Truck accident evidence in Washington: what to preserve and how long it lasts

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

Two clocks start the day of the crash

Washington gives you three years to file most injury lawsuits under RCW 4.16.080(2). The records that show why a truck crashed run on a much shorter clock. Federal rules let a carrier discard some after three months, and some electronic data has no required retention period. Our page on how truck accident rules differ in Washington covers insurance and duties at the scene.

The federal record-keeping rules reach trucks that only drive inside the state. WAC 446-65-010 adopts the federal rules on drug and alcohol testing, driver qualification, hours of service and maintenance (49 C.F.R. Parts 382, 390, 391, 395 and 396, among others) for carriers in intrastate and interstate commerce, with a separate hours rule for intrastate log trucks and dump trucks.

The records a carrier must keep, and for how long

These periods are federal minimums.

Hours records often decide fatigue claims. Our guide to how hours-of-service logs prove a tired trucker explains what to look for in them.

Under 49 C.F.R. 382.303, the carrier must test the driver after any crash that kills someone. It must also test when the driver gets a moving-violation citation and someone was treated away from the scene or a vehicle had to be towed. The citation must come within 8 hours for the alcohol test and 32 hours for the drug test. If a test is not given in time, the carrier must keep a written record of why. Ask for those records.

Engine data and video: the evidence with no deadline at all

Most heavy trucks carry an engine control module, and many fleets add telematics and cameras. No federal rule sets how long a carrier keeps this data. It can be overwritten when the truck goes back on the road or deleted on the vendor’s schedule. Our page on truck black box and dashcam evidence describes what these systems record.

Washington adds a limit on who can read the data. Under RCW 46.35.030, information in a vehicle’s recording device, a term that RCW 46.35.010 defines to include electronic control modules, may be accessed by someone other than the owner only with the owner’s consent, by court order, through discovery or for a few narrow purposes. You cannot simply download the truck’s module yourself. The practical route is an early demand to preserve it, then a joint download or a court order.

Getting the WSP collision report

If the Washington State Patrol worked the crash, order the report through the agency’s online WRECR system, using the name of someone involved and the collision date. Per the WSP collision records page:

The report names the carrier, the USDOT number and witnesses. Trooper photos, in-car video and investigative files are separate records. WSP’s public records overview lists in-car video as public, subject to redactions, so ask for it early through a chapter 42.56 RCW request.

Inspection history from WSP and FMCSA

WSP lists commercial vehicle safety inspections as public records in the same overview. Federal data fills in the rest. Search the carrier by USDOT number, MC number or name on the FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot, which shows any safety rating, a roadside out-of-service inspection summary and crash information. The Safety Measurement System shows inspection and crash data, investigation results and measures in the public BASIC categories. For trucking companies, FMCSA hides percentile rankings and the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance categories. A pattern of brake or hours violations tells you which records to demand. Our page on looking up a trucking company’s safety record walks through the search.

What a preservation letter should name

Send a written demand to the carrier, its insurer, the truck’s owner if different and any broker or leasing company. List the items by name:

• the tractor and trailer, unrepaired, with a request for notice before any repair, sale or salvage;
• engine control module, ELD and telematics data for a window before and after the crash;
• all camera footage, including clips the system did not flag;
• hours records, supporting documents, dispatch messages and the driver’s phone records;
• inspection reports, maintenance records and the driver qualification file;
• post-accident testing records and internal crash reports.

What Washington courts do when evidence disappears

Washington has no general duty to preserve evidence. The Court of Appeals said so in Cook v. Tarbert Logging, Inc., 190 Wn. App. 448 (2015), a crash between a pickup and a logging truck. In Seattle Tunnel Partners v. Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) PLC, No. 79460-4-I (2023), the same court held that a duty to preserve, owed to the party asking for a sanction, is a threshold requirement for any sanction over evidence lost before a lawsuit. That duty can come from a statute, a contract or, in some circumstances, a pre-lawsuit letter asking that the evidence not be disposed of without notice. That is why the letter matters.

Courts then weigh two factors from Henderson v. Tyrrell, 80 Wn. App. 592 (1996): how important the evidence was and how much fault the party who lost it bears. Negligent loss draws no sanction. An instruction letting the jury infer that the lost evidence was unfavorable, an inference rooted in Pier 67, Inc. v. King County, 89 Wn.2d 379 (1977), is reserved for intentional destruction or bad faith. The rules apply to injured people too. In Cook, the injured driver’s pickup, with pre-crash speed data in its airbag module, was parted out before the defense examined it. The appeals court held the loss merely negligent, too little for an adverse inference, and ordered a new trial against the logging company and its driver.

Why the records matter for fault and payment

Washington uses pure comparative fault. Under RCW 4.22.005, your share of fault lowers your award but does not bar it. Under RCW 4.22.070, the jury assigns a percentage to every entity that caused the harm, and each defendant usually pays only its own share, with two exceptions. A carrier answers for the fault of a driver acting as its agent or servant. And if you are found not at fault at all, the defendants against whom judgment is entered are jointly and severally liable for the sum of their shares. Maintenance records, broker contracts and video help show who else shares fault and whether any of it is yours. See our comparative fault guide.

Filing deadlines

What this means for your case

1. Write down the carrier name and USDOT number from the cab door, and photograph the truck, the scene and any cameras nearby.
2. Order the WSP collision report and request trooper video under the Public Records Act.
3. Get a preservation letter out within days, naming the module, ELD, camera and maintenance data and asking for notice before the truck is repaired or sold.
4. Keep your own vehicle until its recorder has been downloaded and the other side has had a chance to inspect it.
5. Calendar the 3-year deadline, and the claim-form step if a public agency is involved.

For help with a crash in this state, see our Washington truck accident lawyer page or call Beverly Law at (310) 552-6959 for a free review in English or Spanish. You owe no fees or costs unless we win.

Common questions

Related pages

Washington truck accident lawyer · Truck accident in Washington: how the rules differ · Truck black box and dashcam evidence · How to look up a trucking company’s safety record · How hours-of-service logs prove a tired truck driver · Comparative fault in California, Texas and Washington

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Last reviewed: November 11, 2026.