Truck Accident Statute of Limitations in Indiana (2026)

Your deadlines in Indiana, calculated

Enter the date of your crash and the tool below will work out both clocks — the legal filing deadline and the much shorter window before the proof can be destroyed. Indiana is already selected. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

What makes Indiana different

Indiana splits its government notice periods by entity: 270 days against the State, but only 180 days against a political subdivision — a city, county or school corporation. Indiana also treats its two-year wrongful death period as a condition of the statutory right rather than an ordinary limitations period, which narrows the tolling arguments available if the deadline is missed.

The four Indiana deadlines that matter

On the wrongful death period: Indiana treats the two-year wrongful death period as a condition of the statutory right, which limits tolling arguments.

Claims against a government entity in Indiana

The shortest government notice window found for Indiana — 180 days (Ind. Code § 34-13-3-8). This is the deadline that quietly ends claims: it comes due long before the ordinary filing deadline, it is a precondition to suing rather than a suggestion, and missing it usually bars the claim entirely no matter how strong the case is.

Notice to the Attorney General and the state agency within 270 days. Political subdivisions — cities, counties, school corporations — get only 180 days.

Public fleets you could realistically be hit by in Indiana: INDOT plow and maintenance trucks, county highway department equipment, IndyGo buses, municipal fleets in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, and school corporation buses. If you are not certain whether the vehicle that hit you was one of these, work to the shorter deadline until somebody confirms otherwise. The downside is not symmetrical.

If the injured person was a minor

Tolled to age 18 in Indiana under Ind. Code § 34-11-6-1 — the clock generally does not start until the injured person turns 18.

That pause applies to the court deadline. It does not apply to the evidence. A carrier is entitled to destroy a driver's logs six months after the crash whether the injured person is 8 or 38, and in many states a government notice deadline is not tolled for a child either. A tolled filing deadline and an untouched evidence deadline is the most dangerous combination on this page.

When the Indiana clock starts

Applies. Indiana's clock runs from when the plaintiff knew or should have discovered the injury and that it was caused by another's act.

Why the evidence clock in Indiana is much shorter

Indiana's filing deadline is 2 years. The federal retention rules that govern the trucking company are measured in weeks and months:

• Dashcam and telematics video — often 30 days or less. No federal retention requirement — vendor and carrier policy only.
• ECM / black box data — overwritten as the tractor keeps running, and routinely lost when it is repaired or resold.
• Driver logs and records of duty status — six months (49 CFR § 395.8(k)(1)).
• Maintenance and repair records — one year while the vehicle is in the carrier's control (49 CFR § 396.3(c)).
• Annual inspection report — 14 months (49 CFR § 396.21(b)(1)).

The way to stop those clocks is a preservation letter to the carrier — a written demand that specific evidence be kept. Until it arrives, destroying records at the end of a retention period is routine and lawful. Our FMCSA regulations and evidence guide explains what each of these records contains.

Truck traffic in Indiana

Indiana calls itself the Crossroads of America for a reason — more interstates converge here than in almost any state, and the Borman Expressway through Lake County is among the most truck-dense stretches of road in the United States. Indianapolis is a national parcel-hub city.

The corridors where these crashes concentrate: I-70 (Terre Haute–Indianapolis–Ohio), I-65 (Louisville–Indianapolis–Gary), I-80/94 through the Borman Expressway, I-69 and I-74 and US-31 and US-30.

For Indiana's comparative fault rules, damages caps and a deeper look at these corridors, see our Indiana truck accident lawyer page.

Neighbouring states have different clocks

A crash a few miles across a state line can be governed by a completely different deadline. If you are not certain which state your crash happened in — near a border, on a bridge, or on an interstate you were travelling at speed — check both.

Or use the filing deadline calculator to compare any state, and the full state index for all 50 states and D.C.

What to do next in Indiana

1. Get a preservation letter to the carrier. This is the most time-critical step and the one almost nobody hears about.
2. Confirm whether a government entity was involved. That answer can replace your 2 years deadline with a far shorter notice window — 180 days.
3. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company's insurer.
4. Request the Indiana crash report, which identifies the carrier, the DOT number and the insurer.
5. Have a lawyer licensed in Indiana confirm the dates above against the current statute.