Truck Accident Statute of Limitations in North Dakota

In North Dakota, the statute of limitations for a truck accident injury claim is generally 6 years from the date of the crash, and wrongful death claims run on a separate 2 years clock. If a government vehicle or entity was involved, a claim notice of roughly 180 days applies first — and missing that notice usually bars the claim regardless of the other deadlines. North Dakota's 6 years is among the longest in the United States. That sounds reassuring, and that is precisely the problem: it creates a sense that there is no hurry, while the evidence in the case disappears on exactly the same federal schedule as it does everywhere else.

Two years from the date of death — one quarter of the personal-injury period. A detail that catches families out: in North Dakota the wrongful death period is 4 years shorter than the injury period. A family working from the 6 years figure they saw online is using the wrong statute entirely.

Notice to a political subdivision or the state is generally due within 180 days of the injury's discovery. North Dakota's 180-day notice window is within the usual range, though it still expires long before the ordinary deadline does.

Tolled during minority, generally capped at twelve years. If the injured person was under 18, the clock in North Dakota is generally paused until their 18th birthday. The evidence is not paused, and in many cases the government notice is not either.

Concretely: in North Dakota the ordinary legal window is roughly 12 times longer than the six months federal law requires driver logs to be kept. Someone injured here can be 6 years from their filing deadline and weeks from losing the proof that would carry the case. Federal rules require motor carriers to retain driver Records of Duty Status for six months. Dashcam and telematics data typically overwrite within 30 days, and engine control module data has no retention requirement at all.

In North Dakota the personal injury period is 6 years. Nearby: Minnesota 6 years, South Dakota 3 years, Montana 3 years, Wyoming 4 years. That matters more than it looks in trucking cases, because interstate freight crosses state lines as a matter of routine — the driver, the carrier, the trailer and the crash can sit in four different states, and which state's law governs can change the deadline. If you were hit far from home, get that question answered early.