Large truck accidents can be devastating. If you were injured in a truck accident in Indianapolis, Indiana, call (317) 920-6400 to learn how our legal team at Wilson Kehoe Winingham Injury Lawyers can help. During your free consultation, an experienced Indianapolis truck accident lawyer can explain all of your legal rights and options.
A truck accident can change your life in ways you never imagined. We’re here to help you fight for compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages, and more. Reach out to our law offices in Indianapolis to schedule a free case review today.
Why Choose Wilson Kehoe Winingham Injury Lawyers for Help After a Truck Accident in Indianapolis, IN?
When you hire our Indianapolis personal injury attorneys at Wilson Kehoe Winingham Injury Lawyers, you benefit from decades of experience. We bring in-depth knowledge to the table in every case we take on.
Our team is dedicated to providing compassionate support while aggressively pursuing justice for our clients. We understand the devastating impact a truck accident can have on your health, finances, and future, and we are committed to holding negligent trucking companies and drivers accountable.
From conducting thorough investigations to negotiating with insurance companies and, if necessary, presenting a strong case in court, we work tirelessly to secure the compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a free case review with an experienced Indianapolis personal injury lawyer.
Why Should You Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer?
Truck accident cases tend to be more complicated than ordinary car accident claims, which makes hiring an experienced truck accident lawyer all the more critical. Having an attorney on your side can also level the playing field against major trucking companies with dedicated legal departments and other resources to fight against your claim.
There are a few key areas where having a lawyer could make a big difference in a truck accident case:
- Gathering evidence: Trucking companies and their insurers often begin investigating immediately after a collision. They may have easy access to driver logs, inspection records, black box data, maintenance files, and other evidence that can be difficult to obtain without legal help.
- Understanding and applying federal trucking regulations: Complex federal trucking rules can make these cases highly fact-driven, so they require someone with practical knowledge of how these regulations apply in an accident claim.
- Identifying all potentially liable parties: Liability is another multi-layered issue in these cases. Responsibility for an accident could fall on more than one party, including the truck driver, the trucking company, the cargo loading company, the maintenance contractor, the vehicle manufacturer, or another third party.
Managing all of these issues alone can be overwhelming, especially when you are dealing with serious injuries, medical bills, missed work, and pressure from insurance adjusters. A truck accident lawyer can handle the legal process while you focus on your recovery.
Who Can Be Liable for My Damages After a Truck Accident?
One factor that can complicate truck accident claims is the fact that multiple parties may share legal responsibility.
Potentially responsible parties in a truck accident case can include:
- A negligent truck driver
- The trucking company that hired the truck driver
- Truck leasing companies that maintain fleets of trucks
- Companies hired to conduct inspections and maintenance
- Companies responsible for the truck’s cargo
- Manufacturing companies
- Government agencies responsible for industry oversight or road maintenance
It’s even possible that a third-party driver could share fault for a multi-vehicle accident.
What Types of Damages Are Available to Truck Accident Victims?
Indiana personal injury laws give victims the right to seek reimbursement for all financial costs associated with the accident.
These damages are generally separated into three main categories:
Economic Damages
These are your economic damages, and might include:
- Past and future medical expenses for ER visits, hospital stays, surgeries, doctor’s follow-up visits, medications, and more
- Lost wages
- Lost employment benefits
- Lost future earning potential in long-term disability cases
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Property damage
Because these losses directly impact your financial stability, our attorneys will carefully calculate and pursue the full value of your economic damages to help secure your future.
Non-Economic Damages
You can also pursue non-economic damages to compensate for the more personal losses you experience, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and trauma
- Diminished quality of life
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- Chronic pain
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
- Loss of consortium and other damages for wrongful death in fatal accident cases
Although these losses are less tangible, they are often just as devastating, and our attorneys will fight to ensure you receive fair compensation for the profound impact the accident has had on your life.
Punitive Damages
If your case goes to trial, punitive damages are possible. However, punitive damages are rare. They’re only available when the defendant’s acts were so shocking that the court decides they deserve punishment.
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit After a Truck Accident in Indiana?
Indiana personal injury laws give most victims two years to file a lawsuit. The two-year period starts on the date of the accident. This deadline is called the statute of limitations.
It’s an important rule–because once two years pass, you cannot seek compensation.
What is My Truck Accident Case Worth?
The value of your personal injury case can be influenced by many different factors, including:
- The overall severity of the injuries involved
- Whether the accident caused permanent damage
- Your current medical treatment costs
- The estimated cost of future medical care and rehabilitation
- Other out-of-pocket costs associated with the accident and injury
- Your current lost wages
- Projected impacts on your future earning capacity
- Lifestyle changes and damage to your quality of life
- Whether shared fault is an issue
In some cases, it may be best to wait until you’ve reached maximum medical improvement (MMI) before taking any settlement offer. In serious injury cases, it may not be possible to accurately assess your damages before reaching MMI.
What Should I Do After a Truck Accident?
If you can do so safely, try to gather information at the scene. Take photos of the vehicles, road conditions, skid marks, traffic signs, injuries, and any visible damage. Get the truck driver’s name, employer, insurance information, license plate number, and trucking company details.
