacted limiting the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the injury or death of any person"). Wyoming joins the small group of states with constitutional anti-cap protection (alongside AZ Const. Art. 2 § 31, KY Const. § 54, OK Beason 2019, KS Hilburn 2019, AR Bayer 2011). NO statutory cap on PI noneconomic, med-mal noneconomic, or punitive damages. Wyoming has the longest general PI SOL of any state in this remaining-batches buildout at 4 years (Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)(iv)(C)). I-80 transcontinental freight corridor concentration plus Powder River Basin coal/oilfield trucking | |
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