Exceptions to the Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

North Carolina recognizes specific situations that can either delay the commencement or temporarily pause the statute of limitations "clock," thereby extending the standard three-year filing deadline. Some examples of these modifying circumstances include:

• If the injured person is legally disabled at the time of the accident (e.g., a minor under 18 or considered "insane" or "incompetent" by North Carolina law), the three-year filing clock begins when the legal disability is lifted, such as when the person turns 18 or is deemed sane or competent (North Carolina General Statutes section 1-17).
  
  
• If the defendant departs from and resides outside North Carolina after the accident or remains continuously absent from the state for one year or more before the lawsuit is filed, this period of absence may not be included in the three-year timeframe (North Carolina General Statutes section 1-21).