/ Car Accidents
Car Accident Lawyers in Texas
Most people call us in the first week, when the other driver’s insurer has already rung twice and nothing has been explained. This page sets out what Texas law actually says, so you can decide what to do next with real information.
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Questions about fault after a serious Texas car crash?
/ The first week
What Actually Matters Early
None of this is complicated. It is just easy to skip while you are hurt and dealing with a car you no longer have.
01
Get seen, even if you feel fine
Adrenaline hides things for a day or two, and a gap between the crash and the first visit is the argument you will hear about later.
02
Get the report number
Ask the responding agency for the crash report number. It is the fastest route to the other driver’s insurer and the officer’s own account.
03
Photograph more than the damage
Both vehicles, the resting positions, the lane markings, the signals, the weather and the light. Two minutes now, months of argument saved.
04
Say less to the other insurer
You are not required to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement. Get advice before you do.
The other driver’s insurer has already opened a file. Have you spoken to anyone?
/ Where these cases happen
Ordinary Trips That Ended Badly
US-83, I-2 and the interchanges around McAllen and Edinburg carry more traffic every year, and the Valley’s busiest stretches are the ones our clients were driving when everything changed.
Almost none of them were doing anything unusual. They were commuting, running an errand, picking someone up. That is worth saying plainly, because people often arrive at a first call half-convinced the crash was somehow their fault.
Not sure what your injuries are actually worth?
/ The law
Three Texas Rules Worth Knowing
You generally have two years — and it is shorter than it sounds
Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003, a person must generally bring suit for personal injury not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues. Where an injury results in death, the cause of action generally accrues on the date of death.
The statute contains exceptions, and how the deadline applies depends on the facts. Two years also sounds like plenty of time right up until the point that it is not — evidence, witnesses and vehicles all move on long before then.
Being partly at fault does not automatically end a claim
Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001, a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. Below that line, a claim can still proceed, with recovery reduced in proportion to responsibility.
This is the single thing people most often get wrong about their own case — usually by assuming they are barred when they are not.
Texas minimum insurance is lower than most people assume
Under Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072, the minimum motor vehicle liability coverage required to establish financial responsibility in Texas is $30,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one collision, $60,000 for two or more persons in one collision, and $25,000 for property damage.
A single trip to an emergency room can exceed that. It is why the other driver’s policy limit, and whether you carry uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage of your own, are among the first things worth checking.
Statutory text read from the Texas Constitution and Statutes site, statutes.capitol.texas.gov. This is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your situation. Deadlines and rules vary with the facts, and only a lawyer who has reviewed your case can tell you how they apply to it.
Crash reports can be wrong. They can also be corrected.
/ The coverage gap
When the Policy Runs Out Before the Bills Do
The Texas minimum is a floor, not a forecast of what a serious injury costs. Where the at-fault policy cannot cover the harm, the question becomes what other coverage exists — on your own policy, on another vehicle in the household, or on a commercial policy if the other driver was working.
$30,000
Minimum bodily injury coverage for one person in one collision — Tex. Transp. Code § 601.072
$60,000
Minimum for bodily injury to two or more persons in one collision
$25,000
Minimum for damage to or destruction of the property of others in one collision
Treatment gaps are the first thing an adjuster looks for.
/ What a claim covers
What Texas Injury Damages Include
A Texas personal injury claim is not one number. It is a set of separate categories, each of which has to be proved with its own evidence — medical records and bills, employment records, and testimony about what changed.
Broadly, those categories cover medical care already received and reasonably needed in future, lost earnings and lost earning capacity, physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment and disfigurement. Property damage to the vehicle runs alongside as a separate claim.
What any individual case is worth depends entirely on the facts and the evidence. We do not estimate case values from a description over the phone, and we would be cautious about anyone who does.
Keep these as you go
Every discharge summary, referral and bill — not just the big ones.
Mileage and out-of-pocket costs for treatment.
Dates missed from work, and what your employer paid or did not pay.
A short note each week about what you could not do that you normally would.
Was the other driver uninsured or underinsured? You may still have coverage.
/ What we do first
The First Week, From Our Side
We request the crash report, identify every insurer that could be involved — the other driver’s, yours, and any commercial policy if they were working — and ask that the vehicles be preserved before they are repaired or sold for salvage.
None of that requires anything from you beyond a conversation. It is simply easier to do in week one than in month six.
Texas has a deadline for filing. It is shorter than most people expect.
/ Common questions
Questions We Get in the First Call
What does it cost to hire you?
Personal injury cases here are handled on a contingency fee — no fee unless we recover. The fee agreement is written down and explained before you sign anything.
The other driver had no insurance. Is that the end of it?
Not necessarily. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy, or on another policy in the household, can apply. Whether it does depends on the policies involved, which is worth checking before assuming there is nothing there.
Do I have to sue somebody?
Most claims resolve without a trial. That said, a claim negotiated by someone prepared to try it tends to be treated differently than one that is not — which is why we look at every case as something that might have to be tried.
Can we do this in Spanish?
Yes. Both attorneys at the firm report Spanish to the State Bar of Texas, and the whole process — the first call, the paperwork and the questions in the middle of it — can be handled in Spanish.
Hurt in a crash anywhere in Texas — in English or Spanish.
/ Related
If a Commercial Vehicle Was Involved
A collision with a tractor-trailer or other commercial vehicle runs on different rules and a much shorter practical clock — see truck and 18-wheeler accidents. If a drunk driver was involved, Texas law can also reach the establishment that served them. Our full list of case types sets out the rest.
Reach the firm
5317 S. McColl Road, Edinburg, Texas 78539.
Call or text 956-696-4878.
English and Spanish. Cases accepted across Texas.
Car crash anywhere in Texas — no fee unless we recover for you.