File an Application for Adjustment of Claim with the Indiana Workers' Compensation Board within two years, and give your employer notice within 30 days. That matters because Indiana law does not let an employer sidestep workers' comp just because a blown tire or other defective part may have caused the crash.

The plain-English rule is this: if you were hurt in the course of your job, workers' comp usually covers medical care and wage benefits no matter who caused it. Separately, Indiana's Product Liability Act can let you pursue the manufacturer, and sometimes a seller or installer, if a defective tire, wheel, brake part, or other product caused or worsened the injury. Your boss pushing your own health insurance is a red flag. It can shift costs away from the employer and its comp carrier, while you lose wage benefits and create paperwork fights later.

A real-life Bloomington example: a construction worker is sent out on I-69 during summer road-trip traffic, the heat builds up, a work truck tire fails, and the truck rolls near the Bloomington exits. The employer says, "Use your health insurance, don't make this a comp claim." That is not protecting the worker.

Here is how it usually plays out in Indiana:

• Workers' comp claim: against the employer for treatment and missed wages.
• Product claim: against the tire maker, distributor, retailer, or installer if the tire was defective, recalled, or improperly mounted.

If the tire was under a recall, save that notice and the tire itself if possible. Do not let the truck get repaired before photos are taken. Keep the DOT number, tire brand, size, age code, work order, and any roadside service records. If a shop installed the tire wrong, the installer may be a separate defendant. If a store merely sold a sealed tire, Indiana often focuses more heavily on the manufacturer, but sellers can still matter depending on what they knew and did.

Also report unsafe pressure from the employer to the Indiana Workers' Compensation Board and, for a recalled tire or vehicle part, to NHTSA.