Truck Accident Statute of Limitations in Missouri

In Missouri, the statute of limitations for a truck accident injury claim is generally 5 years from the date of the crash, and wrongful death claims run on a separate 3 years clock. If a government vehicle or entity was involved, a claim notice of roughly 90 days applies first — and missing that notice usually bars the claim regardless of the other deadlines. Missouri's 5 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.

Three years from the date of death — two years shorter than the injury period. A detail that catches families out: in Missouri the wrongful death period is 2 years shorter than the injury period. A family working from the 5 years figure they saw online is using the wrong statute entirely.

Certain Missouri municipalities require written notice within 90 days of the injury. Missouri's 90-day notice is among the tightest in the country. It is short by design, and courts rarely have discretion to excuse a late notice.

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

Concretely: in Missouri the ordinary legal window is roughly 10 times longer than the six months federal law requires driver logs to be kept. Someone injured here can be 5 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 Missouri the personal injury period is 5 years. Nearby: Kansas 2 years, Illinois 2 years, Arkansas 3 years, Iowa 2 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.