Indiana Truck Accident Statistics

Author

Ken Nunn

Attorney Ken Nunn graduated from Indiana University School of Law and practiced law from 1967 until his death in 2025. He received many National Recognition awards and was published in four books featured on Amazon.com’s Best Seller lists. His law office has obtained many multi-million dollar recoveries in personal injury and wrongful death cases.

September 10, 2026 • 12 min read

The Short Answer

Indiana’s position as the “Crossroads of America” brings heavy commercial truck traffic through the state, especially along I-65, I-70, and I-80.¹ Although large trucks are involved in a smaller share of total crashes, crashes involving these vehicles can cause severe injuries because of their size and weight.

Indiana truck crashes dropped during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but fatal crashes remained high.² Fatal truck crashes later reached a recent peak in 2021 before generally declining.⁵ National data also consistently show that occupants of other vehicles account for most people injured or killed in large-truck crashes.³

Key Takeaways

• Indiana recorded more than 14,000 large-truck crashes each year from 2016 through 2019, before the number fell to 12,841 during the pandemic-related traffic decline in 2020.²
• Fatal truck crashes reached a recent high in 2021, with 182 fatal truck crashes and 196 fatalities in the FMCSA MCMIS data.⁵
• Passenger-vehicle occupants accounted for the majority of people injured in large-truck crashes during the years covered by NHTSA’s annual reports.³
• Most reportable Indiana truck crashes happened on weekdays during daylight hours. Thursday, noon to 3 p.m., and October had the highest totals in the 2020–2024 MCMIS analysis.⁵
• I-65 had the highest number of state-reportable truck crashes from 2020 through 2024, followed by I-80 and I-70.⁵
• Indiana’s fatal commercial-vehicle crash rate was slightly above the national state average during several recent years.⁶
• Large-truck crashes caused an estimated $15.7 billion in comprehensive societal costs in Indiana from 2016 through 2020, based on Indiana crash counts and FMCSA crash-cost estimates.^{2, 4}

The Reality of Driving on the “Crossroads of America”

Indiana is known historically and industrially as the “Crossroads of America.” It even became the state’s motto in 1937¹. Indianapolis even sits at a junction of 4 major Interstate Highways (65, 69, 70, and 74), making it an important hub for freight and shipping. In fact, more than 724 million tons of freight move through the state’s highways every year, but that much truck traffic comes with a cost. 

The higher number of commercial vehicles leads to more accidents that cause devastating damages, injuries, and fatalities. The 2020 Indiana report supports this general point: large-truck crashes represented 7.3% of all Indiana collisions but 15.6% of fatal collisions in 2020.²

10-Year Truck Crash Trends in Indiana

Indiana truck crash data shows 2 different trends over the past decade: the total number of reported large-truck crashes dropped sharply during the pandemic, while fatal commercial vehicle crashes remained high and later increased.

From 2016 through 2019, reported large-truck crashes increased each year, rising from 14,733 in 2016 to 15,759 in 2019. Fatal large-truck crashes also increased overall during this period, although the number varied from year to year.²

The pandemic changed the number of crashes on Indiana roads. Large-truck crashes fell nearly 19% from 15,759 in 2019 to 12,841 in 2020. However, fatal large-truck crashes stayed at 126, while fatal commercial vehicle crashes increased slightly from 133 to 134. In other words, the overall crash decline in 2020 wasn’t matched by a similar decline in fatal crashes.

Fatal commercial vehicle crashes then increased after 2020. Using FMCSA’s state-level commercial vehicle data, Indiana recorded 161 fatal crashes in 2021 and 164 in 2022 before declining to 140 in 2023 and 139 in 2024.⁶

The rate tells a similar story. Indiana reached 0.205 fatal commercial vehicle crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled in 2021 before falling back to 0.158 by 2024. By 2024, Indiana recorded 0.158 fatal commercial-vehicle crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled, compared with a national state average of 0.152.⁶

The bottom line: Indiana saw fewer large-truck crashes during the pandemic, but fatal crashes didn’t fall at the same rate. Fatal commercial vehicle crashes increased in 2021 and 2022 before declining again in 2023 and 2024. The latest data shows improvement from the post-pandemic peak, but fatal truck crashes remain a continuing safety concern on Indiana roads.

Where Do Truck Accidents Happen the Most in Indiana?

We analyzed Indiana FMCSA MCMIS records from 2020 through 2024 to identify where state-reportable truck crashes were concentrated. Because these are raw crash totals, they show where the most crashes were recorded rather than which counties or roads had the highest exposure-adjusted risk.⁵

Truck accidents aren’t spread evenly across the state. They cluster around a handful of counties and highways where freight traffic is heaviest. For state-reportable truck crashes from 2020–2024⁵, the leading counties were:

Indiana cities with the most truck crashes 2020-2024

The most dangerous highways follow the same pattern:

Why do trucks crash so often at these spots? It comes down to weight and stopping distance. A fully loaded semi can weigh up to 80,000 pounds and needs 20% to 40% more distance to stop than a regular car. When traffic backs up suddenly, like at a construction zone or a busy interchange such as the I-65/I-70 split downtown, trucks often can’t stop in time. That’s when rear-end crashes and jackknifes happen.

