Texas Car Accident Lawyer

Who pays after a car crash in Texas?

The at-fault driver's liability insurer is responsible for your injuries in Texas. Your own policy may also pay early bills if you kept personal injury protection or medical payments coverage.

Texas insurers must offer personal injury protection, or PIP, with every auto policy, and it applies unless you rejected it in writing. PIP pays medical bills and some lost income regardless of fault. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage works the same way: it must be offered, and it covers you unless you signed a rejection. Because many Texas drivers carry only minimum limits, that coverage is often what makes a serious injury claim fully payable.

Our team asks for your declarations page early. The coverage you have decides who to call first and how much is truly available.

How does the 51% bar play out at a Texas intersection?

Texas reduces your damages by your percentage of fault and bars recovery if you are more than 50 percent responsible. The jury also assigns percentages to every other party who contributed.

Feeder roads and frontage road U-turns create many disputed crashes. Picture a driver in San Antonio turning from an access road who is hit by a car exiting the highway too fast. Damages total 150,000 dollars.

• At 20 percent fault, the injured driver recovers 120,000 dollars.
• At 50 percent fault, the recovery is 75,000 dollars.
• At 51 percent fault, the recovery is zero.

Texas also lets defendants point to other people as responsible third parties, which can shift percentages. That is why our team investigates every driver, road contractor and vehicle defect involved, not just the obvious one.

How are medical bills counted in a Texas car claim?

Texas generally limits recovery of past medical expenses to the amounts actually paid or incurred, not the full sticker price on the bill. That rule changes how a claim is valued.

If your health insurer negotiated a 40,000 dollar hospital bill down to 15,000 dollars, the lower number is usually what counts. People without insurance, or who treat under a letter of protection, face different questions about what is reasonable. Future medical costs are proven with expert testimony. Careful billing records, insurance explanations of benefits and treatment plans help avoid surprises late in the case.

Which Texas roads and settings produce serious crashes?

Most serious Texas car crashes happen on high-speed urban freeways, in fast-growing suburbs and on rural highways where traffic has outgrown the road.

• Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio freeways see heavy congestion, constant construction and high-speed merges.
• Farm-to-market roads and two-lane highways in rural areas see head-on and overtaking crashes.
• Oilfield traffic in West Texas puts pickups and heavy trucks on roads built for light use.
• Rideshare drivers in major cities raise questions about which policy applies depending on whether the app was on.

Our rideshare and taxi accidents page explains those coverage layers. If an 18-wheeler was involved, see our Texas truck accident page.

What reports and notices matter after a Texas crash?

Police officers complete a crash report when they investigate an injury crash, and drivers must report crashes involving injury or death. If a government vehicle was involved, the 6-month notice rule under the Texas Tort Claims Act becomes the most urgent deadline.

Some cities require notice even sooner than 6 months under their charters, so a crash with a city bus, a garbage truck or a police car calls for quick action. Government liability is also limited in amount and type. Our page on government and public property injury claims explains those limits. For private defendants, the general deadline to file suit is 2 years.

What should you do after a Texas car accident?

Get medical care, report the crash and protect evidence. Then let our attorneys handle the insurers.

1. Request the crash report and check it for errors in the diagram or narrative.
2. Photograph vehicles, lanes, signals and any road construction.
3. Ask nearby businesses to save camera footage.
4. Notify your own insurer and ask about PIP and uninsured motorist coverage.
5. Avoid recorded statements to the other driver's insurer.

If a drunk driver hit you, a bar or restaurant that over-served them may share responsibility under Texas dram shop law. For a broader view of Texas injury rules, visit our Texas injury law hub. We offer a free case review, and no fee unless we win.