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Truck accident statute of limitations in Kentucky

You generally have 2 years from the date of the crash to file. The trucking company only has to keep the driver's logs for six months. Both clocks started the day of the collision.

Your Kentucky deadlines

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In Kentucky, the deadline to file a truck accident personal injury lawsuit is generally 2 years from the date of the crash (KRS § 304.39-230(6) (Motor Vehicle Reparations Act)). Wrongful death is 2 years from the appointment of the estate’s personal representative (KRS § 413.180; KRS § 304.39-230). If a government vehicle was involved, written notice is generally required within 1 year.

What makes Kentucky different

Kentucky has two personal injury deadlines and the difference between them is a full year. The general rule is one year. Motor vehicle claims are commonly governed by the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act instead, at two.

This is the most dangerous ambiguity in the dataset. A one-year answer that should have been two costs nothing; a two-year answer that should have been one ends the case. Nobody should be relying on a calculator for this — in Kentucky the only safe move is to ask a lawyer early.

Where truck crashes happen in Kentucky

I-65 through Louisville and the UPS Worldport air-freight hub, I-75 through Lexington and northern Kentucky, I-64 east-west, and I-71 to Cincinnati.

Watch out for this one: Louisville's overnight air-freight cycle puts a very large volume of time-pressured ground haulage on the roads in the small hours — the period when hours-of-service violations are most likely and driver logs matter most.

The Kentucky rules, with citations

Filing deadlines by jurisdiction. The last column is federal and does not vary by state — it is the minimum period a motor carrier must keep the driver's logs (49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k)(1); supporting documents 49 C.F.R. § 395.11(f)). Every figure here is awaiting attorney verification.
Jurisdiction Injury claim Wrongful death Government notice Driver logs kept
Kentucky 2 years 2 years 1 year 180 days

Personal injury — 2 years

Runs from the date of the crash. Cited: KRS § 304.39-230(6) (Motor Vehicle Reparations Act) (Kentucky Revised Statutes).

CRITICAL: Kentucky's general personal injury period at KRS 413.140(1)(a) is ONE year. Motor vehicle claims are governed instead by the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act, commonly two years from the crash or from the last basic reparation benefit payment, whichever is later. Which provision governs a given truck claim is exactly the kind of question this tool cannot answer and an attorney must.

Wrongful death — 2 years

Runs from the appointment of the personal representative. Cited: KRS § 413.180; KRS § 304.39-230.

Kentucky commonly measures the wrongful death period from the appointment of the personal representative rather than from the death, with an outside limit from the date of death. This is a different starting point from most states.

Government vehicles — notice within 1 year

Claims against the Commonwealth generally go to the Claims Commission, commonly within one year. Cited: KRS § 49.100 (Kentucky Claims Commission).

Kentucky routes State claims through the Claims Commission rather than the ordinary courts.

A federal vehicle is not on this clock at all. A USPS truck, a VA vehicle or another federal agency vehicle runs under the Federal Tort Claims Act — an administrative claim on Standard Form 95 within two years of the crash, then six months to sue after it is denied (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b); 28 C.F.R. § 14.2).

If the injured person was under 18

The limitation period generally does not begin to run until the injured person turns 18. The full period then runs from the 18th birthday. Cited: KRS § 413.170.

Generally tolled during minority.

Discovery rule

Applied where the injury or its cause was not reasonably discoverable.

Why the evidence deadline is shorter than you think

Almost everything that proves what a truck driver was doing before a crash is held by the trucking company, and almost all of it is on a clock that has nothing to do with your right to sue.

Driver logs. Federal law requires a motor carrier to keep a driver's record of duty status — the hours-of-service record — for 6 months. After that, destroying it is lawful. That record is how you find out whether the driver had been at the wheel for eleven hours or for sixteen.

Camera footage. Forward-facing and driver-facing video usually sits on a rolling loop. Thirty days is common. Some fleets keep a week. Unless somebody asks for it, the file that shows the truck drifting across the line is overwritten by ordinary operation.

Engine data. The engine control module records speed, throttle and braking in the seconds before impact. There is no retention rule at all. It goes when the tractor is repaired, when the module is re-flashed, when the truck is sold, or when it simply goes back into service.