What Makes Truck Accidents More Dangerous Than Car Accidents?

Trucks and cars don’t crash the same way. Here’s why truck accidents turn deadly so much more often.

1. Trucks Are 20 to 30 Times Heavier 

A regular car weighs 3,000 to 4,000 pounds. A fully loaded semi can legally weigh up to 80,000 pounds. That massive weight gap means a truck carries way more kinetic energy into a crash, and all of it gets transferred to the smaller vehicle on impact.

2. Car Occupants Pay the Price 

In 2024, the NHTSA found that 5,340 people died in large-truck crashes nationwide. Of those deaths, 70% were occupants of other vehicles, 17% were occupants of large trucks, and 12% were non-occupants.³ Narrow it down to crashes between just a truck and a car, and the number gets even starker: passenger vehicle occupants make up 97% of the deaths.

3. Trucks Can’t Stop Quickly 

A loaded tractor-trailer needs 20% to 40% more distance to stop than a car, and that gap gets even wider on wet roads. This is a big reason why rear-end crashes happen so often, and it’s also what causes override accidents, where a truck rides up and over the back of a car instead of stopping behind it.

4. Underride Crashes Are Uniquely Deadly 

Trucks sit higher off the ground than cars. In a crash, a car can slide underneath the truck’s trailer instead of hitting a bumper. When that happens, the trailer skips right past the car’s crumple zones and crushes into the cabin, which is often fatal.

What Is the Most Frequent Type of Large Truck Accident?

Most truck accidents in Indiana fall into 3 categories:

1. Rear-end collisions: the most common type on interstates and in work zones. Usually caused by following too closely and often tied to a truck’s long stopping distance. Commercial vehicles were involved in over 87% of fatal “back-of-queue” crashes on Indiana interstates over a recent 3-year span.
2. Sideswipe collisions: the most common type overall by primary contributing factor. Usually caused by unsafe lane changes, often due to a truck’s large blind spots on busy roads like I-465 or I-80/94.
3. Angle (T-bone) collisions: most common at intersections. Usually caused by a truck driver failing to yield the right-of-way, whether by running a signal or misjudging a wide turn.

Learn More: The Most Common Causes of Truck Accidents in Indiana 

Fatal Truck Accident Trends in Indiana

Examining fatal truck accident trends from the past few years reveals some surprising insights. From 2020-2025, fatal truck crashes spiked in 2021 but have trended downward since.⁵ Dry roads were the most common driving condition involved in these accidents. 

How Truck Accident Lawsuits & Settlements Are Different in Indiana

Truck accident lawsuits don’t usually end with a jury verdict. In fact, current Indiana court data shows that a trial is uncommon even among civil tort lawsuits that have already reached the court system.

Very Few Indiana Tort Cases Reach Trial 

Indiana courts recorded 15,689 civil tort dispositions in 2024, but only 85 were resolved by jury trial and 103 by bench trial. That means about 1.2% were disposed through a completed trial.⁷ Most ended another way, including dismissals, bench dispositions, defaults, settlements reflected in court records, and other methods.

Mediation Can Help Resolve Cases Without Trial 

An older Lake County study found that 82% of cases that actually went through mediation settled, and mediation concluded about 2.2 months after referral on average.⁸ Because the study used cases from the 1990s, those figures should be treated as historical Indiana context rather than a current statewide rate.

Truck Accident Coverage Minimums

Many interstate commercial motor carriers are subject to federal financial-responsibility minimums that are substantially higher than Indiana’s minimum liability limits for passenger vehicles. Indiana requires standard passenger vehicles to carry just $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident in liability coverage. Commercial trucks operate under federal minimums that are much higher:

• Trucks under 10,000 lbs (non-hazardous): $300,000 minimum
• Trucks over 10,000 lbs (non-hazardous): $750,000 minimum
• Private oil tankers: $1,000,000 minimum
• Hazardous materials carriers: $1,000,000 to $5,000,000, depending on the materials

Those higher limits, combined with the trucking company’s own assets, are why serious truck accident cases can result in far larger settlements than a typical car accident claim.

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Truck Accidents in Indiana

The pandemic changed Indiana’s truck crash numbers, but not in the way most people would expect.

In 2020, commercial vehicle crashes fell from 17,874 to 14,221, while large-truck crashes fell from 15,759 to 12,841, a decline of nearly 19%. Fatal large-truck crashes, however, remained at 126².

But fatal crashes didn’t follow the same pattern. Deadly commercial vehicle accidents actually went up slightly in 2020, even with far less traffic overall. Of those fatal crashes, 94% involved large trucks specifically.

