Statute of Limitations for Truck Accidents in Every State

The statute of limitations is a hard deadline. Miss it and your claim is gone — no matter how clear the liability or how catastrophic the injury. For semi-truck cases, several wrinkles make this even more urgent than people realize.

General personal-injury deadlines

Most states use a 2- or 3-year window for personal injury claims arising from truck crashes. But there are major outliers in both directions.

• 1 year: Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana (wrongful death only).
• 2 years: Florida (since 2023), Texas, California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, most others.
• 3 years: Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Washington, others.
• 4 years: Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming.
• 5 years: Missouri (general personal injury).
• 6 years: Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota.

Wrongful death is often different

A wrongful death claim is a separate cause of action with its own deadline — sometimes shorter than the personal-injury deadline (Colorado is 2 years; Oregon is 3 years even though personal injury is 2; Tennessee is 1 year).

Exceptions and tolling

Special rules can extend or shorten the deadline:

• Minor plaintiffs — the clock generally tolls until age 18.
• Discovery rule — for injuries not immediately apparent.
• Government defendants — short notice periods (often 60–180 days).
• Product liability — separate statutes of repose may apply.

Why this matters in truck cases

Even when the deadline is years away, the evidence window is much shorter. ELD logs, ECM data, and dashcam footage often disappear within months. Acting fast preserves the case — not just the right to file.