None of this is a conspiracy. It is a filing cabinet being emptied on schedule. But it produces a situation that almost nobody warns people about: in a state that gives you three years to file, you can be two years and nine months inside your legal deadline and have nothing left to prove your case with.

There is one thing that stops it. A preservation letter — a spoliation letter — sent to the carrier and its insurer puts them on notice that specific categories of evidence are relevant to a claim. Once that letter lands, destroying the material stops being routine and starts being a problem for them. Until it lands, the clocks keep running.

What to do in the next seven days

In order. The first two matter most, and the second one is the one almost nobody does in time.

  1. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer

    You are not required to. What you say while you are still in pain and still learning the extent of your injuries can be used later to reduce or defeat the claim.

  2. Ask, in writing, that the evidence be preserved

    A preservation letter to the carrier and its insurer stops the retention clocks from mattering. This is the most time-sensitive step on the list.

  3. Do not let the truck be repaired or sold before it is inspected

    Once the tractor is repaired or returned to service, the engine module data and the physical condition of the brakes and tyres are generally gone.

  4. Get the police report

    It carries the carrier name, the USDOT number and the insurer — the details a preservation letter needs in order to reach the right company.

  5. Photograph the injuries now, and keep photographing them

    Bruising, swelling and surgical sites change within days. That progression cannot be recreated later.

  6. Write down what you remember today

    Weather, the position of the truck, what you heard, who stopped, what was said. A contemporaneous note carries weight a later recollection does not.

  7. Keep every medical record and every bill

    Including the ones that seem trivial. Gaps in treatment are the most common argument used to reduce a claim.

Nearby states

A crash near a state line can raise a genuine question about which state's deadline applies — the rules can differ by years.

See all 50 states and D.C. →

Questions people ask

What is the statute of limitations for truck accidents in Kentucky?

In Kentucky the deadline to file a truck accident personal injury lawsuit is generally 2 years from the date of the crash, under KRS § 304.39-230(6) (Motor Vehicle Reparations Act). A claim filed after that is normally barred, however strong it is.

That is the legal deadline only. The evidence held by the trucking company runs on a separate federal clock — six months for driver logs, often thirty days or less for camera footage.

How long do I have to file a wrongful death claim in Kentucky?

Kentucky sets the wrongful death period at 2 years, measured from the appointment of the personal representative of the estate, under KRS § 413.180; KRS § 304.39-230.

That matches the personal injury period in this state, but the starting point can still differ.

Kentucky commonly measures the wrongful death period from the appointment of the personal representative rather than from the death, with an outside limit from the date of death. This is a different starting point from most states.

What if a city, county or state truck was involved in Kentucky?

A much shorter deadline usually applies. In Kentucky the shortest government notice window is 1 year from the crash.

Claims against the Commonwealth generally go to the Claims Commission, commonly within one year.

Kentucky routes State claims through the Claims Commission rather than the ordinary courts.

A federal vehicle — a USPS truck, a VA vehicle — is different again. Those run under the Federal Tort Claims Act: an administrative claim on Standard Form 95 within two years, then six months to sue after denial.

Does a child injured in a truck crash get longer to file in Kentucky?

The limitation period generally does not begin to run until the injured person turns 18. The full period then runs from the 18th birthday. In Kentucky this is governed by KRS § 413.170.

Generally tolled during minority.

Tolling extends the legal deadline and does nothing for the evidence. The driver logs are destroyed on the ordinary six-month federal schedule whether the injured person is eight or eighty.

How long does the trucking company have to keep the driver logs?

Six months, under 49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k)(1). That is federal and does not vary by state, so it is the same in Kentucky as anywhere else.

Camera footage is usually on a shorter cycle still — often thirty days or less. Engine module data has no retention requirement at all and is commonly lost when the tractor is repaired or returned to service.

Have someone confirm these dates

The figures on this page are the general rule in Kentucky. They are not advice, and they do not know the facts of your case — who owned the trailer, whether a broker was involved, whether the driver was an employee or an owner-operator, whether any of that changes which deadline applies to which party.

A free case review answers that, and it starts the preservation letter, which is the only thing on this page that actually stops a clock.

Start a free case review

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