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Middlesex County · Evidence

Evidence Deadlines After a Truck Crash

You have two years to file a truck injury lawsuit in New Jersey. Most of the evidence is gone long before that: NJDOT camera video must be requested within seven days, driver logs are kept six months, and police body-camera footage can be deleted after 180 days.

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Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C. · Edison · New Brunswick · Perth Amboy · AVAILABLE 24/7

Each window starts at the crash, not the day you call a lawyer. The timeline below lists every deadline that matters, what the rule says, and what we do about it.

The evidence clock, from the first hours to six years

  1. 8 and 32 hours

    Federal rules require a post-accident alcohol test and drug test of the truck driver after any fatal crash, and after an injury or tow-away crash in which the driver is cited. If the alcohol test is not given within 8 hours, or the drug test within 32 hours, the employer stops trying and only records why (49 CFR 382.303).

    We demand the test results and the employer's written explanation if a test was missed, and send the preservation letter before the record of either can go stale.

  2. 7 calendar days

    NJDOT traffic-camera video. The electronic request must be "received by the Department within seven calendar days" of the date of the video. The fee is $100 per camera for the first 3 hours and $50 for each additional 3 hours, payable within 30 days of notice or the video is not kept (N.J.A.C. 16:1A-4.6). This matters in Middlesex because the NJSP-reported truck crashes here are on NJDOT and Turnpike Authority highways.

    We file the NJDOT video log request within the week, for every camera that could have seen the crash.

  3. 7 business days

    The OPRA response deadline. A records custodian must answer a public-records request within 7 business days; requests flagged as commercial-purpose or needing a Daniel's Law review get 14 (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5; GRC Citizen's Guide, Oct. 2024). This is the route to the 911 recording, the dispatch log and police video.

    We send OPRA requests to the police department and the Turnpike Authority for 911 audio, CAD logs and video, and calendar the custodian's response date.

  4. 3 months

    Driver vehicle inspection reports. The pre- and post-trip inspection reports a driver fills out are kept for only 3 months (49 CFR 396.11).

    We send the preservation letter to the carrier naming the DVIRs for the tractor and each trailer.

  5. 180 days

    Police body-worn camera footage must be kept at least 180 days. If a person who appears in the recording asks, it must be kept at least 3 years (N.J.S.A. 40A:14-118.5).

    We file the 3-year retention request with the department inside the 180 days, then follow with the OPRA request.

  6. 6 months

    Hours-of-service logs and the supporting documents behind them, plus the ELD backup copy, must be kept for 6 months (49 CFR 395.8(k), 395.22(i)). After that the carrier may lawfully discard them.

    We send the litigation-hold letter to the carrier, the broker and any lessor within days of being retained, naming the ELD data, logs, ECM download and dashcam.

  7. 1 year and 14 months

    Maintenance records are kept 1 year, and for 6 months after a vehicle leaves the carrier's control (49 CFR 396.3). Annual inspection reports are kept 14 months (49 CFR 396.21).

    We name the maintenance file and the annual inspection reports for every unit in the preservation letter.

  8. 2 years

    The filing deadline for a personal injury lawsuit (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2) and for a wrongful death claim, measured from the death (N.J.S.A. 2A:31-3). A claim against a public entity, such as a town truck, NJ Transit or the Turnpike Authority, needs a notice of claim within 90 days (N.J.S.A. 59:8-8).

    We file the 90-day public-entity notice when a public truck or public road authority is involved, and the complaint well before two years.

  9. 3 years

    The carrier's accident register, with copies of every government and insurer accident report, must be kept 3 years (49 CFR 390.15).

    We request the register, which shows the carrier's other crashes, in discovery.

  10. 6 years

    State Police crash reports are available for 6 years from the year of the crash.

    We order the NJSP report and, once suit is filed, subpoena the serious/fatal file before the 6 years run.

The OPRA trap

New Jersey's 2024 public-records overhaul (P.L.2024, c.16) added a rule that catches crash victims: parties to a lawsuit and their lawyers may not use OPRA to seek records that are already the subject of a court order or a pending discovery request. The request form now requires a certification of whether the records relate to pending litigation.

The practical result is that OPRA requests for 911 audio, dispatch logs and police video should go out before suit is filed and before discovery demands are served. Sent in the right order, both routes stay open. Sent in the wrong order, the faster one closes.

Two more records do not come by OPRA at all. E-ZPass records are released under a court order or subpoena, so they are obtained in litigation. The Turnpike Authority publishes no rule on how long it keeps camera video or how to request it, so we send both an OPRA request and a preservation letter to NJTA right away. That matters here more than anywhere in the county: the Turnpike had 638 reportable truck and bus crashes in Middlesex (2021–2025, FMCSA crash file), more than any other road. Involving a truck does not mean the truck caused the crash.

Medical records and what happens when evidence is destroyed

Your own records have deadlines too, in your favor. Physicians must provide copies within 30 days of a request, at no more than $1 per page or $100 for the whole record, whichever is less (N.J.A.C. 13:35-6.5). Hospitals have the same 30 days, with fees capped at $1 per page for the first 100 pages and $0.25 after that, up to $200 (N.J.A.C. 8:43G-15.3).

If a carrier destroys records it was told to keep, New Jersey law has remedies. In Rosenblit v. Zimmerman (2001), the Supreme Court of New Jersey recognized a claim for fraudulent concealment of evidence, alongside the adverse-inference instruction and discovery sanctions a trial judge can impose. Those remedies depend on proving the carrier knew to preserve the records, which is exactly what a dated preservation letter does.

What's hard to do alone

  • The shortest windows, 7 days for cameras, 3 months for inspection reports and 6 months for logs, close long before the 2-year deadline most people have heard of.
  • Every request has its own form, fee and custodian: NJDOT's video log form, the police department's OPRA portal, the Turnpike Authority's OPRA form, the body-cam retention letter, the carrier's litigation hold, the medical records authorization.
  • OPRA and discovery have to be sequenced, or the 2024 litigation bar shuts one of them.
  • The carrier knows which records it is about to discard. You do not, unless someone names them in writing.

“Our attorneys can work to preserve this material before routine deletion practices make it harder to obtain.”

Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C.

“The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can preserve evidence, review driver logs, and protect your rights.”

Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C.

Related pages

Get your crash report

The report is the first record, and it tells you which agency has the rest.

Read more →

Who investigates

NJSP, town police, the Prosecutor's Fatal Crash Unit and the inspection units.

Read more →

Truck insurance

Who pays, and how we find the real carrier and insurer behind the door name.

Read more →

Where your case is heard

The Middlesex County Courthouse, venue and federal court.

Read more →

How to file a commercial truck injury lawsuit

The firm's statewide explainer on ggllawyers.com.

Read more →
Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C.

What GGL does for you here

  • Files the NJDOT traffic-camera video request within seven calendar days
  • Sends OPRA requests to the police department and the Turnpike Authority for 911 audio, dispatch logs and video, before suit and before discovery
  • Files the 3-year body-camera retention request inside the 180-day window
  • Sends the litigation-hold letter to the carrier, broker and lessor naming ELD data, logs, ECM download, dashcam, inspection reports and the maintenance file
  • Orders your medical records under the 30-day rule and the capped fees

Call Today For A Free Consultation

The clocks above are already running. Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C. sends the requests and the preservation letters as soon as we are retained. No Fee Unless GGL Wins.

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