You should also:
- Ask for contact information from witnesses.
- Avoid admitting fault or guessing about what happened.
- Follow your doctor’s treatment plan.
- Keep copies of medical bills, repair estimates, and wage loss records.
- Avoid posting about the crash on social media.
- Speak with a truck accident lawyer before giving a recorded statement.
The steps you take after a truck accident can affect your health and your legal claim. Even if you feel fine, injuries from a truck crash can take hours or days to appear. Prompt medical care helps tie your injuries more directly to the accident and creates important evidence, such as medical records.
What Are the Common Causes of Truck Accidents?
Many truck accidents occur when truck drivers and trucking companies ignore state and federal trucking industry regulations. Others occur due to driver error.
Some common causes of tractor-trailer accidents include:
- Speeding and aggressive driving
- Drowsy and fatigued drivers
- Violations of FMCSA hours-of-service rules
- Distracted driving
- Failure to yield the right-of-way
- Failure to check blind spots
- Tailgating
- Lane departures
- Passing too closely
- Dangerous and wide turns
- Failure to properly secure the truck’s cargo
- Hazardous cargo
- Drunk driving or drug use
- Inexperienced truck drivers
Mechanical problems can also lead to a truck wreck. Large commercial vehicles are subject to inspection and maintenance requirements. When those rules are ignored, accidents can occur because of worn tires, damaged brakes, and mechanical failures.
Common Truck Accident Injuries
Our truck accident attorneys represent clients who have sustained all types of injuries.
This includes:
- Broken bones
- Concussions
- Back injuries
- Nerve damage
- Facial injuries
- Shoulder injuries
- Soft tissue damage
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Head and neck injuries
- Whiplash injuries
- Internal bleeding
- Organ damage
- Chest and thoracic injuries
- Burns
- Amputations
- Paralysis
- Catastrophic injuries
- Wrongful death of a loved one
Documenting your injuries is important. The sooner you seek medical attention, the easier it will be to link your injuries to the accident. Medical records are valuable evidence in all types of personal injury cases.
We Handle All Types of Truck Accident Claims
Accidents involving large tractor-trailers and big rigs can occur in various ways.
Some examples of the types of commercial truck accident cases we handle include:
- Jackknife accidents
- Underride accidents
- Override accidents
- Rollovers
- Tire blowouts
- Head-on collisions
- Accidents involving spilled truck cargo
- Highway accidents
- Sideswipe accidents
- T-bone accidents
- Rear-end crashes
- Fatal truck accidents
No matter how your truck accident occurred, our team has the experience and resources to investigate the cause, identify those responsible, and pursue the justice and compensation you deserve.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Difference Between Truck Accidents and Car Accidents?
Truck accidents and car accidents may seem similar at first, but their impacts are often very different.
A fully loaded commercial truck can weigh many times more than a passenger vehicle, making a collision more likely to cause severe injuries, extensive vehicle damage, and long-term financial losses. Medical treatment may be more intensive, recovery may take longer, and care costs can be much higher. In serious cases, victims may be unable to work after the crash.
Another key difference is the insurance involved. Commercial trucking companies often carry larger insurance policies than individual drivers, which can make the claim more contested. Insurers may push back harder when more money is at stake.
Truck accidents may also involve industry-specific issues, such as driver fatigue, overloaded trailers, poor maintenance, unsafe hiring practices, or improper cargo securement. These factors are less common in typical car accident claims and can affect how fault is evaluated.
Because of these differences, truck accident cases often require a more detailed review of the crash, injuries, and financial losses. A truck accident lawyer can help you understand how your case differs from a standard car accident claim and what options may be available.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Lawyer in Indianapolis?
At Wilson Kehoe Winingham Injury Lawyers, we work on a contingency fee basis.
This type of arrangement gives you access to experienced legal representation even if you don’t have the funds to pay an upfront retainer fee.
How Common Are Large Truck Accidents in Indiana?
In 2025, Indiana had 4,844 traffic accidents involving large trucks. That total is slightly up from 2024’s total but down compared to the two years before that. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) also reported that there were 1,592 and 113 deaths as a result of these crashes.
How Do I Prove Negligence After a Truck Accident in Indiana?
The four legal elements of a negligence case are:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Causation
- Damages
Plainly speaking, you must present evidence to show that the at-fault party didn’t use adequate caution, which caused your accident and injuries.
Examples of the evidence that our lawyers will locate and evaluate when building your case include:
- The damaged truck and its components
- Hard evidence from the crash scene
- Accident reports
- Medical records and opinions
- Eyewitness statements
- Inspection reports
- Hours-of-service records
- Dash camera footage
- Lading information
- Personnel records and the driver’s commercial driver’s license qualifications
- Event data recorders, or the truck’s “black box”
- Testimony from expert witnesses
The sooner we start collecting evidence, the better. The trucking company has likely already launched an investigation. We’re prepared to start putting our resources to work for you today.
Contact an Experienced Indianapolis Truck Accident Lawyer for a Free Consultation
Were you involved in a truck accident? Call Wilson Kehoe Winingham Injury Lawyers for legal advice today. An experienced Indianapolis truck accident attorney can make a world of difference when it comes to getting the compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a free consultation.