Once lockdowns lifted and traffic returned to normal, truck crashes spiked hard. FMCSA MCMIS data shows fatal truck crashes increased to 182 in 2021, the highest annual total from 2020 through 2025.⁵

Most Common Truck Driver Related Behaviors Involved in Truck Accidents

Driver error is the single most common driver-related behavior involved in Indiana truck accidents. That includes behaviors like improper lane usage, unsafe driving, following too closely, failing to yield the right of way, distracted driving, speeding or reckless driving, driver fatigue and illness, and mistakes due to inexperience. 

When Do Most Indiana Truck Accidents Happen?

From 2020-2026, most reportable semi-truck and large-truck accidents in Indiana occur on weekdays during daylight hours. Thursday has the highest number of crashes, and the busiest time is from noon to 3:00 p.m. October records the most crashes, although truck accidents remain relatively consistent throughout the year. 

This analysis is based on Indiana crash records from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Motor Carrier Management Information System⁵, or MCMIS, covering 2020 through 2024. It includes reportable crashes involving semis and other large-truck configurations, but it excludes buses and pickup trucks. Because MCMIS generally tracks commercial-vehicle crashes involving a fatality, an injury requiring immediate medical treatment, or disabling damage requiring a tow, these figures don’t include every minor truck accident in Indiana.

Who Is More Likely to Be Injured in a Truck Accident?

What we know is that occupants of other vehicles are the most likely ones to be injured in an accident with a commercial truck. In fact, occupants of other vehicles made up roughly 2.5 to 3 times as many injured people as large-truck occupants. They accounted for between 68% and 74% of all people injured between 2014 and 2024, according to NHTSA Truck Safety Fact reports.³

The disparity is even larger for deaths. In 2024, occupants of other vehicles made up 70% of large-truck crash fatalities, compared with 17% for large-truck occupants and 12% for non-occupants.

Does Indiana Have a Higher Fatal Commercial Vehicle Crash Rate Than Average?

Indiana wasn’t the state with the highest fatal commercial-vehicle crash rate, but its rate exceeded the national state average during several recent years.⁶ From 2019 through 2024, its average rate ranked 21st. 

What Are the Most Dangerous Roads in Indiana for Trucking Accidents?

Reporting which roads are most dangerous is complicated because raw crash totals do not account for how many trucks travel each route. Instead, we looked at which named highways had the most state-reportable truck crashes. From 2020 through 2024, I-65 had the most, with 3,252 truck crashes, including 70 fatal crashes. I-80 followed with 2,265 crashes, while I-70 had 2,080.⁵

While I-65 had the most truck crashes overall, several lower-volume U.S. and state routes had a larger percent share of fatal crashes. U.S. 421, U.S. 24, State Road 2, U.S. 31, and U.S. 41 showed elevated fatal-crash percentages in the available records.⁵

Financial Consequences of Truck Accidents

Large truck crashes create a massive financial burden in Indiana. From 2016 through 2020, Indiana reported 73,660 crashes involving large trucks. These included 627 fatal crashes, 9,262 crashes involving injuries, and 63,771 crashes involving property damage only.²

Applying FMCSA’s 2025 comprehensive crash-cost estimates to those Indiana crash totals produces an estimated $15.7 billion in societal costs from 2016 through 2020.^{2, 4} That equals an average of about $3.15 billion per year or $213,500 for each reported crash.⁴

Note that this total is broader than the amount paid through medical bills, repairs, or insurance. It also places a dollar value on lost quality of life caused by serious injuries and deaths. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimates⁴ that one fatal large truck crash creates more than $15 million in total costs.

Talk to a Truck Accident Attorney for Free

Truck accidents have devastating consequences for those involved. But you don’t have to be just another statistic. If you’ve been injured in a truck accident in Indiana, you may be entitled to receive compensation to help you recover from your injuries. 

An experienced truck accident Lawyer can examine the facts of your case and then fight for the compensation that you deserve. Our team of personal injury lawyers at the Ken Nunn Law Office has been helping injured Hoosiers all over Indiana for more than 50 years. Contact us today for a free consultation. There’s no obligation, and there are no fees unless we win.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, Crossroads of America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_of_America
2. Indiana Criminal Justice Institute & Indiana University Public Policy Institute, Indiana Traffic Safety Facts: Commercial Vehicles, 2020.
3. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Traffic Safety Facts: Large Trucks: Annual reports covering 2014 through 2024, including large-truck crashes, fatalities, injuries, vehicle occupants, crash characteristics, and state-level data. 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
4. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Crash Cost Methodology 2025. Table 3, “Cost per Crash in 2023 Dollars.” FMCSA Crash Cost Methodology 2025
5. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, MCMIS / A&I Crash Statistics, Indiana crash-record analysis
6. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, State-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Crash Data
7. Indiana Judicial Branch, Indiana Office of Court Services, 2024 Indiana Judicial Service Report. The report defines Civil Tort cases and provides statewide methods of disposition. 2024 Indiana Judicial Service Report
8. Jeffrey J. Dywan, An Evaluation of the Effect of Court-Ordered Mediation and Proactive Case Management on the Pace of Civil Tort Litigation in Lake County, Indiana, Journal of Dispute Resolution (2003). University of Missouri Journal of Dispute Resolution study